Terror as defined by Merriam-Webster dictionary is, “a very strong feeling of fear” (Terror, 2014, para. 2). Likewise Merriam-Webster dictionary defines horror as, “the quality of something that causes feelings of fear, dread, and shock: the horrible or shocking quality or character of something” (Horror, 2014, para. 2). Without question, Stephen King is a master at designing short stories and novels, which instill sheer horror in the reader. In the fictional worlds Mr. King creates, terror and horror lurk everywhere. From simple closets to an unassuming lake, King is able to turn the ordinary into something that causes fear and panic. With pounding hearts, readers of King’s fictions delight in the terror he constructs. Nevertheless, an author can only write so many stories, before they all begun to sound the same. For example, “The Boogeyman”, “The Raft”, “Strawberry Spring”, and “Sometimes They Come Back” all have the same basic theme. While the plot, setting, and character development may vary, the conflict, literary devices, style, and form are similar.
“The Boogeyman” and “Sometime They Come Back” are short stories written around the same timeframe. Both stories are very similar in theme. “The Boogeyman” is about a man coming face to face with his worst fear. Lester Billings’ fear mounts as his children are killed one by one. With the first child’s death, Lester refuses to acknowledge what he knows is true. However, with the second child’s death, Lester is certain he is dealing with something otherworldly. Though he does not admit it, he knows the children are not dying by natural means. Lester sacrifices his third child’s life, even though he admits this child is his favorite, to save his own life. Consumed...
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... of view. Likewise, the tone is also the same for both tales: supernatural/demonic action that moves at a fast pace. Here differences begin to occur. The setting, plot, and characterization in the stories are not consistent with one another.
Works Cited
Horror. (2014). In Merriam-Webster online. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/horror
King, S. "The Boogeyman." Night Shift. New York, NY: First Anchor Books. 2012. 100-112. Print.
King, S. "The Raft." Skeleton Crew. New York, NY: Signet. 1986. 278-306. Print.
King, S. "Sometime They Come Back." Night Shift. New York, NY: First Anchor Books. 2012. 152-181. Print.
King, S. "Strawberry Spring." Night Shift. New York, NY: First Anchor Books. 2012. 182-191. Print.
Terror. (2014). In Merriam-Webster online. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/terror?show=0&t=1399240204
Conover, Ted. Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing. 1st ed. New York: Random House, 2000. 331. Print.
6th ed. New York: St. James Press, 1996. Literature Resource Center. Web. 26 Jan. 2014.
Meyer, Michael. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008. 2189.
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
Updike, John. “A&P”. The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. Eds. R.V. Cassill and Richard Bausch. Shorter Sixth Edition. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2000. 864 - 869.
An Anthology For Readers and Writers. 5th ed. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins, 2012. 1283-1296. Print.
different time of period and different region, but yet both stories shared similar endings and
Short Story Series, Revised Edition (2004): 1-2. Literary Reference Center Plus. Web. 23 Apr. 2014.
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”.
b. Thesis Statement: Stephen King uses many different elements in order to scare his readers. The elements include supernatural elements, real life scenarios, and fear of the unknown.
Even though these two books may seem very different, they also share many similarities. Though they are not related through their plots, they definitely share some very important themes and resemblance of characters. Through these similarities, two different stories in completely different time frames and locations can be brought together in many instances.
evidence of Stephen King being very interest in horror showed in his work in his early
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.
Ginsberg, Allen. “Howl” The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Paul Lauter and Richard Yarborough. 6th ed. Vol. E. Boston: Wadsworth Cencage Learning, 2010. 2582-2590. Print.
The stories are similar in many ways, but they are also very different. This can be related to the relationship between the two religions themselves.