Tales from the Order of Saint George

There are things that go bump in the night, in the year 299 AD Saint George decided to bump back. He killed a dragon that was devoruring a town, then founded an order to defeat The Dragon, wherever it was found. Today, the few remaining members of this ancient order struggle against the forces of darkness across the globe. From shapeshifting sorcerers, to eldritch gods, cryptids, and even UFOs there’s no telling what’s in store for these monster hunters. Pulp fantasy in the tradition of imaginative Christian fiction by AC Gleason.

The above description is from the Amazon page for the Tales of the Order of Saint George by A. C. Gleason, formerly of Ricochet. There are two stories so far: Night of the Teratorn and The Tomb of Hastur.

The author's foreword to Night of the Teratorn describes the concept he has in mind: Men in Black, but more supernatural and with a Christian worldview. (He explains that the original MIB comics are less aliens and more supernatural stuff--a bit closer to his own genre.) Another good description might be: The X-Files, but with a Christian worldview. Or my personal favorite--H. P. Lovecraft, but with a Christian worldview!

And IT WORKS. It's not cheesy or anything, except maybe insofar as weird fiction would normally be.

The Christian worldview is true, and its finest artistic productions are the best of their genres: Milton, Shakespeare, MacDonald, Dostoyevsky, Lewis, Tolkien. I won't say the Tales from the Order of Saint George are THAT good, but they do bear comparison to GOOD Christian art, not lousy. They're good, they're freethinking, and they're fun. Nothing like sappy Christian pop music--more like the best of Skillet and the Newsboys.

One thing I like about these stories is that they have bits of genuine wisdom worked in, like MacDonald and Lewis. Like when Hyam advises a child: If a grown-up ever tells you to lie about something, you should tell an adult you trust immediately.

I reckon that ain't as good as ". . . the less his mother said, the more Curdie believed she had to say." But it's probably better than "Never shut yourself in a wardrobe." And that was only the first; there were plenty more.

But maybe the best thing I can say about these stories is just this: I really enjoyed them. If you're the kind of nerd who likes H. P. Lovecraft AND MacDonald, Tolkien, and Lewis, you might enjoy them too.