1. Lisa says:

    Wow. It’s tough to know how to comment! I read your other post about your books, just to get a fuller picture. Certainly I am glad that there are Christian authors tackling this stuff, although I confess to worrying about you in the writing of it….but I’m a mother. Worrying comes second nature. It seems like you have an understanding of the dangers of delving too deep into the darkness, which is good. I’m not sure I could read your books, though, I have a hard time with Satanic themes in books and movies. But that’s okay. I’m sure there is an audience for them, one that will be encouraged by these books. So keep hanging on to that Light and shining it in the corners, to the glory of God.

    • Lisa, what a great comment. I’ve had, and probably still do have, my reservations about the horror genre, too. I’ve read a few that don’t sound near as graphic as what Mark describes, and I finally had to stop picking up books like those. I felt too . . . affected . . . while I was reading them. The light at the end didn’t wash away all the stuff I’d endured to get there.

      But I’ve come to a place where I can say, maybe some people need to be reminded of this darkness. I wouldn’t pretend to know what God wants to use and with whom He wants to use it. 😉

      Becky

    • Mark Carver says:

      Hi Lisa, thanks for the encouragement. I know these kinds of stories aren’t for everyone, but my hope is that the people that do read them will have a greater awareness of the darkness in the world but will also take courage in the fact that the darkness can be, and has been, overcome.

  2. Autumn says:

    It is hard for me to say much without having read the books, but it sounds like your overall goal is good :). I don’t write horror, but every now and then I think about some aspects of my story and worry about how other people(mainly my parents) would perceive and react to them, since some of my stories may be dark in terms of violence. Have you had to deal with something like that/how would you deal with that?

    • Mark Carver says:

      Well I wouldn’t say I’ve written any “horror” stories, just action books with horrific elements and themes, similar to movies like The Crow or Underworld. I was a bit apprehensive of what family and friends would think but I’ve had no negative reactions. In fact, I’ve had hardly any negative feedback about these books. I think the reasons are probably that not a large amount of people have read them 🙂 but also that I’ve succeeded in my goal of not glorifying or reveling in the dark/horrific elements in the story, as most horror books do. Authors often take sadistic pleasure in putting their protag through the wringer and after that, there is rarely a happy ending. In my books, and with all Christian horror, there should always be the hope of redemption. If the readers can recognize and be reassured by this, I think most can overlook things that may ordinarily creep them out.

      • Autumn says:

        Makes sense :). And maybe there’s an extent where we just have to deal with the fact that not everyone will like what we write. I know some people would not like to see a story with demons and angels in it at all, and I was a little worried about how my parents would react to my version of them, but so far they like the sound of my stories. Hopefully it will be the same for the way I handle violence, etc.

        I tend to cringe a bit when people act like only certain genres can bring people closer to God. There should be limits of course, but I’ve seen shows like Fate Zero that were very dark but have done more for me than many other stories. Fate Zero is not Christian, but I felt it raised important questions and had a sense if hope and redemption to it for those who paid attention, much like you said a book should be.

What do you think?