Blog Post # 5: Grim Reaper Dominates Literature

             Even the Grim Reaper can dominate the Pop Culture. Grim never fail to surprise us. Authors also create fiction novels and stories about the Grim Reaper. When you say Pop Culture, it refers to the cultural activities or commercial products reflecting, suited to, or aimed at the tastes of the general masses of people. Since the Reaper is really mysterious, writers from all over the word use his image to create impressive and amazing works that satisfies the mass.

             As I look through the internet, I found a very interesting article discussing about the Grim Reaper and how he affects the Pop Culture. It is written by William Harris entitled " How the Grim Reaper Works: The Grim Reaper in Popular Culture ".

              It really interesting though. Well, it gave me several reasons to look for books that are deeply related to the Grim Reaper. And here are some:

               The book made by Terry Pratchet : The Discworld novels, he feature Death as an ally of mankind. In other words, Death here is really kind! Wow!

               The second book "the Sand Man" by Neil Gaiman discusses about a groundbreaking series of comic books in which Death appears as a girl.

                The last book, " Undeadly " by Michele Vail, tells a story of a girl who tries to revive his boyfriend-to-be, and there are weird things happening after that. Clearly, Grim Reaper has a great participation in this story. Can you imagine, a girl tricking the Reaper for a person's revival? Kinda' crazy but sound interesting.

                Can you imagine Death to receive a very friendly image? Well, there are some books that are intended to be read to children. An article by Ella Rain caught my attention. There are really books for children that tells about Grim Reaper. " Grim Reaper Books for Kids ". Imagine the faces of the children who are reading the book by Rachel Lynette, "The Grim Reaper". the book is particularly about a dying man who sees the Grim Reaper.. the rest follows an adventure I think. Children love Halloween and the Grim Reaper is the perfect figure of it instead of pumpkin lanterns and trick or treat!

                 When you say literature, does it only refer to books? A big "NO!". When you say LITERATURE, you can also refer to screenplays, poetry, and song lyrics. As what I had said a while ago, Grim Reaper also dominates the screenplays, poetry and song lyrics.

The Grim Reaper also plays a key role in the following works:

• "(Don't Fear) The Reaper," a song released by Blue Öyster Cult in 1976 and now regarded as a rock classic
• "Because I could not stop for Death," a poem by Emily Dickinson, in which the narrator shares a carriage ride with Death
• "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens, in which the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, cloaked and skeletal, appears to show Scrooge how he will die
• "Death Takes a Holiday," a 1934 film about Death's decision to take a break from his normal business to see what it's like being mortal; a 1998 remake, "Meet Joe Black," starred Brad Pitt in the role of Death.
• "Scream," a 1996 homage to slasher flicks in which a murderous teen stalks his victims in a Reaper-like costume
• "Dead Like Me," a Showtime series that explores the lives (or afterlives) of a group of grim reapers who walk among the living

                                                                                       -  by William Harris " How the Grim Reaper Works: The Grim Reaper in Popular Culture ".

              It really looks interesting finding unexpected influence of a very scary figure in Halloween.