Christian Horror?

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jonereb

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The terms "Christian" & "Horror" sound at odds" but the fight between good and evil makes them a natural fit. I'm curious about the market for a Christian themed YA horror novel. Is this a viable market? Are agents and publishers willing to take on such a novel? Please forgive my ignorance on the matter.
 

KCathy

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I think you're wise to think those two go together. I would definitely consider one or two of Peretti's works to be at least as far into the horror genre as some of the milder King and Koontz novels. I enjoyed Christopher Pike as a teen, but the Christian in me hated the sex and swearing. I would have loved Christian horror.

There's lots of horror in the Bible: people burning newborns alive in Molech-worship, a witch calling Samuel from the grave to tell Saul he's a freaking idiot, one of the Herods being eaten alive by worms, Jael driving a tent stake through old what's his face's forehead with a hammer, etc.

I know I'm editorializing instead of helping. Have you tried searching amazon.com or just scanning the YA section of a Christian bookstore to see if anything jumps out? Now I'm playing Socrates instead of helping, lol. Sorry.

Best of luck and it sounds like a great idea to me!
 

jonereb

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KCathy, interesting that you should bring up the Saul/Samual & medium point...because in my YA novel, I let a counselor alude to that story. It's about a teen who suspects the death of his best friend is far more than meets the eye. So he inquires about the manifestation of spirits...believing that he may have actually seen one.
 

clara bow

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I so wish I had an answer for you. My husband wrote a book that is best described as adult Christian Horror, with fallen angels and all kinds of neat stuff. He tried shopping it around everywhere. No takers, except for Harbor House Books which later never followed up despite sending an email offer for publication.

It's probably such a niche market that one would really need an agent to place it. I'll bet there's an audience, though. I would love to read some quality Christian Horror (I just can't go for anyting on the shelves right now...the writing I've seen is just abysmal).

Maybe you could spin your manuscript as YA urban fantasy/paranormal with a Christian twist. Try it out with a few query letters and see what happens.
 

David Conner

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Christian Horror: Another factor to consider.

Dear Jonereb,
When I read your post, a concern struck me that I would like to share with you. But what I want to say, I will say, not as a writer, but as a fellow Christian. However, in your post, you asked only for literary feedback. Therefore, I will not offer my opinion uninvited. If you want to hear what I have to say, please send me a private message.

Your friend in Jesus Christ, Dave:)
 

Calla Lily

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The terms "Christian" & "Horror" sound at odds" but the fight between good and evil makes them a natural fit. I'm curious about the market for a Christian themed YA horror novel. Is this a viable market? Are agents and publishers willing to take on such a novel? Please forgive my ignorance on the matter.

I write Christian Horror and I'm heading off to find mainstream agents and publishers. I've been told 1) that I'm gong to fry in hell, and 2) that my writing will "offend Christians" so Christian pubs won't take a chance on alienating people with cash in their pockets.

:Headbang:

However, since I think my audience is *not* the choir, but the goths in the local theater, this is probably the right way for me to go.

If you want a sample of my latest, it's here:

http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54311

I wish both of us luck!
 

David Conner

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The terms "Christian" & "Horror" sound at odds" but the fight between good and evil makes them a natural fit. I'm curious about the market for a Christian themed YA horror novel. Is this a viable market? Are agents and publishers willing to take on such a novel? Please forgive my ignorance on the matter.


Since I posted my first message on this site (it was my second post on the net...ever), I have done a little reading among the posts elsewhere in this forum. I see that perhaps I have been a little too delicate.

Not that I intend to be unkind. Not at all. As before, I wish to be helpful. But I no longer have reservations about weighing in on an uninvited particular. That seems to be par for the course.

If your motive for writing "Christian Horror" is only for personal gratification, monetary reward, or such, then I have nothing to say to you. But if you are a Christian, writing to a Christian, or prospective Christian readership, then I encourage you to qualify the message(s) in your story according to this standard: Does it ultimately bring glory to God?
There is nothing intrinsically evil about communicating a horror story. As other posts in this thread have shown, the bible has its share of gruesome details. In fact, the most famous horror story of all tells of the trial and crucifixion of Jesus. But the deepest message of that story was not about gratuitous violence, it was about incomprehensible love and sacrifice.

We have all heard of the movie "The Passion of the Christ," and many have seen it, including myself. As I watched this story unfold, I was deeply disturbed by the graphic portrayal of Christ's suffering at the hands of his assailants. This was "Horror" in its clearest form. But when I left the theater that night, I was not buzzing from some kind of negative high that appealed to my dark side. I was stricken with remorse for the part that I had (and still have) in putting the Son of God on that Cross. I saw myself, and others in a new light: If Jesus would willingly die like that to redeem us and show us what surrender really looks like, then we are all of immense value. And if he could be so far outside of himself that he was able to pray for his killers while they were killing him, then maybe I can forgive those who follow me too closely in traffic.

I wept all the way home, and accepted his gift that night.

Now, certainly, the story in that movie is a hard act to follow. But it is a perfect example of how a horror story can bring glory to God. It depends on the content of the story, and the spirit in which it is written. Getting published is not the ultimate goal, it is pleasing the Ultimate Editor that matters most.
 
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Ralyks

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I think authors of horror would have better luck trying secular markets and keeping the Christian message subtle. Horror is, ultimately, about good vs. evil, and thus, at its core, can lend itself well to spirtual themes and Christian values. I have definitely observed Christian currents in some of Stephen King's writing, for instance. However, I think most Christian publishers will be reluctant to touch horror as a genre because the supernatural elements so often risk becoming "theologically incorrect," so to speak, and because of a general feeling/belief that it isn't "Christian" to take pleasure in creating or experiencing fear, which is what horror, as a genre, is about--the thrill of being scared. This is not to say that Christian horror can't be done; it's only to say that your chances of finding an explicitly, specifically Christian publisher are slim.
 

Ralyks

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I got banned from a Christian forum for posting a story that was considered too gory. Have they ever read the Bible! It is full of sin and gore.:wag:

However, there's no detail. It's the detail that most Christians object to. You are told Jael drove a tent peg through Sisera's head, and that is all you are told. You are not told about the blood, or the fracturing of the skull, or his screams, etc. There really isn't "gore" in the Bible. There is only horror directly and briefly stated in the context of a larger lesson. The horror genre, on the other hand, may have a larger lesson, but the thrill is in the detail. I can understand why many Christians have a problem with the genre, even if I do not personally.

Of course, Dante's Inferno has plenty of detail...so great Christian horror literature has gone before.
 

small axe

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It is one of my big disappointments that the Christian message is so easily relegated BY CHRISTIANS to the ghetto of niche markets. The comments above showcase the problem: Christian "horror" must not be allowed to be "too horrible" -- when in theory the Christian doctrine is perhaps BEST SUITED to deal with the Horror genre.

Our Evil Guy is ... the BIGGEST BAD EVIL guy.
Our Hero against Evil is ... THE BIG HERO against Evil.

And our audience of billions of devout, to the core Believers?

Wimps. Softies. Who don't like to be challenged, who don't like to examine their OWN inner worlds.

Please.

Jesus hung with the prostitutes to preach His message of Salvation.
Jesus chatted with Demons and the Devil.
Jesus didn't SHY AWAY from the scary stuff, he went and faced it down.

Has anyone seen the excellent Horror movie FRAILTY? There's a challenging movie. FALLEN? THE EXCORCIST? Heck, even CONSTATINE.

The Christian message should be taken where it's most needed, period.

The Goths have something to teach us. My favourite part of any Vampire movie is the Crucifix. How many "Christian Movie Goers" refuse to see a movie where the Crucifix conquers Evil?

Shame on them. Too bad.
 

Plot Device

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"The Exorcism of Emily Rose" was written and directed by Christians. The director in particuar, Scott Derrickson, has repeatedly explained he sees horror as an ideal vehicle for conveying the truths of God. To paraphrase him: when one considers the existence of Evil, one is, by default, forced to consider the existence of Good. And the question of God is then brought to the forefront.

And as for the validity of the term "Christian horror", Frank Peretti is called the father of "Christian horror."
 

Plot Device

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And on the subject of Scott Derrickson, because of his resume as a horror director, and his known-around-Hollywood grasp of the deeper philosophical points and theological aspects of the Christian religion, and most especially because of the box office success of TEoER, he has recently been given the honor/responsibility of directing the huge huge budget film Paradise Lost.

Going back a few years in time, here's an interview with him from around the release of TEoER:

http://www.christianweek.org/opinions/artsreview/vol19/1913.html

“My whole trajectory in this genre started when I was in film school,” he says during a phone interview from his home in Glendale, California. “I knew that I wanted to integrate my faith with cinema in some way that was relevant to the culture.”

After graduating from Biola University, Derrickson pursued a master’s degree in film at the University of Southern California; it was at that time that he read C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters and Walker Percy’s novel Lancelot, which states that “evil” is “surely the clue to this age, the only quest appropriate to the age...God may be absent, but what if someone should find the Devil?”

“It really started to resonate with me,” says Derrickson, “that this was the genre where a Christian could connect with mainstream culture, and there was potential there to not preach to the choir—and to not even preach to the culture, but connect with the culture. And that is certainly what I have been trying to do with a lot of my work.

“In the case of The Exorcism of Emily Rose, I was very committed not to make a movie was intended to give spiritual or religious or metaphysical answers to the audience. I really just wanted to make a film to provoke the mainstream audience to ask themselves what they believe, and cause them to come away from the film provoked to think about and discuss spiritual matters and spiritual issues that I think are profoundly important.”
 

AzBobby

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Do we always use the term "horror" correctly?

The idea of "Christian horror" made me scan my mind for good examples, and immediately I thought of a few that don't qualify. First, I thought of parts of C.S. Lewis's space trilogy that I happened to find scary (hero is stuck in a cave with a devil-possessed corpse mocking him at one point, if I remember correctly). But those aren't horror stories. They're adventure tales, "romances" as Lewis called them using the old-fashioned definition of the term, that happen to contain a few scary and suspenseful passages.

True horror challenges the reader with a skewed look at the world. It's more than scary moments added to an adventure tale. Horror reaches inside and gives the reader a thrill ride based on that horror. They read it with the expectation of entering the dark side of life, even some irrational dark side they don't believe in... in fact, the more irrational, the better the horror. A good horror story might dole out the gore, violence, and other ostensibly evil moments in small doses to merit better suspense; yet the underlying universe of that story is supposed to support that dark nightmare content, as if it's inevitable and always waiting in the background, as if the reader might turn around and see the same thing happening outside his/her own window. Some would argue that's the whole point of a horror story, including the fair share of horror stories with a somewhat happy ending (e.g. where the main characters escape the immediate danger).

So I'd suggest that a horror story is different from a story containing horror. Passion of the Christ is borderline horror to me, but I have other issues with that film that separate it from a straight depiction of the passion story (pick any other film about Christ), in the way I see it as salivating a bit much over the violence, and presenting a (new) point of view that the degree of superficial horror in Christ's passion was key to its spiritual value. Some Christians would disagree with me on that very point and embrace the horror-view of the Passion, so that may be an exception for some. Otherwise, I can't agree that some biblical tales are horror tales. They merely contain horror scenes.

There's a bit of controversy in most of the circles I've belonged to, whether one can consider a true horror tale a wholesome endeavour either as a reader or a writer. I for one enjoy it now and then, in writing and film alike. There are many explanations for what's "good" about horror, psychologically, culturally, and so on, that I won't get into... but if horror means a tale is actually immersed in a skewed world view, I can see how it's difficult to define a thing like "Christian horror."
 
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small axe

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... but if horror means a tale is actually immersed in a skewed world view, I can see how it's difficult to define a thing like "Christian horror."

'I walk as an angel
Through the streets of Sodom
Kneel in prayer
By the stained bedsheets of Gomorrah
My soul flutters in my breast like a trapped songbird
Singing God's Love,
God's Mercy,
God's Holiness
I would reach out to them
The Lost Souls around me
The beautiful souls, the lost precious prodigal souls
And Heal their Sadness,
Their Lonliness,
Their Fear
Here
They come they come outside my window
I rise to greet them, to embrace them with
God's Love,
God's Mercy,
God's Holiness

In the form of Fire
And they are made
to Burn'

It may suck as poetry, but it's 'Christian Horror' I suppose.

LoveForgives2.jpg
 
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III

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All it takes is one or two little old ladies to be offended by a book cover or hear that their grandson read a "Christian Horror Novel" with lots of blood, and they'll be complaining to the manager of the local Christian Bookstore. What do managers of Christian Bookstores care about? I'd conjecture "not getting complaints from little old ladies". Frankly I'm amazed that Ted Dekker's latest book Skin is getting such prominent display space in Christian and B&N stores. Maybe the times are a' changing?

On a related note, KLOVE only met 61% of their fundraiser goal, so maybe the whole Christian Media Machine is being forced to re-examine itself? Wouldn't that be great if there was a revolution within Christian Fiction (Horror, Sci-Fi, Fantasy) where publishers were scrambling for new authors? I know, I know, it'd also be great if it rained doughnuts, but still ...
 

Plot Device

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All it takes is one or two little old ladies to be offended by a book cover or hear that their grandson read a "Christian Horror Novel" with lots of blood, and they'll be complaining to the manager of the local Christian Bookstore. What do managers of Christian Bookstores care about? I'd conjecture "not getting complaints from little old ladies". Frankly I'm amazed that Ted Dekker's latest book Skin is getting such prominent display space in Christian and B&N stores. Maybe the times are a' changing?

On a related note, KLOVE only met 61% of their fundraiser goal, so maybe the whole Christian Media Machine is being forced to re-examine itself? Wouldn't that be great if there was a revolution within Christian Fiction (Horror, Sci-Fi, Fantasy) where publishers were scrambling for new authors? I know, I know, it'd also be great if it rained doughnuts, but still ...

I know nothing of Skin. Please tell me about it.
 

III

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I know nothing of Skin. Please tell me about it.

I don't know much about it, but here's the link to it on Amazon. My wife has read a few Ted Dekker books and enjoyed them. He looks to be about the biggest name in Christian Horror right now. At least his books are stacked high and wide in the stores.
 

small axe

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I wonder (but don't begin to know) how many "Christian" publishers would reject Horror out of principle (good for them) versus those who would publish and sell Horror if it were a big seller for them?

Not comparing THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST to "Horror" per se ... but I suppose many were surprised by that audience's acceptance of bloodshed (when offered a proper context or message)

Obviously, that was a very very unique context however, so maybe extrapolation is pointless ...

Given the moral emptiness of much "Horror" though, it'd be cool to have Meaning and Morality play a bigger role in the genre (as religious issues are beginning to move into Fanrasy genre)
 

Calla Lily

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I wonder (but don't begin to know) how many "Christian" publishers would reject Horror out of principle (good for them) versus those who would publish and sell Horror if it were a big seller for them?

Not comparing THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST to "Horror" per se ... but I suppose many were surprised by that audience's acceptance of bloodshed (when offered a proper context or message)

Two opinionated opinions, take 'em for what they're worth.

1-I'd object to a Christian bookstore rejecting any fiction sight unseen. Heck, I'd object to any bookstore doing that. I learn about something before I make a decision. I've exposed myself to a lot of dreck and some very disturbing books that way, but I then made informed decisions--and I know what and why to protect my kids from.

2-I definitely compare PotC to horror. My gut reaction after seeing it the first time: it was a snuff film. Yes, I saw it again and it is a groundbreaking movie, but it's nothing less than horror. The tiny breaks in the gore and evil (carpentry, Sermon on the Mount, Last Supper) only heightened the awfulness of it all.

Hey--that's how I try to write!

Off soapbox now.
 

small axe

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Two opinionated opinions, take 'em for what they're worth.

1-I'd object to a Christian bookstore rejecting any fiction sight unseen. Heck, I'd object to any bookstore doing that. I learn about something before I make a decision. I've exposed myself to a lot of dreck and some very disturbing books that way, but I then made informed decisions--and I know what and why to protect my kids from.

2-I definitely compare PotC to horror. My gut reaction after seeing it the first time: it was a snuff film. Yes, I saw it again and it is a groundbreaking movie, but it's nothing less than horror. The tiny breaks in the gore and evil (carpentry, Sermon on the Mount, Last Supper) only heightened the awfulness of it all.

Hey--that's how I try to write!

Off soapbox now.

1) But I suppose Christian publishers wouldn't have to reject it 'sight unseen' ...

They could simply say "Know what? We don't wanna publish or sell your book because we don't like the scene where the psycho-killer rapes and decapitates the six cheerleaders. Even if all the other ones are saved by the angel, and the psycho-killer repents and it saved by the Lord while escaping to Damascus."

And another publisher might say: "Well, our readers will see the rape and murder in the morning newspaper or on the nightly tv news, no matter what we do ... and that book has the most-inspiring psycho-killer redemption scene ever written ... and it might sell a million copies. So we'll publish it and sell it!"

Some folks don't want to hang out in brothels, even if it's to save the prostitutes' souls who work there, I suppose ... It's a judgement call.

2) Well, I just meant PASSION OF THE CHRIST wasn't meant to be a genre "Horror" film, just like a documentary about the Holocaust serves a different purpose and intent than watching HOSTEL. Both can be brutal and intense ... but one can hope to enlighten and elevate the audience, etc.
 
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