Homebrewed Christianity Podcast

Ryan Duns is back on the podcast to talk about his provocative new book exploring horror and theology, and boy does he deliver some counterintuitive insights. He argues that horror is actually the most conservative film genre—and that's precisely why it works so well for theological reflection. Think about it: to be scared, you first have to believe there's something worth protecting. Ryan walks us through how horror films function as underground spaces where transcendence has been displaced and distorted, creating what he calls "frag events" that shatter our comfortable assumptions about reality. From The Purge and mimetic desire to The Black Phone and eucatastrophe, he shows how these films operate as photographic negatives of divine transcendence, revealing both our metaphysical vulnerability and our deep hunger for meaning. We dive into concepts like the "dark transcendent," the porosity of being, and why feeling horror is actually a sign of soul. Plus, Ryan shares stories from his Theology of Horror clas