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Encyclopedia of Fantasy (1997)
Sin-Eater

Tagged: Theme.

One who magically takes on the sins of a dead person, usually by eating food placed on or passed over the deceased's chest, so that the deceased's soul may be delivered from Purgatory. Sin-eating is found in many societies, both Christian and pagan, and was commonly practised up to the nineteenth century. The concept has been used in a number of horror novels, including Elizabeth Massie's Sineater (1992) and Ramsey Campbell's The Long Lost (1993). Rod Serling's Night Gallery: The Sins of the Father (1972), with Richard Thomas as a young sin-eater, is based on a short story by Christianna Brand originally published in The Fifth Pan Book of Horror Stories (1964). [JF]



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