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HILE ORGANIZED RELIGION HAS PROVIDED FODDER FOR SOME OF THE MOST HEAVY-HITTING HORROR STORIES EVER COMMIT- TED TO PAGE AND SCREEN, IT HAS NEVER BEEN COMFORTABLE WITH THE GENRE. Fundamentalists still regularly decree that horror
movies (and heavy metal, of course) are the tools of Satan, while so-called Christian horror remains largely unpalatable to diehard genre audiences, due to its preachy and proselytizing nature. This is what makes the Dark Faith an- thology and its new sequel, Dark Faith: Invocations, so exciting. “I host an annual convention called Mo*Con,”
says Maurice Broaddus, creator and co-editor of the Dark Faith collections. “Each year I invite a few hor- ror, science fiction and fantasy writers; we hold it in a church, and we discuss topics related to genre and faith. You tell people you’re having a convention in a church, all they hear is ‘church’ and there are preconceptions to what goes on there.” Dark Faith grew directly out of that event, having
originally been pitched as a companion collection to the convention, before taking on a life of its own. “We wanted to create a book that, like Mo*Con,
gave a home to wildly divergent viewpoints,” says Jerry Gordon, the other half of the series’ editorial team. “Science, religion, magic, love – everyone be- lieves in something.” Dark Faith: Invocations (out September 4 from
Apex Publications) proves that in spades. Inevitably, several of the stories do mine Judeo-Christian be- liefs and struggles, but that’s only the tip of the ice- berg. Faith is further explored in a futuristic tale where irrational behaviour and beliefs are deemed a communicable psychic illness (Matt Cardin’s “Prometheus Possessed”) and via the horrifying, spiritual ravages of real-life disease in cancer survivor Jay Lake’s heart-rend- ing “The Cancer Catechism.” The book’s diversity was likely the result of the editors’ single, simple guide-
line: “Write good, literate short stories that turn on the idea of faith, whatever that means to you.” In fact, the only tales they wouldn’t consider were ones that openly attacked a particular religion, or proselytized or supported racist and abusive agendas. “Look, I play for Team Jesus and I take my faith seriously,” states Broaddus. “But I also know that when I’m asking folks to do their takes on faith – and
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for some, that will mean religion – that one person’s take is another person’s blasphemy.” Gordon adds, “I looked for honest explorations of the questions we all have
in life. No matter what editorial choices I make, someone will find my choices blasphemous. This certainly isn’t a book for anyone that thinks they’ve cor- nered the market on answers. And it’s not a book designed to support either of our specific beliefs.” While parts of Dark Faith: Invocations are undeniably challenging, not all of the tales are vheavy and philosophically perplexing. Some take a more easily digestible and entertaining approach to their spiritual pondering. In “Subletting God’s Head,” Tom Piccirilli posits what it might be like to have the Big Guy as a particularly judgemen- tal, sin-recording landlord, while Alma Alexander’s “Night Train” conjures up a subway car full of translucent gods that are in danger of being forgot- ten and fading away completely. Meanwhile, R.J. Sullivan’s “Starter Kit” sees a young boy create and destroy entire universes in his bedroom, Elizabeth Twist engages in the hunting of some destructive, oversized Buddhas and Lavie Tidhar has robotic, former humans seeking spiritual fulfillment in nar- cotic form. If anything, the collection’s 26 soul-rattling stories
exemplify why horror is so well suited to exploring life’s bigger questions. “Ironically, genre makes wrestling with those
questions safe,” agrees Broaddus. “Those existen- tial questions – Who am I? What’s behind the cur- tain of our reality? What comes after death? Why do bad things happen? – are the backbone of hor- ror. ... Horror is probably the most emotionally hon-
est of the genres, as it deals with fear – ultimately the fear of death, what comes after this life, and most times with an element of the supernatural. You know, all that stuff that religion deals with.” But if that’s the case, why is the spiritual community so quick with the
judgemental, knee-jerk reactions? “In some ways, I think the religious condemnation of horror is based on the
human need to imagine evil as something separate, something that can simply be shunned or boycotted,” opines Gordon. “There isn’t evil inside us. It’s the books and movies and games that corrupt us.”
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