Halloween topics from WSU faculty experts

PULLMAN, Wash. – Want a Halloween story that resonates with your readers? Find topics to make them tremble by talking with Washington State University faculty whose research interests include witchcraft, vampires, bats, ghosts and monsters.
 
  • Todd Butler, WSU Pullman, has conducted a simulated witchcraft trial as part of his studies to understand the modern-day difficulties the law has in handling emotion. He also is interested in how ghosts were talked about in Renaissance England, especially ghosts of crime victims, and has followed one story in which public print (pamphlets and the like) helped resolve a case the regular judiciary couldn’t.
     
    Contact him at 509-332-5594 (home), 509-432-5809 (cell), 509-335-2639 (office) or butlert@wsu.edu
 
  • Michael Delahoyde, WSU Pullman, has researched monsters as the manifestation of the dark side of cultural values. Among other aspects, he considers why certain monsters – vampires, zombies, even dinosaurs – are popular at certain times in a given culture.

    Contact him at 509-335-4832 or delahoyd@wsu.edu

 
  • Christine Portfors, WSU Vancouver, works with bats and mice to research how sounds are processed and how age-related hearing loss impacts this processing.

    Contact her at 360-546-9434 or portfors@vancouver.wsu.edu