Vampires and Christian Fiction – Haunt of Jackals Tour, Day 1

The Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy (CSFF) Blog Tour is featuring Haunt of Jackals, book two of the Jerusalem Undead Trilogy, Eric Wilson‘s supernatural suspense. Read, “vampire story.”

Apparently this kind of dark speculative fiction is the new trend in Christian publishing, perhaps spurred by Mormon author Stephenie Meyer’s huge success with the Twilight books. But I’ll be honest—I’m puzzled by this trend.

When the Lord of the Rings movies came out, it seemed to have no impact on the kinds of books publishing houses acquired. Acquisition editor and agent alike turned a “read this before” eye to stories that seemed remotely similar to Tolkien’s version of the hero’s journey.

Was this because no new epic fantasy had made it big, breaking out of the fantasy niche in the general market, since Rings? Perhaps.

But I am puzzled as to why Christian publishing houses are now willing to pursue the dark side of fantasy, even with the Twilight success. After all, the “typical” buyer of Christian fiction hardly seems to fit the target audience of dark fantasy.

Did they think the numbers of teenage girls and women who flocked to Twilight would translate into big numbers buying demon-vampire stories? If so, then I think there was a misunderstanding. As near as I can tell, the Twilight books are popular because of their forbidden love theme—love (or more accurately, lust) for the bad boy and in turn, the bad boy restraining his badness for the sake of his love.

John Olson’s vampireless vampire story Shade and Eric Wilson’s Jerusalem Undead Trilogy are far from the Stephenie Meyer type vampire story.

But will the fans of the Dracula type vampire story be inclined to pick up the Christian versions—stories that ascribe supernatural demonic activity to the existence of vampires?

How many readers looking for a good vampire story will go to the Christian fiction aisle of their local book store, or to a Christian store? In short, Christian vampire stories seem like they could languish for lack of an audience.

Ironically, this is the same argument I’ve heard against fantasy for years. So what’s different about vampire stories? I mean, they are popular in the secular culture, though their popularity may now be declining.

The difference in my mind is one of degree or emphasis. In epic fantasy the central motif is the struggle between good and evil. Certainly there are dark sections of such a story. The Harry Potter series had several books that fell under the tag of “dark.” The Lord of the Rings had large sections, especially in the final book, that were dark, as evil appeared to be winning.

The good, however much an underdog, continued to struggle, and there was hope in that struggle. This struggle and the equally important underdog role of the forces of good seem to resonate with people across cultural and generational and gender lines.

Is the same true with vampire stories? You tell me. I’ll be interested in your thoughts.

Also, be sure to check out what others on the tour for Haunt of Jackals are saying about the book and related topics.

Published in: on October 19, 2009 at 1:12 pm  Comments (9)  
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9 Comments

  1. On October 19, 2009 at 1:50 pm Jason said:

    Hey Becky,

    I think I missed on the “opt-in” again, but I’m planning on posting all week. I put up an “orientation” post today to help explain some of the terms/mythology/characters in the book.

    Hope your email woes are soon fixed!

    Jason

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  2. On October 19, 2009 at 3:12 pm mike duran said:

    Becky, while I haven’t read much “Christian fantasy” (unless you count Tolkien in that category), it still seems, in comparison, like there’s way more available in that genre than there is “Christian vampire” or “dark fantasy” stuff. You may lament the lack of “Christian fantasy,” but there’s relatively no “Christian vampire” tales. So I’m wondering if it (meaning “dark fantasy”) is simply more unexplored by Christian publishers than is Christian fantasy.

    While “Twilight” may have spearheaded reconsideration of the interest in vampire fic, I think there’s other factors that are causing Christian readers and publishers to take a second look — namely, the spiritual, religious, good v. evil motifs that populate such stories. Blessings!

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  3. On October 19, 2009 at 4:05 pm Rachel Starr Thomson said:

    I suspect there are plenty of Christians reading vampire stories (just like there are lots of Christians watching horror flicks) whose interest would be piqued at the marriage of the genre with their faith. (Whether this is a good thing or not is a whole other topic …)

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  4. On October 19, 2009 at 4:39 pm KM Wilsher said:

    I don’t know. I think that HAUNT OF JACKALS is a far cry from the Hollywood vampire, holding a beautiful woman in his arms, and pearly white incisors to her neck. This may be a good thing.
    It may draw a crowd turned off by sparkly teenage goth guys in leather. I have a feeling there is a market out there for more realistic, horror type stories. Look at Peretti, Dekker, etc. . .

    Now, if one is going for the genX cash cow, HAUNT OF JACKALS probably will not go over, unless it is given a huge AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL make over. . .

    It is that very thing that gave me trouble when reading FIELD OF BLOOD. This is a whole new type of story. But, if anyone can sell, Eric Wilson can.

    JMO 🙂 Great post!

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  5. On October 19, 2009 at 7:19 pm Michael Kizzia said:

    I haven’t read Wilson’s tale, but I was not impressed with Meyer who (I agree with you) simply used the vampire motiff to tell a bad-boy love story.

    As for real vampire stories, I am on the fence. We cannot avoid the darkness in this world, but it is against the darkness that the light stands out so well as Peretti showed in his book of some years ago, Piercing the Darkness. As a vehicle, it may work. ???
    -Michael

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  6. On October 19, 2009 at 7:36 pm Beth Goddard said:

    Interesting thoughts, Becky. I couldn’t agree more. My post is up–so that you won’t have to look again. 🙂

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  7. On October 19, 2009 at 11:51 pm Elizabeth said:

    I don’t have a problem with Christian writers putting their own spin on the vampire mythology, nor do I have a problem with dark fantasy. So many good things have been twisted into evil in literature, entertainment, and politics, why not shine light where we can?

    And who knows? Due to its subject matter, Wilson’s work may attract secular readers, who will then be introduced to the Light.

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  8. On October 20, 2009 at 12:27 pm Rebecca LuElla Miller said:

    Great discussion, everyone. I love reading your views on the subject. I’ll say more about my own (at least that’s the plan) tomorrow when I write my review.

    Becky

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  9. On October 22, 2009 at 11:54 am dsmith77 said:

    This seems an extension on your what makes a novel “Christian” discussion from earlier. I think some of the same rules apply. It will be interesting to see what develops. Will this new sub-genre take off or flounder? Will it attract secular readers and introduce them to the light? I don’t know.

    What I suspect though is that this particular book is the first in a series. (I haven’t read it and am unfamiliar with the author.) This leaves plenty of room for the author to explore God. We should be patient.

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