Stories

I love ideas and stories. My first passion is for the written word and for books, but I also enjoy stories in all mediums, including films, TV, comics and computer games (especially narrative-led games and interactive fiction). I aim to engage critically and creatively with culture, and as a Christian I’m particularly interested in how culture expresses people’s different beliefs and worldviews.

Reading the Bible imaginatively to steal ‘past watchful dragons’ of overfamiliarity

By Caleb | May 31, 2022

C S Lewis famously used fairy-stories to steal past what he called the “watchful dragons” of overfamiliarity with the Christian story. By approaching Christian stories of Jesus’ death and resurrection through the lens of fantasy in the Narnia books, he stripped them “of their stained-glass and Sunday School associations” so that they could be experienced […]

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Ditching Netflix? In Defence of Pop Culture

By Caleb | November 7, 2019

Back in the summer, Brad East made the case that some Christians over-egg the idea of “engaging with pop culture”, while Matthew Lee Anderson advises anyone who will listen to “ditch Netflix”. It’s definitely possible to overindulge in the passive consumption of entertainment, so I share their concerns to a degree. But there are also […]

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Comics I’ve been reading: ‘Die’, ‘House of X’ and ‘Powers of X’

By Caleb | August 11, 2019

While on holiday recently, I found a little time for reading some comics! I adore comics as a medium: they can combine the best of both worlds of books and film, with all the capacity for visual impact as cinema, but also lending themselves to individual voices and exploring psychological interiority like novels. Not that […]

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Should we ditch Netflix to avoid entertainment gluttony?

By Caleb | July 21, 2019

Binge, noun, “a period of excessive or uncontrolled indulgence”. Last night I finished watching season 3 of hit Netflix show Stranger Things. It was lots of fun – scares, humour and plenty of endearingly nerdy characters. There are some pacing issues but it’s a stylish adventure, with heartfelt themes of friendship and empathy overcoming darkness. […]

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Avengers: The Endgame for geek culture?

By Caleb | April 25, 2019

I’m very excited as I wait to head in to the first daytime showing of Avengers Endgame at my local cinema! It’s easy to be cynical about the Marvel movies, but to build up a 22-movie shared universe and story arc, mostly well-made and entertaining, is an unprecedented achievement. By now everyone is trying to […]

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