I’m super stoked to be a part of the blog hop for my author compatriot Brent King! I think you’re going to enjoy Brent’s thought provoking post on the symbolism of monsters in fiction. I know a lot of Christians may shy from books with such creatures between the covers, but I think Brent gives great justification for the inclusion of such characters in literature. Though there are certainly a plethora of stories that glorify darkness, a truly good tale will not use these monsters in a gratuitous way. They will teach us something about ourselves.
Read on for Brent’s take on the subject and participate in the Rafflecoptor giveaway at the end! You might win your own copy of The Fiercest Fight (and checkout the gorgeous cover too). Let me know if you agree with what Brent asserts about the monster that lurks inside of us.
The Metaphors of Monsters
Most of us would deny the existence of vampires, zombies, or werewolves. We relegate them to the outer fringes of our consciousness, and are only reminded of them as we walk through the department store in October.
Yet I believe that we should pay a whole lot more attention to these creatures of the night…these beasts, for what they stand for is far more hideous than the creatures themselves. Let me explain.
In 1886, Robert Louis Stevenson put flesh and bones on such creatures with his novella, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Then, in 1897, when Bram Stoker’s gothic novel, Dracula, was published, the unsettling question was asked again: are we really who we think we are?
At last, in 1947, the tragic story of Larry Talbot in The Wolf Man catapulted the werewolf into public consciousness. This was because the thought of anything triggering our metamorphosis into a rabid wolf was perhaps the most terrifying and unsettling image of all.
Surely it isn’t true. Then why do these stories so capture our imagination, causing so many of us to wonder how safe we really are from the evil within us? Why? It is because we know too well the story of our lives. We’ve spent our lives sucking the life out of others. We’ve created our identity in their destruction, building ourselves up by tearing them down. Our past comes up before us and we know that it is true: there is a beast inside each of us that only awaits a full moon or an elixir to transform.
Do monsters exist? What about those demons in the department store in October? When I ask this question the room is often as silent as a coffin. Who really wants to admit the truth? There is a beast within us. This reality opens us up to a world of insanity and death. After all, who wants to drink Dr. Jekyll’s unpredictable elixir? Who wants to experience the terror of Larry Talbot?
This is why I keep coming back to vampires, zombies, and werewolves. We can’t deny the existence of these creatures of the night. Their alter egos lurk deep inside of us. In these terrifying stories we find symbols that tell the truth about us.
We need more monster stories, but not just stories that adeptly describe our condition. We need redemptive tales of hope that explore the cure to our retched, despairing state. Indeed, this should be the whole point. For if there isn’t a remedy then we are helpless victims, damned to retched transformations in dark tales forever.
Brent’s debut novel, The Fiercest Fight, is a monster tale that won’t leave you clueless as to how to destroy your own monsters. In the sleepy town of Astor Crossing, something evil stirs… Two ordinary teens will have to call on every resource to confront the horror that assaults them. Can they survive the beast within? Can you?
Click on HERE to head over to Amazon and purchase the book!
Brent King is a freelance writer of Christian fantasy and historical fiction from Lake Oswego, Oregon. Brent is a musician, a waterman, and has two sons, 20 and 23, who live in British Columbia, Canada. Brent’s first book, The Grip of Grace: 
God’s Hand in The Lord of the Rings, was published in January, 2014.
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