Rev Joe Haward is the author of Be Afraid: How Horror and Faith can change the World. His controversial book invites readers to discover how flesh-eating zombies, ghosts, and Jesus have the potential to turn the world upside down and create beautiful communities of peace. Here he talks about what the horror genre – regarded as anti-Christian by many believers – has to say to followers of Jesus.
Monsters, gore, demons, and death: they aren't the usual subjects a church minister writes about, are they?
JH: No, they're not. But Be Afraid really emerged from my desire to show others how powerful horror is as a genre to tell us about the world we live in.
So many people love horror, and it is growing in popularity all the time. Of course part of that is down to the pure entertainment value horror brings, but it is not just that and I wanted to explore the depth of meaning that we find throughout the horror genre. And I love horror too, so why not write a book about it?
You're a trained church minister and you love horror?
I do! From vampires to zombies and masked maniacs, I think horror is an amazing genre, full of iconic characters and remarkable stories that are able to pull you in to their world, and actually help you process your own fears and humanity.
How can horror tell us about who we are?
Throughout our history, humanity has always found inventive and brutal ways to kill each other. Horror is, in part, an expression of our continued fascination with death. But more than that, horror expresses our deepest fears, fears that we often express in the way we treat one another. The best way to understand ourselves is to ask what truly terrifies us, and then to ask why.
What scares you?
I have to say, nothing really scares me any more. I used to fear loneliness above all things, and interestingly hated horror as a teenager, I think because of my deep-seated fear of being alone. Horror often shows us the struggle between one person and what they are facing, like the person walking the corridors alone in a haunted house, or the person split up from their friends, being chased by a monster in the creepy woods. So it was as though my deep fears were too much to face, and so I avoided horror altogether. That has changed dramatically as I have got older.
Isn't there a contradiction between being a minister and loving horror?
In some ways it surprises me a lot that more Reverends like myself are not more engaged with horror. when you consider how often our profession features within the horror genre. Take the new film from The Conjuring series, The Nun. In this film you have a priest and a nun battling a demonic entity, the classic struggle of good and evil, a struggle between peace and violence. These are common themes within horror, themes that people of faith have been wrestling with for thousands of years. And they are themes you see throughout the Bible, so it seems to me that horror and faith go hand in hand
What can people expect from your book?
A lot of surprises! From killer sharks to politics to demons to community transformation, I take people on quite a journey. I hope it is a book that fans of horror will enjoy a lot as I explore different horror films, books and TV shows. But I also hope that people who do not like horror will pick it up and gain a lot from it as I try and show how themes of love, faith, and hope run through horror, themes that are common to us all.
I also hope that those who would not describe themselves as people of faith will gain a lot out of the way I try and use horror as a theme and the life of Jesus as an example of what it means to be human. I argue that horror and faith have the ability to show us wonderful realities about ourselves.
Finally, what is your favourite horror story?
Favourite book – Stephen King's IT. Film – The Exorcist. TV – Hannibal.
' Be Afraid: How Horror and Faith Can Change the World' is published by Wipf and Stock.
Joseph Haward is the creator of revdjoe.com, an online resource platform for schools and churches. He is the founder of the pioneer ministry This Hope, an eighth-generation oyster fisherman and an accredited Baptist minister. He is the author of 'The Ghost of Perfection: Searching for Humanity' (2017).
