Religion in Horror

I've always found it interesting that in so many classic as well as B-movie horror films, there are often subtle elements of religion implemented throughout, especially those surrounding possession or hauntings. When you think about a ghost in relation to a horror film, most of the time your automatic image is something similar to that of Beetlejuice, Ghostbusters, or even Caspar the Friendly Ghost. Aside from the childlike spirit, the first two movies involve a scare tactic, an element of horror making the ghosts appear more like a monster figure rather than an actual spirit. A lot of movies also explore the more spiritual side of these entities and dig deeper into the religious aspects. What I think is the most fascinating part is that through film, especially the horror genre, you are given (for the most part) complete freedom portray things basically any way that you please. I mention both of these portrayals because whether the ghost is played off as some monster character or a strong connection to a loved one, these always manage to tie back to religion in some way. Many would say that religion deals with life and death, and what constitutes being a spirit? Being dead (or mostly) of course! Personally I would argue that it is always up to perspective and that religion doesn't necessarily have to do with these two phenomena, however it is often the case in these films that there is some religious backstory in regards to the spirit world and/or spirits themselves. When discussing these topics, they are often referred to as sensitive subjects depending on the viewer demographic. As for many of the films, minor thing such as religious symbols or cursed chants are spread throughout the storyline, and digging even deeper into this realm, we see origins of countless faiths, ranging from Catholic, Christian, to even Wiccan. Religion is scary, it is a scary topic when you're dealing with so many rules and strictures and each versions' idea of punishment and purgatory, as well as the afterlife, and that is what is so crazy about the film industry in particular. They are able to profit off of all of these ideas, yet most of them twist the original values for a shock factor. That is what makes it so interesting, Hollywood has created essentially a blackhole for filmmakers to express themselves, but also providing them the tools to explore what many will not.