Scrawled Shortcuts through the Research Maze
Death Gods: an Encyclopedia
Familiar territory: Camazotz, Aztec death bat; Seker, Egyptian funerary god; Smirtnice, Slavic death spirit; Empusae, Greek vampire succubi; Rusalka, Russian water sirens-- but see the Intro for death background.
Reference BL 545 .A24
Handbook of Death & Dying
Start with “Death, Dying, and the Dead in Popular Culture.” Move on to “Malevolent ‘Undead’”, the “Social History of Embalming,” and the chilling, “On the Economics of Death in the U.S.”, then see “Megadeaths: Individual Reactions and Social Responses to Massive Loss of Life.”
Reference 306.9 H236h
Encyclopedia of Genocide
Speaking of massive loss of life: peruse the “Psychology of Genocide” and “‘Ordinary People’ As Perpetrators of Genocide”, “Eugenics and Genocide” and, if you have the stomach for it, consider individual instances of genocide/democide, from the Trail of Tears to the Holocaust to Rwanda.
Reference 364.15103 E56e
Hate Crimes
Hate crimes may be genocide (or democide) writ small. The federal definition of Hate Crimes was recently expanded, but many groups have been targeted by hate crimes. Investigate these scary topics, especially “Hate Crimes on Campus,” & “The Growing Problem of Hate on the Web.”
Reference 364.15 A469
A Historical Guide to World Slavery
Some hate crimes are tied to the history of slavery; “Forced labor” has been tied to race, gender and to genocide. See the overview here, and scare yourself with “Psychology” and “Mortality in Transport.”
Reference 306.362 H673h
Weapons of Mass Destruction
We justifiably frighten ourselves with Cold War and post-9/11 scenarios involving everything from Mustard Gas to Anthrax, as well as Limited Nuclear War, Détente, Radiation, Chernobyl, and the Game of Chicken.
Reference 358.303 W363w