Biblical Themes and Horror Fiction Don't Mix, Huh?

As the readers of this blog have probably noticed, many of the authors I review classify themselves as Christian authors. Even some of the ones who don’t openly market themselves as such, are in fact Christians. Recently, Mike Dellosso tweeted an article from CNN Belief Blog. The article, written by John Blake, focuses on the Biblical themes and trends through out the novels of the one and only, Stephen King.

Don’t believe me? Check out the article for yourself:

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/02/the-gospel-of-stephen-king/

Now, whether or not I’ll be chilling with King in Heaven is not the main point of the article (or this blog post), but it does make an appearance. Blake notes that, “King…has talked about his faith before. He describes himself as a Christian on his website and elsewhere has said he was raised as a ‘hard-nosed’ Methodist taught to believe in the Antichrist.” However, as far as King’s personal beliefs, that’s about all that’s mentioned. What is discussed is how Biblical thoughts and beliefs are blatantly evident in many of the novels by one of the most-famous Horror Fiction writer’s…ever.

Blake writes that as hard to believe as it is, “…there is an actual body of literature devoted to King’s religious sensibility. Several pastors and authors say King displays a sophisticated grasp of theology in his books, and his stories are stuffed with biblical references and story lines taken straight from the Bible.” King is quoted from an interview in 1988 saying “I’ve always tried to contrast that bright, white light of real goodness or Godliness against evil.” The quote continues stating that King actually despises “organized religion” and believes “it’s one of the roots of real evil that’s in the world.”

While I don’t agree with that last statement, the article gives some pretty secure, solid evidence of the Biblical references in King’s work.

Blake focuses on the words of the now retired Episcopal priest, Reverend Paul F.M. Zahl. Three themes are pointed out: “A child shall lead them,” “God can be cruel,” and “‘God chose the weak things’.” Zahl backs each of these ideas with the story lines of some of King’s most famous works. The first, “A child shall lead them,” is supported by the novels Salem’s Lot, The Talisman, and It. The next, “God can be cruel” by Desperation and The Green Mile. Lastly, “‘God chose the weak things’” is supported with The Stand.

For the details of each claim, you’re going to have to read the article yourself. But I do urge you to read it. Especially if you doubt how Christianity and Horror Fiction can mix, and even more so if you are a fan of Stephen King.

While I wasn’t completely aware of how deep the religious references ran in King’s work. Although we cannot be sure if these themes are truly what King had in mind when he wrote each book, I’m not going to be surprised if they are. Many authors (Horror Fiction and other) draw from the Bible for their own writing (positively and negatively).

In the two King novels I’ve reviewed for this blog, God seems to play a role. No, the characters are not portrayed as devout Christians, but the question of God, religion, the goodness behind it all, seems to always be looming in the background.

So, as John Blake says, “The best way, though, to understand King’s faith is not through his words, but through his stories.” You can judge for yourself whether or not you agree. But as I said, I’m not surprised at all.

There are probably a lot of people saying a lot of things about this article. The point I want to get across here is that even the author who has been distinguished by and famed for his ability to create works that scare, disgust, terrorize, appall, and horrify readers has found ways to incorporate subtle and not-so-subtle Biblical themes into his writing.

So those of you doubting the possible collision of the two seemingly opposite worlds… Read this article. It might give you something to think about.