Why Christians Need Horror

Horror is ancient, but it has taken many different forms. While today it mostly manifests itself in novels, short stories, films, and video games, what we call horror is much older. The best definition of “horror” for our purposes is “any fiction that intends to disturb or frighten an audience.” Many Christians immediately recoil at this, asking why any story intended to disturb us should be seen as beneficial to a Christian. After all, we’re commanded to “dwell on pure, lovely, and true” things (Philippians 4), and to “give no opportunity to the devil” (Ephesians 4). While many Christians who take this position do so out of genuine concern for righteousness, the attempt is misguided and doesn’t adequately deal with the issues at hand. For starters - stories that acknowledge the existence and danger of evil, of demonic power, of the supernatural aren’t “giving opportunity to the devil,” in fact, they’re closer to doing the opposite - pointing out the reality of the devil and his power. Something too often overlooked by well-intentioned Christians is the actual frame of the stories being told, in favor of emphasizing only the content of the events in the story.