Many readers of the Christian faith want to enjoy horror novels, but they also desire a little spirituality in their tales of terror. Because of this demand, the genre of Christian Horror has begun to achieve popularity in recent years. If you’re new to such works, I’ve compiled a list of the top 10 Christian horror novels below.
10. The Strange Man by Greg Mitchell – The first book of The Coming Evil series, The Strange Man is about a sinister entity descending on the town of Greensboro. When his best friend is threatened by these malicious forces, a college dropout must prove his faith in order to save her.
9. Monster by Frank Peretti – A policeman and his wife are on a hike in the wilderness when a strange apelike creature attacks and carries the woman away. A desperate search ensues, and we learn a little about the consequences of tampering with DNA.
8. Comes a Horseman by Robert Liparulo – FBI Special Agent Alicia Wagner and her partner investigate a series of gory murders–victims are held at bay by dogs and then killed with an axe. Little does she know that this is all tied in with the rise of the dreaded Antichrist.
7. When the Day of Evil Comes by Melanie Wells – The first in the Dylan Foster series. Psychology professor Dylan Foster has a strange encounter with a sickly stranger, and her whole life is soon turned upside down. She quickly comes to believe that she’s being targeted by a demonic presence. There are currently two other books available in this series.
6. All Hallows’ Eve by Charles Williams – A story about two dead women who were killed in a London air raid. It’s about the choices they make in death and in life, and the race to stop a black magician from ruling the world.
5. Blood Covenant by Marilyn Lamb – A sweeping tale about a vampire who may achieve redemption, and the eternal struggle between good and evil. The vampiric Jonathan Cravers is the real star of the show.
4. Pilate: A Brutal Bible Tale by Steven Rage – Biblical villains are brought into the present day to repeat their mistakes again and again. Pilate is a vampire and a drug dealer, and others such as Herod and Judas are also included. Extremely violent and sexually graphic, but so is the book that inspired it, if you really think about it.
3. Shade by John B. Olson – Graduate student Hailey Maniates is pursued and almost killed by a creature which looks a lot like a vampire. She’s saved by a giant homeless man, and her doctors later diagnose her as a paranoid schizophrenic. But is she really imagining things, or is she suddenly caught up in a cosmic struggle between the forces of light and dark?
2. House by Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker – Two couples on vacation are pursued by a madman and lured into an abandoned house. But the house seems almost alive, and their pursuer claims to have slain God. In order for the group to survive, they’ll have to kill one of their own to satisfy the monster outside (and inside).
1. Never Ceese by Sue Dent – A werewolf and a vampire team up to try and remove their respective curses. A young girl attempts to help the duo, while an evil stem cell researcher seeks to use them for his own ends.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 17th, 2009 at 5:13 pm and is filed under Best Horror Books, Best Horror Writers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
I have read both of Sue Dents novels and they are absolutely the best well written “Christian Horror” books currently on the market. Sue Dent is a masterful writer and has the ability to draw you into her novels with her expressions and fluency. Sue writes with an eloquence that is unmatched by many other authors. Her characters are believable and fully expressive, conveying a great deal of feeling and meaning. They are dynamic and full of life (no pun inteneded) and their energy compels the reader to turn the page. These novels by Sue Dent are significant for the Christian community. Sue Dent has embraced the world of fantasy with an all encompassing devoted faith and has melded the two together with eloquence.
I would be most honored if you would check out my MySpace page and read my blogs concerning my newly released Christian Horror book called Twisted Christians. It is now available at Amazon.com. If you type “christian horror” in the search engine there, it is the 1st book to show up.
Thank you for your time,
Scott Meade
WoW! Look at Never Ceese go! Thank-you to whoever put this list together. I would like for anyone seeing this list to keep in mind that while both of my books are approved by Spring Arbor for distribution to the Christian market none of my publishers have been or are affiliated with the Christian Booksellers Association who write for a very targeted and denominational group of readers. They also charge a fee to belong to their association while Spring Arbor affiliation is free. I do not write like Dekker or Peretti or Olson or Wells (all authors who write for affiliated houses.) My work is for the general market reader. Christians included.
But once again WoW! And thanks so much for enjoying my stories!