The “horror” label brings a lot of baggage with it. Like it or not, films like Saw, Hostel and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre have come to define the genre. Which is one reason why religious publishers tend to avoid the “horror” label and why supporters of a Christian Horror genre are fighting an uphill battle.
Despite the caricatures and the resistance among some conservative readers, traditional horror themes fit comfortably within a biblical worldview. Horror literature has always trafficked in moral and religious themes. Good and evil, life and death, angels and devils, heaven and hell, goodness and depravity. These themes are staples of the horror genre. They also happen to be intrinsic parts of a biblical worldview.
So it’s no surprise that in defining the horror genre, the Horror Writers Association cites the Bible as part of the essential canon of horror. From What is Horror Fiction:
…horror can deal with the mundane or the supernatural, with the fantastic or the normal. It doesn’t have to be full of ghosts, ghouls, and things to go bump in the night. Its only true requirement is that it elicit an emotional reaction that includes some aspect of fear or dread. Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones is therefore just as much a horror novel as Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot. Tim LaHay’s Left Behind series is just as full of horror as Dan Simmons’ A Winter Haunting. By this definition, the best selling book of all time, the Bible, could easily be labeled horror, for where else can you find fallen angels, demonic possessions, and an apocalypse absolutely terrifying in its majesty all in one volume? (emphasis mine)
Despite the disproportionate amount of crap found in the horror industry, 
Christians will have a difficult time dissociating themselves from thematic elements found in the genre. In fact, historically, there has been no such disavowal.
For example, the Seven Deadly Sins, which are referenced occasionally in horror lit, were initially teaching tools implemented by the medieval Church. Classics like Dante’s Inferno contain some of the most macabre, disturbing images in Christian literature. And painters like Rogier van der Weyden (whose 15th Century piece Last Judgment I have featured in this post) often employed grotesque imagery. Which makes one wonder why contemporary Christian artists and consumers are so paranoid of horror imagery?
Yes, Christians are called to think pure thoughts and meditate on that which is good (Phil. 4:8). However, that does not mean we should live in denial about evil. Nor should we eschew the horrific simply because it is unsettling. In fact, it is this “unsettling” that may make our stories more efficacious. Prairie romances should have a place in the Christian catalog, but so should tales of woe. As long as there really is a place like Hell, then horror must inhabit part of the “Christian imagination.”
Classic horror, though not always explicitly “Christian,” often co-opts biblical themes, using the disturbing to explore the boundaries of existence and the human psyche. Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein was not simply about a monster. The story probes deeper, mulling the inherent problems of tinkering with the powers of creation. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the Invisible Man, The Portrait of Dorian Gray, are all morality plays of one sort or another. In fact, as I have argued elsewhere, Stoker’s Dracula is an eminently “religious” novel, containing Scripture, sacred iconography, courageous Christians, and a redemptive conclusion. The “shock value” of such stories serves only to prick our fallen sensibilities and illumine a greater good.
Many biblical stories employ a similar M.O. and seek to shock us from our apathy or spiritual slumber. For instance, Jesus told a parable about The Rich Man and Lazarus (Lk. 16:19-31). It is not a feel-good story. Lazarus is a beggar who sits at the Rich Man’s gate crying for assistance, his sores licked by the dogs. But the Rich Man is oblivious to the beggar’s plight. They both die, and are transported in opposite directions. The Rich Man cries out in torment, begging for Lazarus to bring him a drop of water. But their destinies are finalized. We are left with the Rich Man in utter, eternal, torment.
Question: Is the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus redemptive?
That word — redemption — has become somewhat of a buzzword for Christian readers. Stories are “Christian,” we say, insofar as they are “redemptive.” But what does that mean? Does it mean our stories must always end positively, with good triumphing over evil, and bad guys fessing up? If that’s the case, then the parable of The Rich Man and Lazarus is NOT redemptive.
But how can it not be — Jesus told it?
Flannery O’Connor said, “To the hard of hearing you shout, and for the almost blind you draw large and startling figures.” The parable of The Rich Man and Lazarus is one such “shout,” a “large and startling figure” for those on the brink of blindness.
For the Christian writer, then, horror is like a megaphone.
Good points, Mike. I’ve never been a big horror reader/fan. Chalk it up to watching The Texas Chainsaw Massacre when I was five or six, pretty much turned me off of anything “horror,” not realizing that horror had a much wider application.
But I can say this much. I would rather find horror in this life than the next. And you’ve brought up some good points as to why horror can indeed be redemptive.
Speaking of Jesus (hey!), a common practice among Jewish ascetic preachers in His day was the use of exaggeration to emphasize an important point — similar to the “may my descendants be cursed” sort of oath that Jews would say when testifying to something. Hence, we have Jesus telling us to pluck out our eye or cut off our hand if it causes us to sin. His audience knew (and we know now, unless you’re looking to unfairly criticize) that he didn’t mean it literally…His point was that we need to avoid hell at all costs, and his rhetorical “call to action” reflective the importance of it.
Wouldn’t this be a good starting point for Christian horror? If we as Christians (ultimately…not necessarily directly through our writing) are seeking to rescue people, wouldn’t we want to get their attention like this?
Mike, I don’t know if you saw the series of posts I did back in February re. Brian Godawa’s book Hollywood Worldviews. He looked at Phil. 4:8 in a way I thought was informative. Here is the pertinent quote (sorry for the length) originally posted at A Christian Worldview of Fiction:
Becky
Becky, thanks! This is an awesome reference!
Rebecca’s post caused me to think about something. How can one think on “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute” if we are not aware of its negative? Without contrast to the evil, the good doesn’t stand out, nor can it be fully appreciated. I think what the quote Rebecca gave is essentially saying, to think on the good, one has to consider the bad as well, or you can’t think on those things, you can’t appreciate them without that contrast.
Truth is pure, honorable, and can be lovely or ugly depending upon the perspective. The chivalrous knight was supposed to always tell the truth even unto death. That is something we Christians are not good at doing.
We sugar coat everything, preach the warm fuzzies and pretend that once eternal life begins (meaning once a person is saved by Jesus Christ) all is well when that is when trials and tribulations really begin because the world is in enmity with Jesus.
Truth is the diamond with a dark side. It is hard, and reflective, and can cut through anything. It is fact that Hell is a horrible place, and Satan is trying his deadliest best to take as much company with him as will follow him. Horror in its truest form, and we all deserve to go there. The Rich Man discovered there is no hope of redemption after the last breath is expelled and the last beat of the heart. Is that horror or is it justice? Since this is what God has declared and we know He is a Just and Righteous God, then it must be justice.
The Light of Hope that makes the diamond sparkle is Jesus who desires all should come to Him and than none should perish. The Light says that the scales will be balanced one day. All the injustices will be righted one day. Even the Rich Man knew his torment was a just reward.
The very source of redemption is the horrific death to the sinless man who is God but wore them (sins) all to put an end to those who want release and salvation from them. Horror is ugly, brutal, antagonizing, evil, and deadly. Redemption is the rescue.
Safely Home by Randy Alcorn comes to mind. The horror of the final conditions in the co-protagonist’s life was not a “happy ending” in the connotation it infers. But it was “happy” because of the redemption to him and to others.
But the more traditional horror (such as appears in Steven James’ Patrick Bowers Series) is difficult for those who face fear issues. No one expects them to read those stories, but neither do we expect them to dictate what others should read and how it should be defined.
Redemptive to me means there is a true hope provided within the pages in spite of whatever happens within the story. Somehow, some way the real hope is there to be examined along with the real horror. True and real hope does not necessitate a conversion scene, but it does point to the Way, the Truth, and the Life in Jesus Christ.
Good post, Mike. Good comments all.