There was a lot of very interesting discussion in this book, some of which I found quite convincing and some of which, not so much. I enjoyed the exploration of cosmic horror as it relates to the Bible and thought that the author did a good job of 'campfire tale'-ing the Bible passages, but I found the monster discussion a bit of a stretch and would have enjoyed the book more had the balance between horror and Bible been more even.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Thank you so much Morehouse Publishing and Netgalley for this gifted copy, in exchange for an honest review! Scared by the Bible is out October 7, 2025! Being a believer and a huge horror junkie, I was very excited to dive deeper into the horror stories of the bible (and there are a ton of them!!). Scared of the Bible was a 3.25/5 stars for me! Right off the bat, I was a little skeptical and almost dnfed it after reading the intro. Grafius went on to say that there myths in the bible. As a believer, I believe that the bible is God Breathed and 100% true, so no myths. So I definitely went into the rest of this book hesitant on anything else the author had to say. That being said, I did enjoy this one! I like how he tied in pop culture horror and horror of the bible together. Some parts were a little slow, but over all I was impressed with the pacing of this one.

This was definitely an interesting read. It offers a thoughtful and creative approach to unsettling biblical texts through the lens of horror theory which makes it pretty fascinating and interesting to read. The book has some engaging insights, though it occasionally feels hesitant to push beyond familiar evangelical frameworks. I am not sure if I was the right audience for it, and this is definitely my own fault, but considering it was in the horror category I was definitely expecting more. A worthwhile read for those interested in the intersection of faith, fear, and interpretation!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

Please note this is a 3.5.

I think sometimes, particularly in the Christian tradition, there is a reticence to admit to the horror of certain things, particularly when it comes to scripture. It's almost as though there is a fear of admitting the actual root of the stories that surround the traditions in religion, which is fascinating to me. Tackling this subject head on and trying to cover all of the bases is certainly optimistic, however, but this book gives it a go.

I suppose my biggest complaint would have to be that this book is simply not quite long enough. There's a lot that feels a bit missed out in here, and perhaps the net was cast a little too wide to be able to capture the full essence of what the author was going for. I felt like some of the elements, particularly the slasher deep-dive, were a little underbaked, but as I said, it is a very wide expanse to cover. I did also feel like some of the book was a little bit repetitive.

I did enjoy the approach of the author in comparison, and there was no cheating by going into the easy comparisons (i.e. movies that were very clearly heavily inspired by religion to begin with, to the point where there was no intrigue). It was also quite well researched, and while there could have been a few more theological references and other points to springboard off, it was still very detailed. I also appreciate that the personal feelings of the author didn't much get in the way of the content, which I think was fairly vital for this book. All in all, a very solid look at some of the scariest stories that humanity is based in - although I do wish there was a little more of it!

I was surprised to learn that the book embraced a distinctly evangelical Christian outlook. I’d hoped for a more scholarly or interfaith inquiry into biblical fear, but its tone was decidedly devotional. That approach might be more appealing to readers from that specific faith tradition.

I didn’t realize this was written from a Christian/evangelical perspective when I requested it, and unfortunately that meant it wasn’t the right fit for me. I was hoping for a more academic or interfaith exploration of fear in the Bible, and this one leaned more devotional than I expected. That said, readers who come from that faith background may find it meaningful.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.