My book BREAK EVERY
CHAIN is, for the most part, a Christian adventure novel. I could simplify
things and call it Christian drama, but Christian adventure sounds a
little more interesting. It’s a story about faith and how we can find hope in
unexpected places when the world is at its darkest.
On the flip side, I have also written horror novels featuring a grave-robbing
witch, a haunted house that gets its power from human blood, and an enormous sea
creature that lays its eggs in the digestive tracts of human beings.
So yeah, I’m a horror guy at heart.
This can confuse some readers and I totally understand that. I get that one
question all of the time: “As a Christ follower, how can you write such horrific
stuff?”
And while the answer is worthy of an essay, it can also be summed up rather
easily. As a Christ follower, my faith is structured around stories within
scripture that are, in and of themselves, quite horrific. The dead coming back
to life, beheadings, crucifixions, demonic possession, people being burned
alive, a global flood, and on and on.
Whether Christians want to admit it or not, the Bible is filled to the brim with
horror.
But I must also admit that I was writing horror long before I gave my life to
Christ (I’m only about 8 years into this thing). But rather than abandon my love
of all things horror, I decided to try to use it to supplement my faith. I
believe that all Christians should use their talents for the betterment of the
world and, when possible, to pass along the message of the gospel—just without
beating people over the head with scripture, guilt, and the hellfire and
brimstone spiel.
So it made me start to wonder what it might look like to have flawed characters
with shaken faith confront things of a dark nature. Where does faith come into
play? Where does our reliance on our own logic end and a curiosity about divine
things begin?
And do you know what I discovered? The balance of these things is just about the
same in both traditional Christian stories as well as horror.
This is one of the reasons it baffles me that Christian horror isn’t more
popular than it is. As another not-so subtle plug for my own work, I’m currently
in the middle of writing a series of books that, while not faith-based enough to
be considered Christian fiction, has an underlying narrative that deals with
faith and how it can be used as a way to better understand the unknown—even when
the unknown consists of poltergeists, mythology, and dark science-fiction tropes.
Look around any writer’s forum and you’ll see many people expressing the opinion
that now is one of the best times to be a writer in the history of forever. I
agree with this not only because the lines between genres are beginning to blur
more and more, but because someone like me can write an uplifting and personal
book like BREAK EVERY CHAIN
and then turn around to write about vengeful ghosts and lake monsters and it
won’t be considered odd (not too odd, anyway).
So the discussion to have is this: as readers, just how blended can genres be
before you feel displaced or fooled by the writer. And writers, to what extend
to you give a certain genre power of your story before bucking tradition and
doing your own thing?
GIVEAWAY
How blended do you like genres for reading? One reader will receive a copy of
BREAK EVERY CHAIN
Barry Napier has had novels, short story collections, poetry collections, and
a chapbook published by small press venues. He has had work appear in a wide
range of publications, from a Norton anthology to a horror collection
thematically based on The Wizard of Oz. He is the author of Break
Every Chain, Dark Water, Serpentine, The Bleeding Room, and Nests, among
other titles.
Can you imagine what it would be like for a person who has no real faith to
be thrown into a situation in a foreign place where his faith is the only thing
that can save his life?
After running his life into the gutter through alcoholism and sexual
addiction, Ryan Fulbright takes part in an impromptu mission’s trip in an
attempt to redirect his life. Ryan visits a rescue home for underage girls in
Nicaragua who have been rescued from sexual slavery. Seeking answers, he quickly
finds himself at war with his fragile faith.
In the midst of this, he becomes involved in an ill-advised rescue attempt
that leaves him stranded and wounded in the mountains of Nicaragua. With only a
six-year-old girl to help, Ryan needs to not only figure out how to survive, but
also how to save several young girls who have recently been sold into sexual
slavery.
Inspirational Mystery
| Suspense [Elk
Lake Publishing, On Sale: October 30, 2015, Paperback
/ e-Book, ISBN: 9781942513605 / ]
8 comments posted.
I enjoy the blended genres , it makes a more interesting and exciting read . I'd love to read this book " Break Every Chain " . Yes , the Bible has lots of horror stories in it . It is hard to believe that these things happened back years and years ago , but they did . Thanks for this chance to win your book .
(Joan Thrasher 11:09am August 24, 2016)
I think most best selling books today are blended genres. Books are always better when they have a lot of layers.
(Nancy Marcho 3:42pm August 26, 2016)