Let's get religious for a second. I know, it's one of those forbidden topics. But this is my blog, and I can do whatever the hell I want. I was lucky enough to beta The Morningstar Confession by Matt Lutton, but I've held off on reviewing it until it was published. Although Matt has proven himself to be an incredible storyteller with his collections, this is his debut novel, and it's fair to say I was curious how the process would play out for him from start to finish. There's a lot that can change between the beta phase and publishing, and as an editor myself, I'm unfortunately very aware of how often the author's voice and integrity can get lost in the shuffle. I'm excited to say, at least from my purview, this played out quite well for Matt. The Morningstar Confession has received a ton of well-deserved praise since its release.
Religious horror can be a tricky thing. We're all aware of the typical possession story, although that can be lumped in with the paranormal and ghost stories depending on the presence of certain hallmarks. Do you have a priest? Does a demon talk mad shit through its host? Is there some underlying religious context about how a life without a god can lead to danger, and a man of the cloth can save the day? That's been done (and quite well, I might add). You've also got your stories that completely shit on religion and make a mockery of it. As an atheist myself, I don't see the problem there, but there's a potential for controversy and the possibility of pissing off a good portion of your potential audience. Yet some authors do it anyway, and good for them, I say. The Morningstar Confession does something different.
Lutton takes The Bible stories we've heard all our lives and turns them on their heads. The stories were all written by man, right? Heard from God himself and transcribed through the fingers of his loyal followers. Well, what if they were wrong? What if God just told these fellas what he wanted the rest of the world to hear, and things didn't really happen that way? Sounds shockingly similar to modern-day media, but I digress. Having read some of Lutton's shorter works, I was already aware of his level of creativity and how limitless his imagination is. Seeing it all play out in a full-length novel in such a unique way was so much fun. Giving us the devil's point of view for some of The Bible's most notorious stories gave readers something to think about without being outright blasphemous. It's one long, poignant "what if?" I'd say I'd love to crawl into Matt's brain for a day just to see where his ideas come from, but I think I might be scared of what I'd find.
I asked Matt some questions about his book and his writing.
Q: What was the impetus that inspired you to tell stories we've all heard before from a different point of view?
A: I've always enjoyed telling stories. If you think about it, that's all humans do, really. "How was your day?" That's inviting someone to tell you the story of their day. So, I think it comes kind of naturally that I just like telling stories that make people feel something.
Q: You're a great storyteller. Have you always had an incredibly active imagination? When did you know you wanted to use it to write books?
A: That's kind of you to say. Thank you. I like to say I'm a storyteller, not a writer. I can't write to save my life, but I can tell you a story. My imagination was always pretty strong. I loved toys as a kid, and that's when you really got to use your imagination. Be it coming up with battles or inner dialogue, we all kind of wrote stories as children when we played. I just never grew out of that as an adult. I had never thought about writing an actual book until I was listening to Books of Blood on audio and would almost guess the ending or where the plot was going. In a couple instances, I would be wrong, and I liked my ending better. No disrespect to Clive Barker. They were all masterful stories. That got me thinking of my own ideas for stories, and so I decided to just write some down on my breaks. Enough people enjoyed them that they asked for more, and here we are.
Q: What are you working on now, or what comes next for you?
A: I just finished my first novel, The Morningstar Confession, and I am hoping to start the follow-up soon. This one seems to be resonating with a lot of people, so it's nice to hear how the story has affected them.
If you like religious horror or creative retellings, add The Morningstar Confession to your TBR. This is one worth seeing what all the hype is about!
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