Stephen King Why We Crave Horror Movies Summary

Reading the statement “I think we are all mentally ill,” is not something we read everyday, and makes us question “are we?” But, according to Stephen King, in his essay “Why We Crave Horror Movies,” we are all mentally ill and that some of us can hide it better than others. King thinks that people are mentally ill because we love, or “crave” as he says it, to watch horror movies. Like many other people, I agree with Stephen King and his argument, that we are mentally ill and crave horror movies. Mental illness contains wide range of mental health conditions. King thinks that we are mentally ill because we watch horror movies and enjoy them. Some people may argue that horror movies can cause mental illness because of all the menacing, killing, and

Most often people do things because of peer pressure, which causes people to do things that they do not actually want to do. I agree with King’s first argument because that is how people often start to watch horror movies, in this case, all the time. King also goes on to say that “we go to re-establish our feelings of essential normality...” (King). People watch horror movies and see a lot of things that do not happen to them in real life. In this case, this is a way for people to feel normal, like their lives are so much better than what it actually seems like. Horror movies are a way for people to feel more confident about their own lives, only because what happens to the characters on screen does not happen to them. The main reason why we watch horror movies is for the fun of seeing others menaced or sometimes killed. King further explains that this is why we crave horror movies, for the menacing and killing. The menacing and killing, for some people, is a way to let out a different side of themselves (Rivas). People react to horror movies in different ways, whether it maybe violence, paranoia, fear,