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The Way of Love
Brandon R. Grafius
Morehouse Publishing
Oct/2025, 256 Pages, Paperback, 5.5 x 8.5
ISBN: 9781640657830
You may know the Bible as a testament of faith. But within this sacred book are also the world’s first horror stories.
Conventional wisdom has it that the origins of the horror genre are found in the nineteenth century, in works like Frankenstein, Dracula, and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In this paradigm-shaking new book, Bible scholar and cultural historian Brandon Grafius argues that the Bible is, among other things, the world’s first work of horror literature.
The tropes and themes that we find in slasher movies, body horror, folk horror and zombie apocalypses were kickstarted by the Bible. Before Godzilla, there were the monsters arising from the sea in the book of Daniel. Before The Wicker Man, there was the folk horror violence of the book of Judges. And before The Fly, Leviticus and Paul understood that our bodies are untrustworthy. Sometimes, the Bible has decided that the best way to help us understand the world in new ways is to scare us.
Grafius’s book is a revelatory work of biblical scholarship as well as a cultural analysis of the contemporary horror genre. It is a book that will make readers revise how they see the Bible and impact how they consume horror literature and cinema. It is guaranteed to make them wiser consumers of both.
Praise for Lurking Under the Surface: Horror, Religion, and the Questions that Haunt Us
“Grafius's surprising, and often insightful, eclectic intellectual enterprise in Lurking Under the Surface brings into stark focus Ligotti's understanding of unreal horror as being sublimated ruminations about real horror." —Los Angeles Review of Books
"Grafius teaches us how to welcome horror as a constant companion in a world plagued by real evil." —Sojourners
"Grafius' easy writing and gentle touch will lull the reader into an educational trance that makes diving into the slim book more like watching a movie than reading an informational text. Grab the popcorn." —Booklist
"Brandon Grafius combines biblical scholarship with a fanboy's love of horror to create a fun, fascinating book you won't be able to put down. I've never read a book quite like this." —Reza Aslan, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth
"No matter how many times you've seen Night of the Living Dead, The Thing, or Sinister, this book will come to you as a revelation. Brandon Grafius not only knows horror—he understands the deeper questions dark fictions ask." —W. Scott Poole, author of Dark Carnivals: Modern Horror and the Origins of American Empire and Monsters in America
"What a tasty book! It dives deep into what terrifies us, entertains us, and awakens the awe inside us. With a scholar's knowledge of both theology and every kind of horror movie, Grafius takes us on a tour of our soul with thought-provoking analysis, personal reflection from his own journey, and a healthy helping of humor." —Owen Egerton, writer/director of Mercy Black and author of Hollow
"Lurking under the Surface rightly argues the hope of horror and the horror of hope within the overlapping and at times problematic circles of Western religion and the horror film. A thoroughly engaging read." —Paul Tremblay, bestselling author of A Head Full of Ghosts and The Cabin at the End of the World
Brandon R. Grafius is associate professor of Biblical Studies at Ecumenical Theological Seminary, Detroit. In addition to his teaching, he is a noted scholar, author, and speaker. As an author and academic, Brandon is known for his expertise in the fields of both Bible and horror. A member of both the Society of Biblical Literature and the Horror Writers’ Association, Grafius completed his Master of Divinity at Ecumenical Theological Seminary, then earned his PhD from Chicago Theological Seminary under the direction of Dr. Timothy Sandoval. His book, Lurking Under the Surface: Horror, Religion, and the Questions that Haunt Us (Broadleaf Books, 2022) was widely praised, with the Los Angles Review of Books calling it a “surprising, and often insightful, eclectic intellectual enterprise.” He lives in Mason, Michigan.
“Through sophisticated, mirthful writing, Professor Grafius brings his vast knowledge of horror to his deep critical engagement with the Bible. The result is a brilliant examination of the ways in which horror narratives helps us to imagine new possibilities.”—Robin R. Means Coleman, University of Virginia, author of The Black Guy Dies First: Black Horror Cinema from Fodder to Oscar (Saga)
“Once again, Brandon Grafius has shown us that we are not done with religion and horror, that the inextricable relationship between them has much to teach us about ourselves as believers . . . and as those who look askance at faith-based optimism. Scared by the Bible should be essential reading for anyone interested in why we believe what we believe, why we continue to fear the things we do, and the inescapable links between them.”—Douglas E. Cowan, Professor of Religious Studies and Social Development Studies, Waterloo University and author of America’s Dark Theologian: The Religious Imagination of Stephen King
“You don't need to be a theological scholar to find this book fascinating—not if you're curious about the horrors of our existence, and how storytellers have grappled with those horrors for millennia. No one would take Dracula or Frankenstein as historic fact, and Scared by the Bible makes a concise and energetic case for not taking the Bible literally—in part by examining horror's archetypal elements, which beg us to dig beneath the surface to discover a deeper intention. An absolutely engaging and thought-provoking read.”—Zoje Stage, USA Today bestselling author of Baby Teeth and Wonderland
