Does Thriller really mean Horror?

When we use the term Thriller, does that really mean it is a horror book?

The dictionary describes horror as :
HORROR. 1 a : painful and intense fear, dread, or dismay

Thriller is described  as:
Thriller is a genre of literature, film, and television programming that uses suspense, tension, and excitement as its main elements. Thrillers heavily stimulate the viewer's moods, giving them a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, surprise, anxiety and terror.

 Fear versus Terror; what is the difference?
The key in my mind,as the Author, is in the details, In a Thriller, the police officer finds a murdered body; in a Horror book the murder is described in detail. Same thing has happened but one is intent on plot development, whereas the other is intent on making you squirm with horrid details that upset you to the point your mind is traumatized.

Horrible things are reported on the news every morning but we don't consider the news story a horror story. The fact that there are horrible people doing horrible things is a fact of life. But if I am intent on describing those horrible things, I am crossing over from suspense to gruesome.

As a Thriller, I promise to not cross over that line. I  may create dread, anxiety and fear as you follow the main character through the plot line, but I'll never make you feel you are reading a horror book or plot line.

Horror films and books have to use gruesome details simply because they do not have the ability to intrigue through character development, to the point you really do care about the person, who's life you've entered into through the pages (or screens in this age) of that novel.

My favorite feedback that I get on my books is, "I couldn't put the book down, had to read it to the end and was up all night." That is when I have done my job as a Thriller author.

Wrong to have graphic content in a Christian novel?

Is graphic content in a novel labeled Christian wrong?

As discussed in the earlier post, it is not a simple question. And as the earlier example pointed out, David cutting off Goliath's head certainly was graphic, so are Bible stories too graphic?

The Bible has stories of dogs eating a person's body, a prophet cutting a murdered woman's body into pieces to bag and send to the tribes of Israel to get their attention.  Stuff so graphic, I'm not sure we as authors could get away with the descriptions and not be criticized.

News stories and articles online have images and details that are very graphic.

So what is too graphic in a Christian Thriller?

I do believe that we as authors have a responsibility to warn our readers if we are writing graphic content. The label Christian means something different to every person. In my mind, I'm saying this is going to have a character that is a Christian in it, not afraid to share their faith, in a scary situation. But I have had criticism for simply stating a woman was in a bikini in a book, because a certain church believes a bikini is a sinful thing to talk about. So as an author, it is difficult to even know how to warn readers, without telling them the entire story and all the details, which, kind of ruins the suspense.

I believe every writer (Christian or not) should give an info page at the front that simply warns that their may be graphic content and a story line that may have ______, you fill in the blank, issues addressed.

In one of my more adult books about a mysterious NAZI connection with our world wide banking control, called Dominance the Final Secret, the bad guy declares, "who the hell are you?" I received criticism from Pastors that the swear word hell should not have been used in a book with the label Christian Action Adventures. I tried to evaluate it and the bottom line is, I SEE the story, and the characters are very REAL in my mind, and the truth is, that is what that character is going to say.

So, I do warn readers at the front of that novel, that it is more graphic. But we still live in a real world. And if you write fluff that is not real, readers know it and don't buy into the story line because it is not real.

My answer to the question is, you can have graphic content in a Christian Novel, but you better give fair warning to the reader who might be offended by it or does not want to read that kind of content.

Open to everyone's discussion on this subject, it's the reason for the blog.

Why Theodore Andrew

T.A. Smith, Theodore Andrew, author names under Amazon Books.

Readers who have followed my Mystery in Dark Island series have asked why the Christian Thrillers have a different pen name.

I take the responsibility of parents trust in the Christian Action Adventure books for boys very seriously. When they see the pen name T. A. Smith, they can be assured it is safe and a fun read.

The books always are labeled with what age group they are appropriate for.
Mystery of the Puzzle Bones and the subsequent books, Mystery of the Running Shadow and Mystery at Lizard Lake are for boys 8-12.
However adults have really enjoyed the Puzzle Bones book as can be seen in the reviews on Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Mystery-Puzzle-Bones-Boardunders-club/dp/0615568580

This is such a difficult age group, to find books that boys will actually read, is why I am very careful to make sure parents can trust the content.





 The Mystery in Dark Island seven book series is for  ages 14-21.
This has issues teenage young men are dealing with and is carefully labeled so parents know the content is for a more adult audience.
Amazon Reviews

And the books are always labeled as Christian. Which simply means there will always be a Christian character in the book who is not afraid to share their relationship with Jesus.  However - a key in all the books is that there are Christian and non-Christian characters arguing their points of view, just like real life, so the reader can think about the questions and comments for themselves.

So all of those books are under the pen name T.A. Smith
___________________________

When I was asked to write a Christian Thriller, I was concerned that these more adult content books could accidently end up in an 8 year olds hands, because the parent didn't read the cover page. So to distinguish them, I decided to use my first and middle name...this is the name my mother used, "Theodore Andrew!" when she was trying to get my attention.
I distinctly remember being in the tree photo above and being called "THEODORE ANDREW".
So it is fun way for me to make sure the reader understands, when the authorship is under this pen name, it's a Christian Thriller.
 Hope that helps the confusion.

What are Christian Thrillers?

What are Christian Thrillers and is the very concept a sin?

Sin is a word describing missing the mark of perfection.

So how do we even determine if a story that scares us is something God would not approve of?

These were the questions that ran through my head as a story line began forming in my mind. I'd already written dozens of Christian Action Adventure books for boys. And the big editing houses informed me that there was no such thing as a Christian Action Adventure. My response was, they had never read David and Goliath or the entire book of ACTS.

Fortunately the Amazon ebook was in it's very beginning years so we formed Catacomb Publishing and were able to get books out to boys, which have done very well.

But then I was challenged by readers to write an adult thriller. Could I write adult thrillers and still remain Biblical?

There was a lot of controversy among Pastors about the thought, as one Pastors wife quoted in a very accusational tone, "what about Philippians 4:8 - Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."

It is a very good point. A Thriller can also be labeled a Horror story. So are we, not obeying the Bible, by reading a Thriller labeled a Christian Thriller?

I honestly do not have a good answer for the question; but pose it as part of this blogs focus. Judging what is not full filling Philippians 4:8 directive is not simple. If we took that literally, then we should not really read David and Goliath because David cuts off Goliath's head, pretty gruesome. We shouldn't read the Gospel because John's head is brought in on a platter, Christ has his hands nailed through; very graphic.

I do not believe there is a good answer. But so long as we are in a fallen world, we will be subject to the world we live in. You will have to pray, and in your relationship with Jesus, make the decision.

I am being asked to write more Christian Thrillers, and have made the decision to go forward. May God direct the path.