There is a new movie coming out soon called "House" by Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker. I like the look of some of the stuff these men have produced, but with this I do feel weird about the idea of "Christian Horror" like it might be a contradiction or something. What do you guys think?

[Luke]

I have (um.. actually, borrowed, and never returned) one of his novels, The Oath, I think. I didn't read it all.. I'm not much for fiction, but my dad did, and it was the only Christian thing he ever read. I was thinking of getting him some for Christmas, since if I get him anything overtly Christian, it won't go down well, but I am not sure if this is the same thing as "Christian Rock" - using some worldly thing to win the lost...

I did see one of F.P's movies.. the Hangman's Curse or something. It was pretty garbage. I don't remember a gospel message in it or anything like that, and it turned out the bad guy wasn't the devil, but just some spider (sorry if I ruined it for anyone haha ). Not that I wanted to see the devil or anything, but after the whole movie and the kids and the occult, it seemed a bit of a let down "Oh hey guys, all that evil stuff we did, it turns out it was just a spider biting people and it was all a huge coincidence so I guess the occult isn't real after all". Anyway, that's how I remember it.

[Biblestudent]

"Christian" horror?
"Christian" rock?
What's next?
"Christian" disco?
"Christian" porno?
"Chriistian" gambling?

Just a thought

[Jeremy]

It makes about as much sense as Christian Fiction. I have witnessed Churches using Guitar Hero 3 to bring children into church. That seems to be about as absurd as Christian Horror.

Wow so you guys think it is wrong to read good, decent Christian fiction? I guess you are the type of Christians that think it's wrong to have any kind of fun because smiling is somehow wrong for a Christian...wow. I can understand being against the "Christian horror" because I'm not sure I even like the idea myself, but slamming Christian fiction reeks of Phariseeism.

[Biblestudent]

aussiemama, you're post kind-a triggered me to "react"

Originally Posted by aussiemama

Wow so you guys think it is wrong to read good, decent Christian fiction?

We read and performed a lot of it. (Recently, the Pilgrim's Progress)

Originally Posted by aussiemama

I guess you are the type of Christians that think it's wrong to have any kind of fun because smiling is somehow wrong for a Christian...wow.

Who believes it's wrong to smile? We might be the ones who smile more than anyone here.

Originally Posted by aussiemama

I can understand being against the "Christian horror" because I'm not sure I even like the idea myself, but slamming Christian fiction reeks of Phariseeism.

You're "not sure" whether or not you like "Christian horror", but I'm not also sure why you are "slamming" the word "Phariseeism" to others who are against it.


Fiction may include horror, and horror can be fiction; but fiction is not horror, and horror is not fiction.

Some fiction does not include horror, and nonfiction (such as the fact of Hell) can be horror!

[Brother Tim]

As the little girl stroked the mule's nose, she said, "You must be a very good Baptist, because you have such a long face."

I read Christian fiction as a teenager (Grace Livingston Hill and Emily Loring) and have enjoyed a lot of Christian fiction as an adult. I think like any hobby that can cross over to an addiction, one has to be careful. I remember becoming so absorbed in the writings of Brock and Bodie Thoene that I found myself constantly reading instead of doing other things, even reading fiction instead of my Bible, and I couldn't wait until the next book came out.

IMO, as in many things that can be seen as "of the world", it's a matter of personal conviction. I like a lot of contemporation Christian music and as far as Christian rock music goes, we can judge by fruits. If God is using it to bring a certain element of society back to Him and if it glorifies God, how can it be bad? But on the flipside of the coin, if you can't tell the difference between a particular *Christian* medium and a secular one, how can it be good?

I've enjoyed Frank Peretti's books and my kids love his youth books. I've never seen any of his movies, but I'm not really a movie-goer. It seems though that if you watched a movie and couldn't really tell it was Christ-based or if it had no message, then I don't think it would be something I'd want to go to.

P.S. -- interesting website on this subject: http://www.focusonfiction.net/ with a Frank Peretti interview here: http://www.focusonfiction.net/html/frankperetti.html

Biblestudent, absolutely NOWHERE did I say that not liking "Christian horror" was Phariseeism. In fact, it's so absurb I have no clue how you read that into my post. I'm guessing because you wanted to. What I did say was that being against Christian FICTION (read it carefully, coz I didn't say horror there) reeked of Phariseeism. I don't care for much Christian fiction, but I do like some. Someone appeared to be indicating that they thought the idea of Christian fiction at all was ridiculous, and that was what my post was in response to. Something just doesn't sit right about the whole "Christian horror" idea.

[Here Am I]

I don't think that anyone is condemning 'Christian fiction' in a blanket manner. There's some good stuff, and some not-so-good stuff.

I've read a couple of Frank Peretti's books. I've also read most of the 'Left Behind' series. As it has been stated here, if what we read gets between us and God, or if it teaches false doctrine, then we should beware of it, just like anything in our lives that keeps us from our Lord.