Mike Duran lamented in the comments of a recent SpecFaith article:

I’m not keeping score like Mr. Ferguson, but if he’s right about the frequency, or total lack of frequency, of reference to / publication of horror, then its pretty clear we’ve found our red-headed stepchild.

Of course he was talking broadly, even while including this blog in the analysis. To a large degree, he is right. In one sense many of the articles have been of a general nature that would apply to a broad spectrum of speculative genres including horror, but of those that are focused on a specific genre, it does tend toward fantasy and science fiction. Without going back to look, it has probably been a while since horror as a topic was broached on this blog relative to other genres.

This started my brain to churning. Dangerous, I know. I’m more than willing to discuss it, but I have a confession to make. I’m a mixed bag when it comes to horror.

On one hand, as early as six or seven, I had decided I didn’t like horror and would avoid it.

Primarily due to seeing “The Gruesome Twosome” at that age. The gore made me sick and I ended up sinking to the backseat floorboard of our car to get away from the images. I didn’t know enough about the genre to distinguish between slasher gore and more traditional horror. But the experience caused me to avoid anything horror-related for the most part. I didn’t like being scared.

Not to say I avoided it all. My step-father managed a theater for a few years. One of the side-benefits was getting to watch all the movies for free, multiple times if I liked them enough to see them again. Frequently he would show horror movies, usually Dracula versions, various monster movies, etc. I’d end up watching them often.

But to date I don’t believe I’ve read an official “horror” novel. No Lovecraft, Stephen King, Frank Peretti, Ted Dekkar, or the like. The closest I’ve came to that is Mike Duran’s novella, Winterland, though in retrospect, it felt more to me like a darker Alice in Wonderland than scary horror. I reviewed it on my blog.

Oddly, I’ve ended up writing some horror.

Two official horror flash fictions, one published, one not. Horror elements regularly show up in my fantasy books. The middle section of Reality’s Dawn contains at least three episodes one would label horror, for example.

When you think about it, many genres do that. Who can forget Doctor Who’s “Blink” episode who’ve seen it? Horror elements pop up regularly in that science fiction series. Not to mention many others. So despite my passive avoidance of the genre, I’ve been exposed to it.

That said, I hardly feel like a qualified person to broach the subject in any comprehensive manner, due to my lack of reading in the genre. That doesn’t mean I don’t have opinions, ill-informed as they might be, but I can certainly provide a platform for discussion of such topics.

To start with, why don’t I take you on a journey with me. Broccoli made me want to throw up until I was forty something. Even the smell of it turned my stomach. Now, I can eat it and even enjoy it. It’s about time I gave a horror novel a chance to hook me into the genre. To that end, I’m going to do the following.

I want the readers here to suggest a novel you feel is best representative of the genre as a whole, general market or Christian market. I know the temptation will be great for authors here to suggest their own, but I’m looking for more established works, even if more contemporary. In other words, if a person would read one horror novel their entire life, which would you recommend that best reflects that genre?

I’ll pick one from the suggestions, read it, and report back here. Not so much a review of the book, but my experience with the book and how or if my perceptions of the horror genre were affected by my reading it.

To provide some framework, I’m probably not ready for a gore-fest. I can handle violence, but starting out with shock-gore will probably not endear me to horror. Rather, it should fit Lovecraft’s definition to be valid:

The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.

While that is used in all types of genres, one might suggest horror focuses upon that reality.

What horror book would you recommend I read? How do you break down horror into subgenres?

Some time ago, a guest wrote a post here at Spec Faith which suggested that readers ought not take into consideration the author’s worldview in evaluating a story, but rather that the story should stand–or fall–on its own merit. I understand the principle and to a large extend, agree.

I mean, I enjoyed listening to works by Mozart and that didn’t change once I learned about his rather hedonistic, godless lifestyle. Should stories be any different? Should I enjoy The Adventures of Tom Sawyer less because Mark Twain pretty much hated Christianity?

This issue, however, took a turn during last year’s Clive Staples Award when some people intimated that the award meant to feature the best of Christian speculative fiction ought, in fact, to honor authors who are Christian, excluding those who demonstrate through social media that they do not adhere to some standard Christian principles. Should a person who writes things construed as racist be honored as a Christian author? Should a person who publicly denigrates a well-known Bible-believing Christian for his adherence to the view of God expressed in the Old Testament, be held up as a standard bearer of Christian speculative fiction?

To be honest, I began to second guess my earlier position.

Some writers believe that a person’s worldview can’t help but “seep into” a story. It is, after all, how the author looks at and understands life. I’ve long disagreed with that position. For example, I didn’t see hatred for Christianity in Tom Sawyer. Some anti-church attitudes, yes. Some scorn of superstition, but not a “terrible religion” theme, overt or otherwise. It simply wasn’t part of his story.

Recently a Christian who writes horror said on Facebook he doesn’t consider himself a Christian horror writer. While he writes from his worldview, he said, his stories are simply good horror and not Christian, per se. My thought, then is this: how does a Christian have a worldview that is not Christian? And if a Christian worldview, than how are the stories not Christian?

In this light, I question the “seep” method. I believe an author can intentionally include or withhold elements of his belief system.

All this brings me to the question: might our reading habits when it comes to contemporary books need a different standard from the one we use in reading books by writers of another era?

As I see it, there are writers who write stories from a broad-base worldview. They say nothing that challenges society’s status quo, one way or another, no matter what their personal beliefs might be. Anyone can read and enjoy those stories.

Another group writes with their worldview in mind. They communicate their worldview through their stories, overtly or in a subtle way. For some of these authors, the Bible informs their worldview; for others, disbelief in God is at the heart of their worldview.

If readers, then, embrace stories written for the purpose of communicating hatred toward God, a la His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman, are we not contributing to the elevation of that worldview? Aren’t we sending signals to publishers that we want more books of like kind?

Recently author Mike Duran addressed this same issue, questioning if perhaps readers are responsible for the type of Christian fiction which is most popular. If readers want nothing but sweet romance with a conversion thrown in, why wouldn’t publishers give that to them? Of course, my position is that readers want a lot more, but convincing publishers of this is hard and helping readers find the books they want, perhaps harder.

Nevertheless, the point remains: readers seem to influence what kinds of books publishers print (or produce digitally). So the question: ought readers to support authors whose worldview aligns with ours? Ought Christians support Christian writers by buying their books? Ought Christians support Christian writers who write stories that communicate a worldview with which they agree? Even if the story and/or writing might be inferior to ones produced by writers with a worldview antagonistic to God?

Thankfully, a host of quality Christian speculative writers exist. But I also know, with the many different publishing models available to us today, there are also a lot of people writing stories that are not new or innovative and that have problematic prose, but who have a high purpose to honor God and communicate the truth of His Word to those who don’t know Him. And there are those who want to write artistic stories to the point of ignoring Biblical truth.

What are Christian readers to do with either of those types of books? Do we support those writers with whom we agree? Do we give a theological pass to those who are aiming for innovation and speculation? Do we judge books solely by their merit or is it fair to say, I want to see this writer succeed because he believes what I believe, or, I want to see this writer fade from the scene because I disagree with his beliefs?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject, and please feel free to share this post with your reading friends.

Last time I suggested two ways to help two kinds of fantastic heroes — both the heroes found in great books (or onscreen), and the heroes who make them up. Here are two more.

3. DO buy, enjoy, and recommend fantastic stories.

“Wrote me a book ‘bout some magical heroes. My work here’s done.”

This should go without saying, but alas, it doesn’t.

If you want more great “quest stories”¹ in any market, you can’t just write one and self-publish it and then heroically ride off into the sunset. You also need to find, love, promote, and review the stories you love — solely because you love them and not for any other reason (see below).

Note for aspiring authors: I’m sure that’s difficult. Trust me, I know. Is there also a part of you that doesn’t want to promote others’ stories strictly for their own merit?

Lately I’ve pondered how to overcome this impulse. I wonder if Christian fantasy’s patron saint, C.S. Lewis, in his nonfiction Mere Christianity might have a solution. In Lewis’s words, about something that fantasy fans should enjoy: “Let’s Pretend.”

What is the good of pretending to be what you are not? Well, even on the human level, you know, there are two kinds of pretending. There is a bad kind, where the pretence is there instead of the real thing; as when a man pretends he is going to help you instead of really helping you. But there is also a good kind, where the pretence leads up to the real thing. When you are not feeling particularly friendly but know you ought to be, the best thing you can do, very often, is to put on a friendly manner and behave as if you were a nicer person than you actually are. And in a few minutes, as we have all noticed, you will be really feeling friendlier than you were. Very often the only way to get a quality in reality is to start behaving as if you had it already.

[…] You see what is happening. The Christ Himself, the Son of God who is a man (just like you) and God (just like His Father) is actually at your side and is already at that moment beginning to turn your pretence into a reality.

That may be the key: Even if you want to promote stories for the secret goal of eventually promoting your own, succeeding, and doing nothing but writing the rest of your life, act as if you weren’t. Gradually the apparent “hypocrisy” will give way to better habits. Might this be, as Lewis said, a hint to defeating sin-shrapnel and conforming our minds to Christ’s?

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4. DON’T act like ‘support zombies.’

“Support this story. It has Moral Values.” “Support this story. It has Realistic Grittiness.” Just two strains of the same evangelical Support Zombie plague.

Here I used the phrase “support zombies” and said evangelicals do this. It’s fairer to say we often do this. It’s fairer to define the (reluctant) term and say that evangelicals, no matter their cultural views, often cry for Supporting a thing not because it brought them delight, but to help defeat a perceived enemy.

It’s easy to apply this to folks who demand we Support, say, a ridiculous religious holiday movie because we Want Values in Hollywood™.

But this zombie plague could also come back to bite us. Might we end up promoting fantasy, gritty, paranormal, or “edgy” stories, no matter their quality or value, mainly to stick it to folks who we believe have been shuffling about droning “shuh-pporrrt” for sappy stuff?

Let’s not do that. Really.

However, let’s also not flog the poor Christian authors who truly try hard and just don’t see that the results aren’t that great. This caution is behind my reluctance to review bad books. I used to point them out with gusto, even here on SpecFaith. Now, not so much. If I review a book, it is solely because I loved the story and heroes and want others to know. Might it be better to let bad books quietly pass by? To pretend our stories are better until they are?

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Yesterday I asked Christian-fantasy advocates to Purge the Stereotype of ‘Geek’ Readers.

By that I don’t mean “alienate the alien advocates” or “banish fantasy fans from the land.”

I mean: If we think our favorite kinds of stories have only limited appeal to those who say, “I’m a geek,” we’re missing the transcendent appeal of fantasy (and other) stories — appeal that is rooted in human nature, and for Christians, roots in the epic Story of Scripture itself.

Of course there’s more to say about this. And of course this is inspired by the Marcher Lord Press sale and all the conversations afterward. Is this good? Is this bad? Will MLP’s stories and marketing change? How much? You’re not going to go all “CBA” on us, are you?

But I suggest that in one sense, readers and fans should not actually bother at all about helping particular books, The Speculative Genre, or any particular publisher(s).

And by “readers and fans,” for now I leave author/agent/industry questions completely out of it. As I said yesterday, I’m thinking more about conversations with friends at your local church, among your friends, in the workplace and abroad, and online. I’m convinced this is where the true action lies. Forget this, and you forget our roots: the grassroots.

Here are some do/don’t thoughts on how to help, not an Industry or Movement, but people.

1. DON’T promote stories for their genre or genre parts.

Disregard promotion of story parts.

How well it was said in yesterday’s comments that it’s a mistake to promote fantasy/sci-fi because of certain parts — parts such as magic devices, sleek spaceships, or strange lands.

People don’t sell new cars by saying: “Under the hood it has the highest quality coolant hose!” They either stress its features that may actually appeal to you, or even better, put it on TV, all shiny and performing driverless stunts on a closed course (do not attempt).

For those seeking similar stories by professing Christian authors, we do have SpecFaith Library BookTags.¹ But if I had my way, fans would eliminate from informal classification — I don’t speak of designations at the Library or bookstores, or within the industry — most references to genre.

I might even eliminate the descriptive term speculative. Speculating isn’t the story’s point. I’d instead call them journey stories, or quest stories. Quest stories has the scent of fantasy but implies more than fantasy.

2. DO enjoy and promote stories for their heroes and journeys.

If I’m on my game and raving about, say, The Avengers, I may mention the acting and effects and such. But more likely I’ll discuss fun heroes such as Tony Stark or Captain America.

And if I’m on my game and praising a new novel I’ve been reading, I shan’t even mention the genre elements, fantasy worlds, strange names, enviable sci-fi tech, or alternate history. Instead I’ll say: “It’s an amazing story about [Character Name], who above all else wants [goal], but [inciting event] happens, forcing him to join with [other Character Name(s)] and oppose [adversary] with one mission: [mission].”

That’s it. That’s the hero and journey. Everything after that is just color filling in the lines.

It has action, spaceships, spacey costumes, and lots of stars, plus wars.

By the way, I capitalized Character Name for a reason. Don’t let’s talk about common nouns such as young orphans, teen sons of space smugglers, peasant girls, and galactic rangers-in-training. Name them. First and (if applicable) last name. If the author did his job, that person should seem almost as real to you as a close personal friend. So tell their full names. Frodo Baggins. Edmund Pevensie. Luke Skywalker. Harry Potter.

Thus this column’s title. I want to help not things but people, both fictitious and real.

(Next time: more do/don’t quest-story challenges, and thoughts in response to your thoughts.)

Middle-aged parents who saw and loved a mainstream film like Frozen could be fantasy geeks. Maybe they just don’t know it yet.

Tomorrow’s column is about how Christian fantasy fans can help all great Christian fantasy publishers — including the recently sold Marcher Lord Press — grow their readerships.

We must quit being “support zombies,” like evangelicals, and promote the stories we love.

But that’s tomorrow. I thought I’d get started early with an edited version of this comment from yesterday. Here I replied to fellow SpecFaith-er R. L. Copple’s remarks about how new Marcher Lord owner Steve Laube apparently seeks to market MLP books more broadly.

First Rick offered his interpretation of Jeff Gerke’s expression of support:

Steve’s goal is to expand the genre into the broader “we like Amish romance” readers.

I’d say that’s not his primary job. Or Jeff’s. Or Marcher Lord’s. Or other publishers’.

It’s our task, to “sell” this genre better to churches, friends, and culture at large.

Big houses have tried to do that before with limited success in many cases

There’s the problem right there, it seems. Genre preference must change at the “grassroots” rather than because of the actions of big-house publishers.

But would someone suggest that Amish fans couldn’t like sci-fi in a house, couldn’t like it with a mouse, wouldn’t like it here or there, wouldn’t like it anywhere?

If so, then I would disagree. You’d be surprised.

Once I was at a writers’ conference, an evangelical writers’ conference chock-full of womminfolk and which smelt of Amish butter and cozy-romance perfume. I struck up a conversation with two older women about our preferred genres, and they both mentioned that though they like romance stories, they also love fantasy. They kind of admitted this in lowered voices, as if to say they only enjoyed it for the articles.

A question about your average run-of-the-mill Amish/romance fiction fan. Really, think not about imaginary groups but the people you know at church or in culture at large. If we don’t know them, then we aren’t yet qualified for this discussion:

1. How many of them would have seen, say, Disney’s Frozen in theaters?
2. How many of them have at least read Narnia or Lord of the Rings?
3. How many of them have boys crazy for superhero stories or movies?
4. How many of them have girls who love princess/fairy tale stories?
5. (Because I can just hear someone beginning to grump …) Or boys who love fairy tales and girls who love superheroes? (Happy now? :-P)

If so, then you’re talking about a closet fantasy fan who just doesn’t yet know it. Or, even if they can’t stand fantasy, they have children who love it. Booyah. Market.

We need to purge any stereotypes of fantasy fans being only stereotypical “geeks.”

Our primary question should be: how?¹

On the heels of the news that Steve Laube has purchased Marcher Lord Press, I contacted the new owner regarding the questions that some feel still have been unanswered. Despite the mound of correspondence he’s received since the news broke, Steve kindly agreed to provide us with further insight.

First, my own disclaimer. I’ve known Steve for about ten years now. Not well, mind you, but well enough for him to have rejected offering representation for my work three different times. I’ve heard him speak several times at a small local writers’ conference and met with him more than once at the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference.

On each occasion I’ve seen something different. He’s hardworking, knowledgeable, visionary, insightful, godly, vulnerable, unselfish with his time. My greatest impression of him, however, is that he is a man of Christian conviction who wants to help writers.

That being said, here is the interview with the new Marcher Lord Press guru.

RLM: Steve, I’m sure you’ve been inundated with questions since your announcement went out that you’ve purchased Marcher Lord Press, so I really appreciate your willingness to give Spec Faith some of your time. From our initial post on the news and from a follow-up response to your Q & A blog post, we’ve had a number questions. I’ll throw in a couple of my own.

You said you think speculative fiction is under represented in the Christian publishing industry (and I agree). Why buy an existent company rather than start your own (which could practically double the output of speculative fiction for the Christian market)? Besides the under representation issue, is there any other reason you want to be involved in publishing books in this genre (as opposed to mystery, for example)?

Steve Laube: The MLP brand is already established and thus is an easy answer to the first question.