Tag: Horror films

Morning Musing: James 2:19

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“You believe that God is one. Good! Even the demons believe—and they shudder.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Today is Halloween. It’s the night when ghosts and ghouls come out to play. The macabre takes over and everyone feels just a bit freer to lean into mischief and mayhem than away from it like normal. Evil is stronger than it is on other days of the year. Those who belong to Jesus need to lean extra hard into prayer and righteousness to stand against this rising tide in order that the world isn’t wiped away by it; in order that the judgment of God doesn’t come to bear on us all. And do you know what the worst part of all is? Too many people believe that kind of nonsense. Don’t get me wrong: I very much believe that evil is real, but this kind of pop cultural understanding of evil I do not. C.S. Lewis mockingly observed it is a ploy of the Devil to keep us unwittingly immersed in real evil, blissfully unaware that it is slowly poisoning our souls, all the way back in the 1940s in his classic, The Screwtape Letters. Evil does exist, but it doesn’t often look like we might expect. The horror genre was classically a way for us to explore evil through the fairly nonthreatening vehicle of a story. Today it is more often little more than an excuse for lazy filmmakers to splash lots of guts and gore and nudity on the screen. A fairly recent entry into the genre, though, leans back into its roots in really powerful ways. Let’s talk for just a few minutes about Nefarious.

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Morning Musing: Galatians 5:19-21

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“Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar. I am warning you about these things – as I warned you before – that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Our culture’s relationship with violence is an interesting one. On the one hand, the movies and streaming series we produce are increasingly gory. Long gone are the days when violent releases merely hinted at the really gruesome stuff. Now directors seem to delight in finding more and more creative ways for people to be killed or otherwise mutilated, and also in showing us all of the details. Horror films used to rely on scaring audiences. Now they mostly rely on overwhelming their senses with senseless gore. On the other hand, the barbarity of Hamas’ recent attack on Israel was a shock to our senses. We hear the stories or see the videos and ask how one person could possibly do that kind of thing to another person. The answer is almost certainly not that they were just desensitized by watching recent Western horror films. The answer is that this is how people have always been. Let’s talk about why we struggle to understand that, and just what it means for us.

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Digging in Deeper: Matthew 10:28-31

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“Don’t fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; rather, fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Aren’t two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s consent. But even the hairs of your head have all been counted. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

The horror genre has been popular on the big screen, the small screen, in video games, and even in person for a very long time. There’s just something about being scared that attracts an audience. People are drawn to the adrenaline rush that comes from being put into situations that leave us feeling just a little bit out of control without actually giving up control. The major currency of the horror genre is the startling moment. It’s that moment just as the door opens and the villain jumps out from his hiding place. The best entries in the genre, though, don’t rely only on those moments. They go beyond that to build a whole story world in which everything we think we can count on for safety and security has been stripped away and we are left on our own to battle some great nemesis. A recent horror/suspense series from HBO that is itself an adaptation of a horror-themed video game has so far proven to be great new addition to the genre. Let’s talk today about The Last of Us and how it intersects with the Gospel.

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