Denver’s Quest: Exploring Horror and Complex Subjectivity in Beloved

Abstract Since its publication in 1987, Beloved has achieved critical acclaim, popularity, and status as one of Toni Morrison’s most iconic and accomplished novels. Based on the true story of Margret Garner, Beloved engages questions of being, agency, hauntings, and monstrosity while providing a visualization of the lasting aftereffects of slavery. As such, it has been the center of critical scholarship across many disciplines, including religion. However, the treatment in religious discourse has largely ignored the importance of the novel as representative of and engaged with the horror genre. This article argues that when read as a text of horror, Beloved aids in understanding Black religion as what Anthony Pinn has called a quest for complex subjectivity. Pinn’s theory understands terror as a dimension of life that shapes the look of Black religion. Here, I offer a conceptual shift—exemplified through an exploration of Beloved, particularly the character Denver—where terror is clarified as a vital component of horror. This article cautions against the conflation of terror and horror as equivalent terms. After reviewing their distinguishing characteristics, I ultimately situate horror as the more useful analytic descriptor for understanding the impetus and development of Black religion. By examining Denver’s complex subjectivity in Beloved, horror’s capaciousness as a genre, emotive response, and cultural phenomenon will unearth new dimensions of how we perceive Black religion.