When I was young I would always watch “scary movies” with my sister. For this reason, Every night I would have nightmares after each movie. By all means, I’d end up on the other side of the bed or on the floor. Given that, Stephen King claims his short story “ Why We Crave Horror” is to crave horror by facing our fears and, re-establish our feelings normalcy by getting used to the horror towards something that is called the human condition provided that, he is right about his claims. By all means, His three claims are “To show we can,that we are not afraid, that we can ride this roller coaster”. “ We also go to re-establish our feelings of essential normality”. “ If we share a brotherhood of man, then we also share an insanity of man”. First thing to remember, Humans react to the horror by the amount of fear they have inside of them. In fact, King's short story “Strawberry spring” causes fear to the people because it’s something that would come around every eight years.(Strawberry …show more content…
For example, the short story “ Why we crave horror “ Stephen says that we are having a “ particular sort of fun” meaning death. King says “ pro football has become the voyeur's version of combat,then the horror film has become the modern version”( Kings , “ why we crave horror” .2). Meaning the soldier’s version of combat has become the horror , in which kids see, fun to watch at a young age. Horror movies are to make a purpose for you to feel catharsis towards it. Emotion muscles also known as the human condition, are the way you feel about the horror in that case, having fun while watching it and finding it interesting. Compared to the narrator and the events of “Strawberry Spring,” we “reestablish our feelings of essential normality” (King, “Why We Crave” 1). Despite the macabre fact that multiple women are killed in the short story “Strawberry Spring,” the experience is a “peculiar sort of fun” (King, “Why We Crave”
I have provided a clear evaluation of his essay in an organized way using the appropriate standards of evaluation. In understanding why humans “Crave Horror Movies” even when some people get nightmares after watching them we find the importance of our emotions and fears. We find those emotions and fears form a body of their own which needs to be maintained properly in order to remain healthy. We see how emotions can be controlled though viewing horror movies. Stephen King’s “Why We Crave Horror Movies” is a well written essay with convincing analogies, comparisons, and urban humor.
The horror genre is synonymous with images of terror, violence and human carnage; the mere mention of horror movies evokes physical and psychological torture. As remarked by noted author Stephen King “the mythic horror movie…has a dirty job to do. It deliberately appeals to all that is worst in us. It is morbidity unchained, our most base instincts let free, our nastiest fantasies realized.” (King, 786). At manageable intervals, we choose to live these horrific events vicariously through the characters in horror movies and books as a means of safely experiencing the “what if”. The horror genre allows us to explore our fears, be it spiders, vampires, loss of our identity, or death of a loved, under the most fantastic and horrible circumstances conceivable. King also points out that by watching horror movies we “may allow our emotions a free rein . . . or no rein at all.” (King, 784). According to psychiatrist James Schaller, by vicariously “experiencing contrived fears, a person develops a sense of competence over similar types of fears.” (Schaller). Horror films allow the viewer the opportunity to safely examine their fears safely and to the depth and extent they wish to do so. Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 provides the opportunity for the viewer to consider a diverse range of fears, with a little humor thrown in for balance, from the safety of a darkened room, a comfortable seat and in less than 120 minutes.
The article Why We Crave Horror Movies by Stephen King distinguishes why we truly do crave horror movies. Stephen King goes into depth on the many reasons on why we, as humans, find horror movies intriguing and how we all have some sort of insanity within us. He does this by using different rhetorical techniques and appealing to the audience through ways such as experience, emotion and logic. Apart from that he also relates a numerous amount of aspects on why we crave horror movies to our lives. Throughout this essay I will be evaluating the authors arguments and points on why society finds horror movies so desirable and captivating.
horror movies, King argues that “we are all mentally ill” (345). He expresses that we all
We’re getting close to October and all the scary movie lovers and thrill-seekers gather around and prepare to be scared. However, have we ever thought of why most of us enjoy being scared? The article, “Why Do Some Brains Enjoy Fear?” written by Allegra Ringo explores the science behind supernatural and physical thrills. The reality of something supernatural or somewhat human like but not exactly tears us apart and leaves us wanting more. Most people enjoy the possibilities of a greater form after life and death. All around the world most people are intrigued by ghosts, demons, spirits, hybrids of humans and such, monsters, and even non humans. The answer to the previous question is because of the hype of it all. When
King chooses to compare the minds of a child and an adult to see the different resilience levels when exposed to the horror genre. He describes his findings as a paradox, “Children, who are physically quite weak, lift the weight of unbelief with ease” (PP 118). King assumes because the mind of an adult is mature it can handle the horrific depictions within the horror variety yet children seem too be able to withstand the pressure. King backed his theory by analyzing Walt Disney’s movies and their impact on a child’s imagination. Walt Disney’s movie Bambi is what Stephen King pinpointed when comparing the toll of horrific events in children and adult minds. King questioned adults about what was most terrifying about a movie when they were younger and they stated, “Bambi’s father shot by the hunter, or Bambi and his mother running before the forest fire” (PP 119). Another aspect King unveiled was the Doppler Effect and that, “A part of ‘growing up’ is the fact that everything has a scare potential for the child under eight” (PP 119). The cognitive imagination does not stop developing it just suppresses certain mental functions to draw a line between what is real and what is not. Horror novelist mask the tension with comedy yet with one swift motion it, “Knocks the adult props out from under us and tumbles us back down the slide into childhood” (PP
People are addicted to the synthetic feeling of being terrified. Modern day horror films are very different from the first horror films which date back to the late nineteenth century, but the goal of shocking the audience is still the same. Over the course of its existence, the horror industry has had to innovate new ways to keep its viewers on the edge of their seats. Horror films are frightening films created solely to ignite anxiety and panic within the viewers. Dread and alarm summon deep fears by captivating the audience with a shocking, terrifying, and unpredictable finale that leaves the viewer stunned.
In his essay, “Why We Crave Horror Movies” King attempts to bring understanding to the phenomenon of the horror film genre. He states “sanity becomes a matter of degree” eluding to the theory that sanity is relative and that all humans are relatively insane. Jack the Ripper and the Cleveland Torso Murderer were the examples of humans on one extreme of the spectrum of sanity; saints represent the other safe end of the sanity spectrum. He illustrates the thought that in order for human kind to stay functionally sane there needs to be some sort of outlet for our violent “mad” thoughts. In King’s view horror movies provide a stable outlet and mental relief for innate madness. King argues that his insanity/ant civilization emotions are ingrained
The king of horror takes no credibility for himself because the article's main purpose of being published is merely a reflection of our own inner being and it’s based upon his perspective of humanity. He describes “I think we’re all mentally ill”(King 1); this explains his viewpoint and although it may appear as an outrageous statement, the truth is “we've all known people who talk to themselves [and]...people who all squinch their faces into horrible grimaces”(King 1) when they think no one is looking their way. The descriptive tone depicts the audience’s attachment towards taking a second glance and recognizing the dark humor and malicious association we all share, which is hidden throughout the whole article. King proves we all have a dark side by saying, “If we share the brotherhood of man, then we also share an insanity of man”(King 2). This employs the mysterious tone because it takes a deeper thought process in order to comprehend what King is actually trying to connote with. Whether it's a laugh or a grin, he demonstrates a provable point which emphasizes his understanding of horror and the persuasiveness behind it; which shows a mysterious tone. As you're drowning in the pages, he describes an anxious feeling or urge which nags at our chests, proving “we are still light-years from true ugliness”(King 1). He describes the unknown ugliness,
King owes his success to his ability to take what he says are “real fears” (The Stephen King Story, 47) and turn them into a horror story. When he says “real fears” they are things we have all thought of such as a monster under the bed or even a child kidnapping and he is making them a reality in his story. King looks at “horror fiction...as a metaphor” (46) for everything that goes wrong in our lives. His mind and writing seems to dwell in the depths of the American people’s fears and nightmares and this is what causes his writing to reach so many people and cause the terror he writes about to be instilled in his reader.
We all have cravings, be it for snacks or sweets, there is always something we desire. We crave horror in the same way. In Stephen King’s essay, “Why We Crave Horror Movies,” he argues that people need to watch horror films in order to release the negative emotions within us. King believes that people feel enjoyment while watching others be terrorized or killed in horror movies. King’s argument has elements that are both agreeable and disagreeable. On one hand he is acceptable when claiming we like the thrill and excitement that comes from watching horror movies; however, his views regarding that the fun comes from seeing others suffer cannot be agreed with because the human condition is not as immoral as he claims it to be.
In this course, I’ve learned about the three sub-genres of horror. These three sub-genres are moral allegory, psychological horror, and the fantastic. The first sub-genre of horror, moral allegory, revolves around a rule being broken and the punishments for breaking the rule. There’s commonly a focus on the battle between good and evil, and there is often a supernatural evil involved. Commentary on our society is also common. The next sub-genre, psychological horror, capitalizes on deviant or abnormal human psychology. This abnormal creature creates the horror, whether through their actions or just by existing. The “monster” of the story is often a representation of an aspect of ourselves. This “monster” is not
Staring at a young child buying an admissions ticket to the scariest movie of the year can make one wonder. Why would someone put themselves through that experience? Exposing themselves to nightmares for weeks and a fear of dark closets. Seeing this, one could just not understand this situation. Though in the moment it may look like a bad choice, that same child later walks out of the movie laughing, smiling, and holding their loved ones close. The terrifying event supplied them with joy and new memories, and the reasons to this explain why many people around the world go through the exact same thing. The main reasons some individuals enjoy experiencing fear is because it is an emotion biologically ingrained in
However now, after reading King’s article some of these physiological reasons connect It’s a “psychic relief… to lapse into simplicity irrationality and even outright madness is extended so rarely” (King 358). The permission that my parents gave me to watch a scary movie could be their subconscious minds trying to exercise that irrational thoughts; by letting a child watch a scary movie and witness the sight of fear is fulfilling the internal “mental illness” as King writes. Now the similar thing my parents did to me, I do by myself. I know myself and I truly hate horror movies. I am always stress and tense watching the movie and I would always get nightmares that recurred all the time, but I’m still here sitting in the theater watching another one. There are protagonist, antagonist, and there is the killer of the movie; there is always that one guy or girl everyone hates and you lowkey want them to be killed. That is an example of King describing “anticivilization emotions and insanity levels.” In the classic zombie movie Dawn of the Dead, a character named Steve is a schmuck that I absolutely hated. Everything that came out of his mouth made everyone aggravating. I just wanted him to die so bad, I just kept thinking “ the best part of the movie is when scumbag Steve dies.” The hurtful thoughts that come up in our heads is set on a scale of crazy. I
“We wake up as horrors to help us cope with real ones” as quoted by Stephen King, the ideology of horror lies within a terrifying experience, it is ironic that popular authors writing dark fiction symbolize real-live horror experiences through their stories. Characters illustrated in thriller stories are fictional but it seems conspicuous when authors make a connection between fiction and reality. The audience’s purpose in horror stories is to indirectly empathize with the character’s situation that being the victim or the criminal. As I sulked through the dark driveway, a chilly breeze struck my face and skin; an eerie feeling crept behind and a hand slowly moved toward my shoulder. I shrieked at the top of my lungs and quickly turned around