The Monster Revealed: Art, Horror, and The Christian Imagination | Dr. Kutter Callaway
**This episode contains sensitive subject matter**
Can horror become a means of redemption? What might the stories that frighten us reveal about ourselves, our faith, and the world we inhabit?
Can people of faith engage horror as a legitimate artistic practice? In a culture that often encourages us to avoid discomfort, the darker dimensions of art can challenge us to confront realities we might otherwise prefer to ignore. But when we sanitize our faith, we risk losing our ability to speak honestly about suffering, evil, fear, and the complexities of being human. What if the stories that disturb us most have something important to teach us?
In this episode of Makers & Mystics, Stephen Roach sits down with Dr. Kutter Callaway, psychologist, theologian, and Chair of Worship Theology and the Arts at Fuller Theological Seminary, to explore horror, the monsters we create, and the spiritual possibilities of confronting our deepest fears. Drawing from his book Be Afraid, Callaway considers how horror can expose the darkness within ourselves and our culture, challenge the ways we understand good and evil, and create space for spiritual maturity. Together, they explore what artists of faith might discover when they stop looking away from the darkness and allow their work to engage the full complexity of the human experience.
In this episode, we explore:
Why a sanitized faith struggles to speak meaningfully to the darker realities of the human experience.
How horror can help us confront our fears and recognize the monsters within ourselves and our culture.
What disturbing stories in Scripture and popular culture reveal about suffering, evil, and the human condition.
How horror can become a space for creative honesty, spiritual reflection, and the possibility of redemption.
What artists of faith might learn by engaging the uncomfortable and unsettling dimensions of human experience.
About Dr. Kutter Calloway
Dr. Kutter Callaway is a psychologist, theologian, cultural critic, and Chair of Worship Theology and the Arts at Fuller Theological Seminary. His work explores the intersections of theology, psychology, popular culture, and the arts. In his book Be Afraid, Callaway examines the spiritual and psychological dimensions of horror and considers how confronting our fears might contribute to spiritual maturity.