This discussion explores whether Christians should engage with horror films, balancing concerns about exposure to fear and spiritual darkness against potential insights into themes of redemption and spiritual conflict. It encourages discernment and reflection on how such media impacts faith and one’s walk with Christ.
With Halloween around the corner, the horror genre seems to be everywhere—on our screens, in advertisements, and trending across social media. This raises an interesting question for believers: should Christians watch horror movies, or do they risk exposing themselves to fear, darkness, and even spiritual harm?
Some Christians view horror films as a danger, potentially numbing us to evil or desensitizing us to violence, while others see select films as an opportunity to explore deeper themes of good versus evil, redemption, and even spiritual warfare. For a more in-depth look at both perspectives, check out this article to help navigate the question:
I enjoy horror films about werewolves, vampires, etc. I do not watch chop um up and torture films.
Like roller coasters, the adrenaline rush of fear is fun. The only harm I see is if you have psychological issues and decide you are a werewolf. Or if you want to kill people or pets after watching a chop um up movie. The problem in that case is YOU.
I don’t know specifically about horror movies - you know what you’re getting into - but I am struck by how many movies, TV shows, video games and even ads have startlingly dark and even explicitly demonic themes and images. The Dark Side clearly has an attraction that dwarfs the Light, and it has clearly gotten worse over my lifetime; we now take it for granted. My wife and I simply try to avoid all hideously dark, violent and sexually over-the-top movies, but the pickings are getting pretty slim.
Hi,
I really enjoy the old horror movies. It does not affect my faith in the least. I know that Frankenstein, Dracula, The Wolfman, and the Creature From the Black Lagoon are fictional characters. I can keep fiction and reality separate.
Watch movies like The Blob, or The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, and tell me that horror movies cannot be funny.
Do you enjoy Star Trek, Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica and other such sci-fi? There is far more violence in those shows. By the way, I enjoy the genre as well. But, as with the horror flicks, I know that is fiction. There is no real James T. Kirk, or Starbuck, or Han Solo.
Bottom line:
If these movies affect your faith in any way, you should not watch them.
Romans 14:14 I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean. KJV
So each of us gets to decide for ourselves if horror movies, or sci-fi movies, are stumbling blocks to our faith, and act accordingly.
