"Eclipses figure in folklore, fiction and films. Some cultures thought that the sun was being eaten from creatures like bears, frogs, dogs, wolves or dragons. In Chinese and Japanese, the word for solar eclipse is literally “sun eaten.” In Japanese mythology, the sun goddess Amaterasu was so angry with her brother, she didn’t slam doors, but she hid herself away in a cave. The other gods got her back out by having a party that included drinking and dancing." [via Age of the Geek]

“NPR's Glen Weldon said that films use eclipses ‘to signal to audiences that the normal rules have temporarily lifted, and things are about to get weird’.” … “Eclipses have been seen as bad omens throughout history, so filmmakers leverage that belief ‘as visual cues or key plot points’, according to The Oregonian's Amy Wang.” [via Wikipedia]