Light within the dark

On several occasions I've told people that I don't like horror. But even I realize that's not quite true. I've read my share of horror stories and seen quite a few movies that fall into the genre. (And I am actually rarin' to go see Get Out ASAP.) When I say I don't like horror, what I really mean is that I don't like the specific elements often found in modern horror tales: gore and dismemberment, foul language, explicit sex, and anything else designed purely to shock and/or titillate the audience.

But that's not what horror is. Or, at least, that's not what horror has to be.

Michaelbrent Collings, a horror writer who is also a Mormon, gave a thought-provoking address at the Life, the Universe and Everything symposium this year. While much of what he presented is given from a specific religious viewpoint, a great deal of what he says has universal application. If you're ever tempted to dismiss horror out of hand as a genre you will never read or watch because of potential unsavory elements, give this a read:

Mormons and Horror: Light Within the Dark