Dark Fantasy and Faith
From the Editor's Desk, by Randy Streu

A few years back,

I preached a sermon titled, "The Living Dead." The message, based largely on Goerge A. Romero's "Dead" Trilogy (well, at the time, it was a Trilogy) focused on the dead-alive state of the sinful soul. Even though it was a whimsical idea for a church sermon, it made a very serious point about the dark state of man.

When T.W. and I came up with the idea for an October theme issue, we knew family-friendly, Christian-friendly dark fantasy would be a great challenge for writers. But we also knew it was not an impossible one. The very nature of man is a dark one; all a writer must do do create a dark fantasy is tap into that truth, and then craft a story around it. But of course, it is that fact which makes writing for a family-friendly market that much more difficult. Dark fantasy is necessarily about the uglier sides of all of us, and finding place inside yourself is always an interesting journey.

But, what makes it a challenge is also what makes it so worthwhile. Sometimes, the dark side of human nature is a hard reality to face, but unchallenged, it grows and festers. If a person cannot look into his own dark side, it can catch him unaware.

The potential for evil, for darkness, resides in each of us; and dark fiction helps us to face it, if only for a moment.

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