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Stephen king why we crave horror essay
Stephen king why we crave horror essay
Stephen king why we crave horror essay
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As the main topic suggests, what are the types of horrors associated with media? First off, you might want to think about what your definition of fear is, what unsettles you, and what rubs you the wrong way. Well according to Stephen King, this can be broken down into three types; which is the gross-out, horror, and terror. The gross-out in this case is what it is. It’s things we as humans find disgusting, morbid, or diseased. To provide an example; picture yourself waking up in your bed, all seems normal right? You then look around and notice a severed torso sitting on your computer chair. Morbid right? Onto the next type which is horror. Stephen King places the supernatural under this category; it’s creatures or unnatural happenings that we as humans fabricate or can’t explain. It’s things such as the dead waking up from their slumber and walking around; spiders the size of man transforming into clowns, or a long slender man with no face stalking his prey. And finally, possibly the most terrifying of the three: terror. What we can describe as terror is ambiguity, the feeling of uneasiness we feel when dealing with the unknown. Quoting Stephen King an excellent example is “ When you come home and notice everything you own have been taken away and replaced with an exact substitute. It’s the insecurity you feel when talking with someone wearing a mask; you can’t visually identify their expressions, you don’t know what thinking, whether they’re a threat or not. These categories are the basic building blocks used in today's horror media today. This topic here will cover the general types of horror we see often in video games which are the “Psychological horror” and “Survival horror”. First let’s start with psychological horror. Or... ... middle of paper ... ... general case with most survival horror games, they often punish players for acting to carelessly while rewarding players who value their characters lives. Works Cited "“The 3 Types of Terror: The Gross-out: The Sight of a Severed Head Tumbling down a Flight of Stairs, It's When the Lights Go out and Something Green and Slimy Splatters against Your Arm. The Horror: The Unnatural, Spiders the Size of Bears, the Dead Waking up and Walking Around, It's When the Lights Go out and Something with Claws Grabs You by the Arm. And the Last and Worse One: Terror, When You Come Home and Notice Everything You Own Had Been Taken Away and Replaced by an Exact Substitute. It's When the Lights Go out and You Feel Something behind You, You Hear It, You Feel Its Breath against Your Ear, but When You Turn Around, There's Nothing There...”." Goodreads. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2014.
Paul Santilli’s “Culture, Evil, and Horror” gives us several ideas of what horror means. Horror is a type of cultural breakdown. There is also a type of horror called Ontological Horror: “It is characterized as a disturbance before an indefinite and unnamed presence” (180). In the story “The Spider”, the men all suffered an ineluctable death. This story demonstrates an unnamed presence causing the loss of control.
The horror genre of film captives the frightfulness of individual fear, horror is the only genre that is meant captive the terror of the audience. The horror- the genre has been around well over one hundred- years there has been an extension of different types of horror and how the audience perceives horror. Many would even argue that horror films often reflect the fear of society in that certain time period. The evolution of horror reflects the evolution of society’s fear. American in 1929 face the stock market crash-inducing The Great Depression.
Overall, in Stephen King’s essay, “Why We Crave Horror Movies”, his suggestion that we view horror movies to “reestablish our feelings of essential normality” (562) and there is a “potential lyncher in almost all of us” (562) has brought forth many aspects that I have never really thought about. Why do we have so much excitement when it comes to horror films? Everyone has their own opinion, which will never end with one definite answer. Stephen King thinks there’s and evil in all of us, but I don’t think so. The evil only comes out if you make it, we do not need horror films for psychic
sample, but it also appeals to population and emotion. To further explain why we crave
We crave horror movies simply for “the fun of it” in agreeing with Stephen King Why We Crave Horror movies. King gave multiple examples in his story as to why we crave horror movies and I can agree with just about each and every one of them. After watching a few horror movies for yourself, you will understand why it is easy to agree with King. If you have watched movies such as the 2004 movie Dawn of the Dead, The Purge, or The Conjuring you will also be able to relate to Chuck Klosterman My Zombie, Myself “Zombies are just so easy to kill.” Klostermans theory of zombies are extremely useful because it sheds insight on the difficult yet exciting problem of zombies in the real world. Klosterman’s argument that the repetition of modern life is
Stephen King wrote a very brief essay titled "Why we Crave Horror Movies", in which he explained some of the reasons that people choose to go to horror movies to be entertained. In his essay, King goes on to explain that we as a people need horror movies as a sort of release; to feed the darker elements within all of us without having to sacrifice our humanity (also, civility). King does this by comparing people based on their levels of sanity whereas some societal "eccentricities" are completely acceptable, while some will get you thrown right into the loony bin. It’s summed up pretty well in this quote:
Film scholars around the world agree that all genres of film are part of the “genre cycle”. This cycle contains four different stages that a specific genre goes through. These stages are: primitive, classic, revisionist, and parody. Each stage that the genre goes through brings something different to that genre’s meaning and what the audience expects. I believe that looking at the horror genre will be the most beneficial since it has clearly gone through each stage.
Stephen King was born on September 21, 1947 in Portland, Maine (Biography Today). During the course of a thought-provoking childhood, King gained an interest in chilling stories that were far too grown-up for such a young boy (Biography Today). His concentration on demoralizing stories became his own clandestine escape from his particular fears brought on by a life-changing event for his family (Kehoe). The life-changing event that was brought on at such a youthful age has developed the king of horror, who is now a renowned author.
Horror films are designed to frighten the audience and engage them in their worst fears, while captivating and entertaining at the same time. Horror films often center on the darker side of life, on what is forbidden and strange. These films play with society’s fears, its nightmare’s and vulnerability, the terror of the unknown, the fear of death, the loss of identity, and the fear of sexuality. Horror films are generally set in spooky old mansions, fog-ridden areas, or dark locales with unknown human, supernatural or grotesque creatures lurking about. These creatures can range from vampires, madmen, devils, unfriendly ghosts, monsters, mad scientists, demons, zombies, evil spirits, satanic villains, the possessed, werewolves and freaks to the unseen and even the mere presence of evil.
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.
This depends on the location - is it a business mans office or an old
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.
For instance the claim that is not to be agreed with in King’s essay is the one where he declares “The fun comes from seeing others menaced - sometimes killed” (2). King has the mindset that the reason we find horror movies entertaining is because of the torture the characters go through. This opinion of his is completely unacceptable because even though we all have our bad side, the satisfaction isn’t from seeing the people playing the roles die; but from the movie as a whole that is filled with feelings of suspense, curiosity, fear, excitement and so many more
Horror movies attempt to make the audience experience fear, dread, disgust or terror. The plots often involve the supernatural and fantasy world giving the audience the reassurance that what is being seen is not truly existing. Horror movie plots are often than not, predictable. Horror movies will show gruesome and graphic violence. Many times, this will include close up shots of horrifying deaths and relentless tortures in an attempt to compel an audience to express emotions such as disgust and fright. Also, the way horror movies are promoted and advertised is a difference. In trailers and movie covers the backgrounds are often red or a dark color as such. It suggests danger and advocates violence. A horror movie is scarier in that exact moment and
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.