Illuminating the religious and existential themes in Stephen King’s horror stories

Who are we? Why are we here? Where do we go when we die? For answers to these questions, people often look to religion. But religion is not the only place seekers turn. Myths, legends, and other stories have given us alternative ways to address the fundamental quandaries of existence. Horror stories, in particular, with their focus on questions of violence and mortality, speak urgently to the primal fears embedded in such existential mysteries. With more than fifty novels to his name, and hundreds of millions of copies sold, few writers have spent more time contemplating those fears than Stephen King. Yet despite being one of the most widely read authors of all time, King is woefully understudied. America’s Dark Theologian is the first in-depth investigation into how King treats religion in his horror fiction.
Considering works such as Carrie, The Dead Zone, Misery, The Shining, and many more, Douglas Cowan explores the religious imagery, themes, characters, and, most importantly, questions that haunt Stephen King’s horror stories. Religion and its trappings are found throughout King’s fiction, but what Cowan reveals is a writer skeptical of the certainty of religious belief. Describing himself as a “fallen away” Methodist, King is less concerned with providing answers to our questions, than constantly challenging both those who claim to have answers and the answers they proclaim. Whether he is pondering the existence of other worlds, exploring the origins of religious belief and how it is passed on, probing the nature of the religious experience, or contemplating the existence of God, King invites us to question everything we think we know.

"An interesting and . . . compelling examination of the religious strains in King's work." - Popmatters

"[An] incisive, accessible work . . . Cowans insightful exploration of the religious questions raised by King provides a fresh way for viewing the religious dimensions of popular culture." - Publishers Weekly

"If you are a huge Stephen King fan and want to read more about the philosophical and religious questions his books raise, then this book is absolutely for you. In fact, if you are a mere Stephen King dabbler but an avid horror fan there is a lot of great stuff to take away from this book. Moreover, horror writers can surely benefit greatly from Cowan's discussions as the challenges of our common religious and metaphysical understanding in King's work is often fundamental to the sense of dread and horror we feel. If you want to know how and why Stephen King's writing works so well this is a great place to start your journey . . . once you pick it up you are unlikely to be able to put it down." - Signal Horizon

"[Cowans] erudition and insight appear throughout, shining especially brightly in his discussions of less popular works likeDesperation,Bag of Bones, andDuma Key. Longtime fans will find much to chew on." - Christianity Today

"Cowan continues to offer an approach to the intersection of religion and horror that is more enlightening and theoretically rigorous than simply asserting various horror tropes are actually 'metaphors' for something else. At the same time, Cowan’s writing style employs theory sparingly making it highly accessible and ideal for undergraduate readers. In theory, one could teach a complete introduction to religion course built around this work and some selected Stephen King stories." - Choice

"Cowan’s American’s Dark Theologian accomplishes what it sets out to do: fill in the gaps of popular culture, literary, and religious studies scholarship to claim necessary space for King’s work—and his readers—to search, to probe, to question it all, without expecting a single answer in return." - Religion and the Arts