I’m having tons of fun making little promotional trailers for my forthcoming book, Paranormal Obsession: America’s Fascination with Ghosts, Hauntings, Spooks & Spirits. The book is a cultural studies take on the intersection of the paranormal and American public culture — with paranormal reality TV smack in the middle.
Pop culture defines our understanding on just about everything, from politics to ghosts, so I thought it would be cool to spoof some well-known pop culture references. For example, I borrow from a series of 1980s Calvin Klein Obsession commercials. I also poke a little fun at how reality TV depicts ghost hunting. If you watch closely, you can see a slight reference to The Rocky Horror Picture Show (the lip shot), as well as The Ring. There is also play between darkness (the dude in black) and light (me in white) — so many people assume ghosts and hauntings are somehow wedged between the good/evil debate.
This trailer was a mere fluke. I was visiting a friend who teaches at Greensboro College. Her teaching assistant, Joey Frenette, was in her office when I arrived and he invited me to see his installation piece located in a secret room off of the elevator. I walked in and immediately knew this was THE place for a short teaser. Joey graciously, and magnificently, agreed to participate. The whole thing was shot with my Iphone.
