Travis Langley - Supernatural Psychology: Roads Less Traveled

We traveled a long road to get here and would be hard pressed to say where the road began or when we merged onto it. Where does any journey begin, and when? When you get into a vehicle or before that when you pack your bags, when you make the choice, when you develop a preference behind the choice, where your parents met? My lifes journey took a detour when my son Nicholas and I discovered our love of fan conventions, and my decision that summer to write about a bat-themed superhero has kept me off the main highway ever since. before coming back to the here and now. Here, we have landed on a version of our contemporary world, one where ghosts lurk in shadows, monsters inhabit the countryside, demons and angels clash while humanity gets caught in between, and two brothers ride ready to take them all on. However ironic it might seem, Supernatural Psychology: Roads Less Traveled may be the most down-to-earth book weve written yet.

Supernatural is about family. For all the horror and adventure that characterize the stories, you miss the essence of Supernatural if you dont discuss that, and so we dedicate this book to family. My daughter-in-law Katrina Hill, my son-by-other-mortals Mark Head, and Markos fiance Renee Cooey prove family does not end with blood. They arent the only ones. Through sons Alex and Nicholas, my wife and I have also welcomed Carly Cate, Michael Dorman, Sarah Fuller, Stephen Huckabee, Ryne Johnston, Cordell Moss, Jimmy and Nicole Smith, and Tim Yarbrough into the Langley fold. Sister-in-law Sharon Manning is a great help to us. Wife Rebecca gets the greatest credit as my sounding board, proofreader, colleague, best friend, oracle, and partner who keeps up with all kinds of things when I lose myself in the lore.

For quite a while, Ive wanted to cover Supernatural. Sterling Publishing editor Kate Zimmermann, publicist Blanca Oliviery, and I agreed during lunch one day that the time had come. Many other Sterling folks helped us bring these books to life: Ardi Alspach, Toula Ballas, Betsy Beier, Michael Cea, Sari Lampert, Damien Martinez, Marilyn Spetzer, Lauren Tambini, Theresa Thompson. Even though my original editor, Connie Santisteban, has left Sterling on her greatest adventure, raising little J. J., she still looks out for me and remains forever part of the team. Kate and company make me feel truly fortunate. They are a Sterling family.

Were different around here. I know of no other anthology series with such a close-knit and supportive team of professionals analyzing popular culture both independently and together. Because I met many of our contributing writers along with relevant writers, artists, actors, filmmakers, propmakers, and more through fan conventions, I thank the organizers who work hard to put the cons together. Most relevant for this particular collection are San Diego Comic-Con International (Eddie Ibrahim, Gary Sassaman, Cathy Dalton, Sue Lord, Adam Neese, Amy Ramirez, Chris Sturham), and many Wizard World conventions (Ryan Ball, Donna Chin, Danny Fingeroth, Kate Gloss, Christopher Jansen, Jerry Milani, Peter Katz, Brittany Walloch-Key). I studied media effects during graduate school, mentored by Ed ONeal at Tulane University, but my immersion in studying popular culture on a wider scale began with the Comics Arts Conference (Peter Coogan, Randy Duncan, Kathleen McClancy).

Henderson State University provides great support for this work. Our administratorsPresident Glendell Jones, Provost Steve Adkison, Dean Angela Boswellencourage creative ways of teaching. Library director Lea Ann Alexander looks forward to my next strange request so she and her staff can keep the shelves full of unusual resources. David Bateman, Lecia Franklin, Carolyn Hatley, Ermatine Johnston, and Salina Smith help me and my students go all the places we need to go. My fellow department members offer endless encouragement and put up with my crazy schedule. Our faculty writers group (Jennifer Dawes, Angela Boswell, Matthew Bowman, Suzanne Tartamella, Michael Taylor) reviewed portions of this manuscript. Through groups such as our Comic Arts Club and the Legion of Nerds, our students prove that geeky passions belong in higher education, and they seem to enjoy the fact that some of their professors are also professional nerds.

For serving as muses, hunting partners, devils advocates, keepers of arcana, and guardians at the gate, our writers thank Amy Blunt, Aaron Dickson, Jeffrey Henderson, Patty Hlava, Nina Taylor Kester, Barbara and James Kus, Eli Mastin, Dustin McGinnis, K. T. Rex, Bethany Souza, Brian Edward Therens, Jacqueline Traversa, and Sarah West. Family of many kinds encourage or at least tolerate us in these endeavors. FirstGlance Photographys Bill Ostroff and others shot our author photos. My literary agent, Evan Gregory of the Ethan Ellenberg Literary Agency, handles all kinds of details. Christine Boylan, Joyce and Tim Cogburn, Jane Espenson, Maurice Lamarche, Chase Masterson, Ali Mattu, Jose Molina, Marc Nadel, Kaja Perina, Travis Richey, Matt Smith (not the one with fez and bowtie, though we love him, too), and Michael Uslan deserve mention for joining us at different stops along the way.

We owe series creator Eric Kripke for once upon a time envisioning his Star Wars meets Truck Stop America epic: Who wouldnt want to watch Han Solo and Luke Skywalker with chain saws in the trunk? This book would not exist without him and the many others who put the show together: writers, directors, producers, hundreds upon hundreds of crew members doing everything from running spooky lights to designing yet another hotel room, and actors who bring the characters to life. For speaking with us and sharing their thoughts at different times, we heap thanks upon Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki, Misha Collins, Felicia Day, Adam Glass, Jay Gruska, Mark Sheppard, and Amanda Tapping. We especially thank best-selling author Jonathan Maberry for this books foreword and actor Mark R. Pellegrino for the introduction.