Halloween is nearly upon us, and with it the controversy of how the Christian church should respond. We have had discussion on demons and such, and how that fits in a scientific view, but thought I would take it a little different direction.
I just listened to an enjoyable podcast with the Holy Post guys, and looks like I can share it here even though you usually have to be a subscriber: https://www.patreon.com/posts/skyepod-hell-114134613?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_fan&utm_content=web_share
In it , Skye and Kaitlyn discuss haunted houses and the Christian version of Hell houses, and the positive and negative things about them. One of the positive points was that haunted houses help show people that there indeed is evil in the world, and there is an enchanted aspect of reality. Also, it is part of a tradition to mock evil and in so doing say it has no power over us. A negative aspect of Hell Houses (if you are not familiar, it is usually a depiction of the horrors of hell stemming from sin, and sort of graphic depiction of the old fire and brimstone preaching common in many circles past and present) is that it depicts a distorted gospel and is fear based rather than love based. Listen to the podcast for a more expanded explanation, or perhaps we will just see where the discussion leads.
What do you think? Do you like horror? Haunted houses? What do you see good and bad in our cultureās celebration of Halloween?
As an aside regarding haunted houses, a what I assume is a distant relative turned criminal ended up as a display in one, to be discovered as a real body during the filming of a TV show. Quite an interesting story, tragic and funny at the same time:
I also listened to the podcast. Over the years, I have come to like Halloween because of the hint of mystery and a world beyond what is seen that stirs the imagination. I think Horror and science fiction are alike in that, when done well, they both can stir the imagination and introduce us to new worlds, whether we are talking about another planet or another dimension inhabited by ghosts and goblins. That being said, horror tends to inspire the dark side of the imagination, and you do have to be careful of that. For example, I do not find horror that focuses on blood and gore to be appealing since it strikes me more as just dark rather than imaginative. I most like horror that deconstructs classic monsters and interprets them as misunderstood instead of downright evil. I tend to use the Halloween season as an excuse to work on creative writing projects, which is my way of redeeming the holiday by celebrating the positive power of imagination instead of reveling in evil. Since Halloween was a Christian holiday to begin with, and because most Christian alternatives, such as the hell house, tend to be the holiday equivalent of alternative Christian film and music, low quality copies of the same thing, I am not against celebrating it per se. What I would be careful of is to make sure that the celebration of Halloween is mocking evil and not reveling in it, like Kaitlyn said on the podcast.
Personally, I think Halloween is the best holiday. Far superior to Xmas and Easter. Iām a fan of Eternal Halloween and Halloween 365 days a year. Even have the shirts from HalloweenTShirtCo. Iām definitely a fan of horror. For fact I almost exclusively read horror books, listen to horror podcasts and audiobooks and watch horror movies and shows for fiction. I subscribe to three apps that only show horror. Screambox, Shudder and POV Horror which is exclusively found footage horror films. I watch all of it. I enjoy black and white horror films, the sci fi B horror films of the 50s to the gory SFX films of the 80s and the modern social commentary horrors of the last few years. I watch horror where the story is very in depth and the characters are all well developed into characters you care about to gore wh-re body slashers where there is less of a story than in sole porno full of realistic sfxand practical effects. Some horror is good versus evil. Some horror is just the suffering as the byproduct of some bad choice ā ignoring the wanting man at the gas station and trespassing into the closed down camp ā type of stuff. I also enjoy a lot of haunted houses and forests. Stuff that is for adults only to family friendly corn mazes and pumpkin carving. I like pumpkin spice too and enjoy the seasonal outburst of it every fall.
So there is some pros to horror such as many of the stories are good vs evil. For many horror is a controlled experience of handling trauma. Many find it peaceful even for that reason. They are stressed and so they watch a horror film where their heart rate goes up and down until itās out of their body and it ends on a good note leaving them relaxed and ready for bed. Some enjoy all the hard work going into practical effects. Many people bond over horror. Horror has tons of cosplaying and conventions. Lots of horror books clubs and film clubs pop up across the world. Probably has one of the stronges cult following of fans.
Me and several friends from church all went and watched Terrifier 3 together. Though the film is not family friendly by any means and on the extreme side of horror itās full of Christian symbolism. For me itās a fantastic Christian horror fiction series. Again, itās extreme horror and not for kids and even most mainstream horror fans who are adults will be very turned off by the film. Ultimately horror is not for everyone. Just like comedy is not or action.
Biggest con of Halloween though is that itās not a two day national holiday so you can be out that day and the next day. The other biggest con is that itās more centered around kids and as an adult I think we need to get it more adult driven. I always enjoy summer when at the beach they do an outdoor screening of Jaws and everyone shows up and we eat whole floating in tubes, kayaks and so on in the water. I just started listening to the episode
Of the podcast you linked sky pod by finding it on iTunes. Iāll add more thoughts later.
A lot of the very gory bare knuckle stories are created with tons of imagination. Then imagination is through focusing on practical effects and SFX. People who since teens have been fascinated with making realistic blood, fingers, transformations and so on. They often go to college for art and put all their passion and skill into making things that turn your stomach. They tend to focus on the typical horror story, where the story is told through tropes and hyper fixates on visual story telling.
True, they can be imaginative, but I also think that is the darker side of the imagination of which we need to be careful. Imagining the most creative way to kill someone in the most gory possible probably is not the best way to renew creation. This is not to say that there arenāt ways which slasher films can contribute to the renewal of the world, for example graphically depicting the reality of evil, but you do still need to be careful.
It sounds like a good one, @Phil, based on their observations. I enjoyed this You Tube clip my kids and I watched the other night together. I hope you do, too.
I donāt think watching horror films, even the most gory horror films followed by driving while listening to the darkest heavy metal music on the way to a friends house to play the bloodiest game while watching a brutal boxing max has any affect on someoneās morality, renewal of creation, ethics or faith or anything. Tons of people have watched romance films listening to country music and then did something evil to a mass of people.
For example, Iām watching Jason 6 which is the Jason everyone thinks of when they think of Jason, which is one of the more gory films. If you watch the behind the scenes with Brian Wade and Swift they are laughing and having a blast.
One of the greatest horror special effect masters is Tom Savini. Heās donāt some of the goriest scenes in horror. Heās sometimes brought in just to do one kill in a film. Heās not an evil person. I mean itās not Rob Zombie but Diddy whoās on trail who doing lots of evil stuff. For a fact, Zombie partners with tons of animal sanctuaries. If horror awakens something dark in you, thatās a you problem, not a horror problem. Not saying you as in you, but in general.
Well. it is probably not true that it has no effect at all since everything you consume has an effect on your morality, ethics, or values, as you pointed out with country music. That being said, I was in no way implying that people who watch slasher films are all going to become serial killers, simply that the genre has a tendency to send some people, not all, down a dark path which is not edifying, even if it doesnāt inspire them to become axe murderers, which it doesnāt in most cases. I would say the same thing about country music, romance, or even contemporary worship songs. They can all potentially lead you somewhere that isnāt edifying. Slasher films do this in a specific way that I think someone should be careful of depending on how well they stomach violence and gore. Some people are not affected by it at all, but others will be disturbed by it. That was my point.
Sure, everything can affect. But generally, in this kind of conversation when horror and Halloween is brought up the implication is that it tends to lead people towards evil or open up ādemonic portalsā or is not edifying and so on and thatās just not true. Just like people in general are not affected by stuff like that. I could watch gang movies everyday, for the next 20 years and not be inspired in the least bit to join a gang.
If horror does not really affect anyone, just leads some, like anything else then it just seems like a moot point to bring up.
Like what was said is that ā horror and darker imagination, not good for renewal and etcā¦ā and what I said was that I donāt think horror has any affect on a persons morality, ethics, faith and so on.
The context is that it seem to only gory horror and dark fiction leads people down a potentially slippery slope of evil and I was saying I donāt think thatās the case at all. For example many of my closest friends are big horror nerds and also been vegans for 10+ years. I donāt even kill mosquitoes that bite me but brush them off or blow them away and I watch horror everyday almost to some degree or listen to it as a podcast or audiobook.
There is a history of things like being goth, liking horror, enjoying darker niches of entertainment, listen to metal or rock and so on being associated with evil even though none of it is.
Wanted to share a few other podcasts that dove far deeper into horror and faith. They are all Christian podcasts focused on horror .
I think Halloween and horror movies are something that has become popular fun but when you start to think these matters more deeply, from the viewpoint of biblical principles and teachings, there is not much fun left.
I am not a purist but I do not see how horror movies or horror themes would be positive building blocks in our life.
I have read that for children, horror themes may give a way to confront fears in a way that is relatively safe. That is supposed to be positive, although I am not convinced of the positive explanation. Meeting the horrors alone or with another human may leave the child thinking he/she needs to confront horrors relying on his/her own strength. Meeting frightening matters with Jesus is better because safety against evil is not dependent on your own abilities if you walk with Jesus.
I have also read that horror films may be a way to let steam off in cultures where the social code is tight and you have to behave in a calm and outwardly friendly way even if your feelings would boil inside you. Watching violent movies is better than splattering people in real life but I assume there would be even better ways, like some sorts of active sport.
I have sometimes watched horror movies where āpriestā characters try to ward of demons, with the purpose to understand what kind of worldview these movies provide. These movies have given a hopelessly wrong impression about the relative strength of evil vs. God, and about the ways how real evil should be expelled. In such movies, the image of God may be very distorted, even to the point where God appears as some sort of bad ruler and devil as a more sympathetic character. If people build their understanding on such building blocks, that is not good.
Do you think there is any positive benefits of having people consider a spiritual realm in this often naturalistic society? Or do horror houses tend to trivialize evil and spiritual aspects? When you get to the Hell House phenomenon common a few decades back, did that do more harm than good? I think so, and fortunately I donāt see that type of production much anymore, although Kaitlyn indicates it is a regular thing at Liberty U.
The only one of these that would concern me is watching a brutal boxing match. Watching two people actually injure one another (usally leading to permanent brain damage) for my own entertainment seems to me to raise different kinds of issues than scary fun.
I do not know how many have started to believe in a spiritual realm because of horror movies or horror themes. My guess is that some but not very many. Stories for children may have a stronger effect than movies made for adults because children are more open to new ideas. Adults tend to have a more fixed thinking that reflects their earlier beliefs and the cultural heritage.
Yet, repeat a claim often enough and someone starts to believe it, no matter how crazy the claim is. That is why it matters what the movies and scenes tell about the reality.