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By Chris Adams

Spooky season is here, and that makes my heart scream. I love all things horror, especially horror movies. While so many of them are unequivocally terrible, they have a strange way of inspiring me.

Inspirational is a word rarely used for the horror genre, but it feels right to me. Like Aesop’s Fables or the Brothers Grimm, horror movies exist as types of fables that allow us to explore the feeling of being mortified without experiencing the danger.

They’re like little emotional laboratories where we plumb the depths of our capacity to both be terrified by and resist the tyranny of whatever scares us. Our brains may be telling us to turn the movie off and hide under the covers for fear of Michael Myers, but we persevere and force our nervous system to calm down as we recommit ourselves to not backing down from anything that makes us afraid.

In most horror movies, evil doesn’t win. Evil doesn’t have the final word. The heroes emerge victorious, albeit a bit banged up and scarred.

Whatever foul beast or serial killer was on the loose is either dead or gone, and the heroes can rest just a bit before the inevitable sequel comes calling. Not unlike war movies celebrating the virtues of soldiers stretched to their breaking points, horror movies give us a vision of the human capacity to resist evil. There’s a palpable sense of relief that washes over the viewer when it’s clear the monster has died, and the credits begin to roll. Goodness has won.

Maybe I love horror movies so much because goodness usually wins. There are a few outliers that end on a sour note of triumphant evil, but by and large, we are given a glimpse of the power of goodness and, implicitly, are encouraged to practice this goodness in our own lives.

Like all forms of media, horror movies have something to teach us about ourselves and the world we live in. Ours is a world of horrors playing out in a 24-hour news cycle, much like the relentless suspense and dread we experience when watching a horror movie. We are perpetually obsessed with watching this cycle, subjected daily to horrific acts of violence and human tragedy. We need to be resilient; otherwise, all the pain of the world will crush us.

When we feel inspired to resist evil and put good into the world, we ensure that horror won’t have the final word! When we make the resolute decision to make our world a better place, we ensure that horror won’t have the final word! When we say, “Enough is enough!” and decide to make our little corner of the world the absolute best it can be, we ensure that horror won’t have the final word.

In the Christian scriptures, St. Paul once said of death, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” He saw death all around him. He experienced torment in his body, mind, and soul. He was tortured by the Roman Empire, who were perpetrating some of the most egregious acts of violence imaginable. Nevertheless, he resisted the tyranny of death. He remained steadfast in his mission despite all the horror he saw. So too can we stand boldly in a world of death and dare to declare life! So can we be a force for good, resisting evil whenever and wherever we encounter it.

Like all the heroes of horror movies, make the decision to resist evil. Decide to put good into the world no matter how scary it feels. Decide to stand up and fight against the horror of the world, beginning by making this little corner of the universe the best it can be.

Chris Adams is the Rector at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Washington.