What if I told you that horror is actually one of the most Christian genres? That’s not just my opinion—I’ll show you how the Bible itself proves it.
If you clicked on this video, you most likely fall into one of two camps. Either you love horror and want to make good Christian horror, or you’re a skeptic and you’re convinced the horror genre is sinful.
Either way, today I’ll debunk the three biggest myths and objections Christians have about the horror genre and share what we should do instead from a biblical perspective. As a matter of fact, the Bible has some rather shocking imagery most people would rather gloss over. And to tie everything together, I’ll use one of my own horror short films as a practical example of how Christians can do this.
Myth number 1: Horror Shows Evil Things, Therefore, Christians shouldn’t watch it.
I’m going to say something that might surprise you. This objection isn’t 100% false. What I mean is that this statement gets the first half right, but falls apart at the conclusion. People will often misread scripture and completely dismiss genres like thriller and horror. The conclusion is essentially that anything portraying an evil thing is wrong, but more specifically, portraying things that make us uncomfortable is wrong. Not that God actually says having evil in a story is sinful, but it makes us uncomfortable which justifies doing away with it altogether.
This is a common mistake many Christians make when discerning what is acceptable in media, in this case, horror. It’s such unknown territory that many don’t want to touch it with a 10-foot pole. But that is a big mistake. The conclusion that it is wrong to watch a movie that has portrayals of evil in it is unfounded. You’ll find nothing supporting that argument in Scripture. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Let’s look at how the Bible depicts violence:
First, there’s Judges 4:20-22, where Jael drives a tent peg through a man’s skull. You won’t find that in any Christian pop music. Psalm 137:9 describes brutal judgment on sins.
And of course, the Gospels give us an account of the crucifixion. There was actually a study done on what Jesus went through, and let’s just say it’s not what all the candy-coated Jesus movies show. It’s linked in the description below.
These passages don’t just mention sin in passing—they show it in brutal, transparent detail. The Bible doesn’t shy away from portrayals of sexual content either:
Genesis 34:1-5, Judges 19:24-26, and 2 Samuel 13 all describe ruthless rapes and sexual debauchery.
Lastly, portrayals of the occult, the topic of this video:
1 Samuel 28, when Saul goes to the witch of Endor to call up a spirit, and Matthew 8:30-32 and Mark 5:8-10 both show Jesus interacting with and rebuking some very disturbing demons.
These are just a small amount of verses you can find depicting evil in a raw and transparent way. So if God Himself doesn’t shy away from portraying evil in His Word, why should we as storytellers? I think it’s a bit of a double standard to say you shouldn’t see depictions of evil (which by the way would rule out every story ever told) and then read about the rape of Tamar and Dinah and be totally cool with that. That makes zero sense to me, and I’ll tell you why.
The issue isn’t the fact that these things are shown in Scripture; it’s how God shows them that’s important. Portraying sin for what it is doesn’t equate to endorsing it. I think that’s what a lot of Christians who are afraid of horror get wrong. Because we live in a sin-filled world, we need stories that show sin for what it is just as the Bible does, and that goes for all genres. To brush off the darker side of the truth is, in my opinion, a bit naive and ignorant. God doesn’t shield us from the truth of the brutality of sin. He’s unapologetically transparent with us, and I think we as artists need to emulate that. That doesn’t mean we show pornographic content, don’t get me wrong, that is not what I’m arguing for here. What I am arguing for is a realistic and holistic approach to how Christians have been telling stories, or rather, the lack of Christian storytelling. I’ve made a whole video on that, so make sure to check it out.
There’s one movie I think was masterful in how it portrayed evil. I highly recommend you watch it for yourself. You will only fully understand what I’m sharing with you once you see this movie. The movie I’m talking about is The Sound of Freedom. The movie centers around a special agent that deals with human trafficking. It’s based on a true story, by the way. It’s an immensely dark topic with a wide web of disgusting and horrific information, but this movie is masterful in how it goes about portraying this immense evil. With the use of creative language, cinematography, acting, and sound design, this movie single-handedly exposes the darkness of sex trafficking without making you feel dirty and disgusting after watching it.
Christians need to follow in the footsteps of this film. It opened up the discussion of a horrible topic and illuminated it with the light of Christ. That is how Christians should showcase evil in stories.
This leads me to myth #2: Depictions of the Occult are Sinful to Watch
I’m going to do something counterintuitive and call out the sin in the horror genre.
The reason the horror genre is filled with garbage is not because the genre itself is evil, but because Christians abandoned it. Churches have refused to engage with it. And as a result, we’ve surrendered it to those who have no love for God. It’s the same with romance, fantasy, or any other genre. Where God’s people aren’t active and prospering, the enemy is sure to inhabit. We need to take up the space and fill it with the light of Christ. That’s what we’re called to do as filmmakers, storytellers, and as an audience. This ties back into the objection.
Horror is saturated with disgusting and terrible movies for two reasons:
- Moral ambiguity
- No moral limits
Horror isn’t depraved because of the genre—it’s depraved because the writers lack moral limits. When Christians abandon a space, moral ambiguity fills the void. Without God’s truth defining boundaries, anything becomes permissible. Suddenly, people wonder: ‘Maybe Ouija boards aren’t so bad. Maybe worshiping Satan is just another aesthetic. Maybe morality itself is subjective.’ And of course, that’s what’s happened. Without God’s moral law, there is no standard to say otherwise.
This is what happens when the Church refuses to engage. When Christians don’t step in to set a moral framework, the culture sets its own. And in case you haven’t noticed, its standards aren’t exactly biblical. But you might say, ‘Aren’t movies like Hereditary and the Saw franchise proof that horror is inherently depraved?’ No—those movies exist because there’s no objective moral standard shaping them. Without moral limits, artists push further into darkness, feeding depravity for shock value.
Those kinds of movies are made because there is a lack of moral standards and principles guiding the writers and producers. It means movies that praise Satan and spit on the face of our Creator are accepted. Is this really what you want? That’s the result of irresponsibility and a refusal to deal with this genre. Why? Because it’s uncomfortable, and some people would rather slap a label on something instead of dealing with it like a rational human being. God calls us to fight and actively be involved in his work. That means facing sh*t head-on!
When Jesus says, “Be not afraid” and “Do not be anxious” he’s not calling us to abandon anything that makes us feel afraid or anxious. That means we need to confront it. How can you get over an addiction unless you face the root issue? You can’t fight alcoholism by ignoring the pain!
The danger here isn’t seeing evil. It’s glorifying it. When you take something disgusting and filthy and put it on a pedestal, that is where you cross the line. God’s word shows immensely dark things, but he never glorifies them. All the glory is owed to God, and as artists, whether we’re writing horror or a fairy tale, we need to point to Christ amidst the darkness. This reminds me of something one of my filmmaking friends said to me. He said, “The light shines brighter in the dark.” Think about that for a second. You and I are God’s footsoldiers and we’re in a dark tunnel. Our main weapon is a flashlight: God’s Word and Truth. Our job is to shine that flashlight in the dark and expose it, but you wouldn’t see the flashlight beam very well if you were in a well-lit area. That’s exactly why God calls us to go into these shadow-filled areas and shine his light into them. We can’t do that if we’re sitting in a safe zone all day. We need to take the light–God’s Truth–with us into the battleground so others who are in the darkness can see it.
This leads me to myth number 3: God Says We Should Only Watch What Is ‘Good, Lovely, and Beautiful.’
This often misquoted verse from Philippians 4 is something Christians use to dismiss a genre like horror. However, we would be poor Christians if we didn’t show and understand the whole truth. Remember earlier when we talked about how the Bible doesn’t shy away from showing evil? This is why Philippians 4 can’t mean ignoring reality. Truth isn’t just what makes us feel good. If truth was only what made us feel comfortable, we’d have to ignore huge chunks of the Bible.
God doesn’t call us to only focus on what’s beautiful and pleasing to the eye–He also calls us to confront the truth, even when it’s uncomfortable. The reality of human trafficking is one of them. It is simply a dark and disturbing truth. But the other half of this truth is that we can and are working toward a solution by the grace of God. It’s my opinion that as Christians we can’t fully showcase God’s light without also contrasting it against the dark. God himself does this. Look to those scripture verses I mentioned earlier. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross was horrific, and yet it is the most moving and beautiful act of love in history. The Bible doesn’t talk about “Good, lovely and beautiful” in a shallow sense. It is also good and praiseworthy that we discuss and confront the darkness and violence in our world. We live in it, so we can’t ignore it. Showing realistic stories means being true to reality but also using God’s morality as our foundation.
We cannot spread God’s truth and gospel by taking a neutral position and being on the sidelines. The goal here is not to reject horror, but to reclaim it. That brings me to my short film. I’ve spent the past two months creating a psychological horror film that uses the principles we’ve talked about. See these aren’t just nice ideas–they are tried-and-true standards by which we can tell good stories.
This is exactly why I’ve made my own horror film. The main question I’m trying to provoke in my viewers is this: What happens when you open a door to the enemy? In my film, this manifests as demonic oppression, among other things. So the question becomes, how will my character cope with this experience? How will he escape? Will he make the right choice? What happened in his past or what decisions did he make that allowed a demon to manipulate him? And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
I’ve spent time curating and cultivating a world where I can explore these ideas and provoke my audience to think about them. I may not communicate them perfectly, but I’m trying my best. That’s another important lesson for artists. You don’t have to be perfect, but you must embody God’s standards to the best of your abilities. I’ve made another video about this, so be sure to check it out. I will put it on screen somewhere.
I have to be honest with you. I was scared to make a horror film. This genre is nearly unknown territory for most Christian artists, at least the well-known ones. But I’m not satisfied with the status quo. I’m not satisfied that Christians are known for dirt-quality films. We are better than that, and I know you know that. I had to wrestle with my reasons for making my film. I spent many writing sessions in prayer and contemplation to make absolutely sure this was what I wanted. Telling stories about dark things is not something I take lightly. The people who wrote Sound of Freedom didn’t take it lightly, and it’s evident in their writing. If you’re not taking time to wrestle with and consider the story you’re making, it’s probably not very good. Any filmmaker could say they write stories but barely take the time and energy required to craft something truly amazing. It takes immense brainpower to think through the moral questions of your story before you even put it to paper, let alone a screen.
My story has portrayals of demonic oppression; it has a demon in it. But it’s not willy-nilly. I’m not throwing evil at the screen for shock value. I’m showing evil for what it is in the context of God’s moral code. Morally grey areas don’t exist. There is no such thing as neutrality and anyone who says so is ignorant of the truth. It’s true that there are some things we wrestle with because it’s not immediately apparent whether it’s good or bad, but there is no such thing as neutral sin. That’s why it’s so important that with something like horror, we show evil in its proper context.
This video is by no means a comprehensive guide to horror, but I wanted to break the ice and start the conversation. If you want a more in-depth guide, please share what you’d like to know in the comments. At the end of the day, if you disagree with me, that’s ok. We’re still brothers in Christ regardless of any differing opinion. But the point of this video is to open the conversation and light a fire in the hearts of fellow Christian artists. If you want to help reclaim horror for Christ, join my channel membership—it directly supports these projects and helps me on my mission to bring Christian artistry to a new level. We’re called to be the best at our craft because our art should reflect the greatness of the God we serve.
If you enjoyed this, check out my YouTube where I dive into topics like this!