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Christian Horror attempts to promote specifically Biblical morals and
commandments. Inevitably, the violence contained in Christian Horror is
often directed towards characters that embody traits the author believes
are undesirable to the Christian community. “Vilifying the Enemy” by
J.R. Howard further explores the tendency for prominent authors of
Christian Horror to malign those who exemplify traits that the Christian
faith finds undesirable. Conversely, the good characters throughout
Christian horror are classified as those who call upon the salvation of
Jesus and ultimately survive as a result. Both good and evil characters
play a significant role in the promotion of Biblical beliefs upheld by the
Christian community.
Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker are often labeled as major
benefactors of the Christian Horror genre. In addition to both authors
coming from a strong Christian background, Peretti and Dekker direct
their works towards a similar audience. In Prophet in the Wasteland: A
Critical Biography o f Frank Peretti, Arden Jansen specifies Peretti and
Dekker’s main consumers as “conservative mainstream evangelicals and
fundamentalists” (14) who are “marked by their devotion to the Word of
the Bible” (2). As a result of focusing his writing upon this specific
audience, “Peretti indirectly establishes who Christians are and their
interpretation of the world in which they live” through the characters that
he incorporates into his novels (Jansen 195). Furthermore, Jansen states
that Peretti himself has cited the Bible as one of the greatest influences
upon his works (167). Dekker is also renowned for his reliance upon the
Bible, promoting his beliefs through his personal website,
teddekker.com. Both Peretti and Dekker integrate the concept of spiritual
warfare into many of their novels, rendering the spiritual realm as the
perpetrator of the violence in their novels.
In 2006, Peretti and Dekker collaborated upon the popular
Christian Horror novel. House. The novel follows the struggles of two
couples as they attempt to escape a house haunted not only by three
inbreds and a sadistic serial killer named Barsidious White, but also,
more importantly, their own personal “sins.” Employing what Philip L.
Simpson, author of Psycho Paths: Tracking the Serial Killer, terms “the
fifth face” of the serial killer, Barsidious White’s mission is “that of the
demonic messenger and punisher” (25). White creates a game that
punishes the guilty, exposing the vices of each character as the game
progresses. The experiences of each character thus demonstrate
prominent Christian values. Peretti and Dekker create guilty characters
that embody traits rejected by the Christian community and are doomed
as a result. On the other hand, the characters who survive Peretti and