Why We Crave Horror Movies By Stephen King Essay

My grandma once told me, “If you stay up too late at night, the boogeyman will get you”. I never believed her but I knew I wouldn’t want to see the Boogeyman if he actually existed. Most people would actually want to watch these horrible beings. In this case, they would want to view a horror movie such as “Friday the 13” or “Nightmare on Elm Street”. It is part of our Human Condition to be attracted to the films and asking for more. Stephen King’s claims in “Why we crave horror” asserts us that humans crave horror to face our fears, to re-establish our feelings of normalcy, and to experience a peculiar sort of fun.

So say my personal tastes in movies make me a sick bastard just because of the subject matter portrayed in the narrative. Ok, well that isn’t exactly about what Stephen King was saying. King tells us that the horror movie does a dirty job of satiating our urges and letting our instincts run free, which in turn means that most people have something deep and dark inside them, merely a hairpin away from freaking out and murdering adorable puppies for no good reason (and there are plenty of good reasons, stop lying to yourself). I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel anything deep and evil inside of me that must be satiated so I don’t go on a weekly blood rampage so I feel like that isn’t the reason.

Stephen King never clearly states the thesis of this essay however there is enough information provided that we can infer one. We need to keep our inner lyncher at bay by feeding ourselves with small portions of demonic, bloody, violence, found in horror movies. King writes “It deliberately appeals to all the worst in us. It is morbidity unchained, our most base instincts let free, our nastiest fantasies realized...” (Why We Crave Horror Movies, paragraph 12) and by doing so he’s implying that horror movies are like a temporary fix for our violent craves.

horror movies, King argues that “we are all mentally ill” (345). He expresses that we all

Come to find out we as humans do have a dark side to our personality. In fact, our brains make imaginary monsters, demons, witches, and other crazy scary figures you can think of. We are all plugged in with the positives and negatives. In why we crave horror Stephen King is correct because he states that humans crave horror to face our fears; however, he is also wrong by claiming that we as humans crave horror to establish our feelings of normalcy and to experience a peculiar way of fun.

In the essay, “Why We Crave Horror Movies,” King explores his insight into why people enjoy and are fascinated watching horror movies. First, King points out “to show that we can, that we are not afraid, that we can ride this roller coaster”. He’s suggesting that horror movies are like roller coaster in that we search for the pleasurable, daring, lighter side of feeling fear and the thrill of trying to overcome it. King further states, horror movies “takes away the shades of grey,” giving the audience permission to return to children again, “seeing things in pure blacks and whites.” King goes on to explain that we go to “re-establish our feelings of normality”; providing psychological relief for the audience, allowing them to “lapse into simplicity, irrationality, and even outright madness." In my opinion, King’s reason for viewing horror films for psychological reasons is the most unsettling. He argues that horror movies gives the audience permission to return to childhood, viewing their emotions in a simple and madness way. I’m not sure everyone has the ability to differentiate these feelings. If we take a moment to observe the actual audience, we would discover that it’s mostly teens and young adults who have difficulty coping with their emotions and very impressionable.

In the essay, "Why We Crave Horror Movies", Steven King explains that the modern day horror movie is our relief for violence it is what feeds the gator. He uses horror movies because of there violent nature. We all need to be able to step outside life's boundaries and certain

Do you enjoy watching murder, the paranormal, and any other morbid scene which makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up, your palms sweat, and your adrenaline surge? Why people enjoy watching murder, tragedy, and carnage in their spare time has been a mysterious phenomenon. If these gruesomely horrific scenes would not be enjoyable in real life, why is watching a recreation of it so riveting? Stephen King, a world-renowned horror novelist, wrote “Why We Crave Horror Movies” to give insight as to why horror movies, although gruesome and morbid, captivate audiences. King also aims to persuade readers to continue to watch horror movies, arguing that they are a crucial part of keeping sanity. King delves into this psychological aspect of humans and believes that the desire to watch horror films is a normal tendency of humankind. “Why We Crave Horror Movies” includes appeals to emotion, logic, and author credibility in order to convince readers of the positive, normal desire to watch horror films, why it is important to watch them, and why the reader should believe what the author is saying. King utilizes the rhetorical devices—pathos, logos, and ethos—in an effective way through the use of metaphor, logic, humor, and emotion to persuade readers that watching horror films is normal.

King argues the genre has an important role because while watching a horror movie people show their true emotions. King uses the words “daring the nightmare” to explain the experiences people put themselves through when they pay to be frightened (King 1). The truth is most of them go to see the most brutal way’s producers can come up with to harm someone. As the king of horror himself puts it, “It urges us to put away our more civilized and adult penchant for analysis and to become children again… We are told we may allow our emotions a free rein… or no rein at all” (King 2). It’s fun to let loose and feel crazy sometimes, feel no one is watching. Still, people are watching, so what keeps them from putting everyone into an asylum?

Why is horror a necessity to human life? Why, when something horrible has taken place people want to know all the gruesome details? Why is it that we all love packing into a movie theater to watch innocent people be lynched and destroyed? In his essay “Why We Crave Horror” Stephen King rightfully claims he has the answers to these troubling questions. He brilliantly states that humans crave horror to face our fears, to regain a sense of normality, and have a little fun.

In the essay, “Why We Crave Horror Movies” by Stephen King, the author talks about the benefits of the horror movies on human beings. He argues that we all behave like mad people by performing weird things like talking to ourselves, showing disgusting faces and having odd fears. Comparing the horror movies with roller coasters, he states that young people are more fascinated by these adventures to prove the point that they can do this and are not afraid of taking challenges. He argues that we get fun by watching people getting hurt and suffering from menacing pain in the movies. Despite having insane thoughts in their mind which they want to execute in reality people are expected to show emotions that are accepted by the society. Horror movies gives psychic relief to these insane

According to Stephen King, America’s best-known writer of horror fiction, horror movies can serve a valuable purpose. In King’s Playboy-published essay, “Why We Crave Horror Movies,” he examines the popular trend of attending horror films, and he provides several explanations for this craving behavior. King claims that attending these gory films is not just a trend; he believes that it is a necessity. In the essay, King claims that we need/crave horror movies for two basic reasons. First, we need to view such films to fulfill our basic need for entertainment and excitement. Also, we need to view these horror films to fulfill a certain psychological need. King states that we need to subject ourselves to such irrationality periodically in order to exercise our dark side and release certain evil fantasies, so we do not act on them.

In the essay, "Why We Crave Horror Movies," best-selling writer of horror fiction, Stephen King talks about the "dirty job" horror movies perform for us and why horror movies are beneficial to audience. The reason for "why we crave horror movies" is that some people like to see others frightening in danger, to prove they are brave, and to reassure they are normal. I agree to King's claim that horror movies perform the "dirty job" to establish antisocial feelings for some people but not all.

It was a dark, cold, November night. The moon overlooked the lake as it mirrored its reflection. It was peaceful, too peaceful. I was on my way to my aunt’s, who lived a mile or so from my house. I didn’t want to go, but my mother made me. She was working a double shift at the hospital and she didn’t want me to be alone tonight. Tonight was the night my brother died two years ago. It’s a funny story how it happened, but that’s a story to tell another time. According to Stephen King’s essay “Why We Crave Horror Movies” he draws viewers into horror stories like the one above simply because we crave it. King claims in his essay we obsess over the wanting of horror as if we are daring the nightmare. The human condition is finally allows people

Horror is designed to scare, cause alarm and dread, while also entertaining the audience at the same time in a cathartic experience (Dirk, 2016). Horror films are meant for a specific type of audience that enjoy scary films. Dirks (Tim, 2016) approach to genre horror, is that films went back as 100 years ago, from the earliest days our vivid imagination in seeing ghosts in the shadows to be connected emotionally of the unknown, and fear things that are improbable. You watch a horror film, it makes you aware of the scary surroundings, the essence of fear itself, without actually being in any sorts of danger. Dirks argues that there is a fun and thrill factor in being frightened, or watching something disturbing. It gives you that feeling of an adrenaline rush, as well as having that feeling someone is actually next to you lurking in the dark (Dirk, 2016).