Preview

Steven King Why We Crave Horror Movies Analysis

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
626 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Steven King Why We Crave Horror Movies Analysis
Horror movies bright out the demon in everyone. Normally someone would not be rooting on a person getting sawed in half with a chainsaw or getting stabbed in the back with a knife in the shower. In Steven King’s Why We Crave Horror Movies he discusses why people love horror movies so much. Of course, some people are not a fan of horror movies. Not everyone can handle the jump scares and gore, however some people can sit and watch the massacre for hours. Horror movies supply people with an adrenaline rush and a sensation of fear while bringing out the sociopath side found within everyone. The horror genre is meant to bring out the worst in people. Each and every person has dark and evil thoughts that are not often seen during the day. However, the moment they begin watching a horror movie, those evil thoughts take over. It is a “peculiar sort of fun, indeed. The fun comes from seeing others menaced – sometimes killed” (King, 1). These sort of movies appeal to the side of people that is often tucked away. While I am driving down the highway and a person suddenly cuts me off and I have to slam on the breaks, I often think what would happen if I jumped out of my car and slammed …show more content…
I am terrified for my life for no real apparent reason. In Margarita Tartakovsky’s Why Some People Love Horror Movies While Others Hate Them, Glenn Sparks states that “one reason for the appeal is how you feel after the movie. This is called the excitation transfer process…when people watch frightening films, their heart rate, blood pressure and respiration increases” (Tartakovsky, 1). People often do not feel their heart rate and blood pressure sky rocket on a normal business day. Exciting things happen on rare occasions. After a long day at work people are usually not afraid to go take a shower or sleep alone in their bed. It gets people excited and gives them a feeling they cannot normally

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Stephen King is known by his grotesque movies and recognizable writing. In his piece, “Why We Crave Horror Movies,” he explains the human races’ need to watch other people being tortured, mutilated, and eventually killed. King uses two opposing tones in his essay to create an atmosphere that is both humorous and serious.…

    • 332 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The writer titled the essay "Why We Crave Horror Movies?" The reason for this is to make us, the readers, aware of why we crave to see, hear and read about murder, death and blood. People in the world have the craving for watching the violence through horror movies, hearing spooky stories at a campfire, and reading about ghosts. There are many crimes, violence, terrorism going around in the real world and these events are printed in news papers, television news, etc. People read and watch these events but it just does not seem enough. People want to "pay five bucks…and dare their nightmare," to watch fictional…

    • 615 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Stephen Kings essay “Why We Crave Horror Movies,” he implies that we are all mentally ill. Stephan King is a New York Time best-selling author who writes in the horror and fantasy genre. Kings work today has been turned into countless successful films and movies. He started his writing career with a book called Carrie, the story of a tormented teen who seeks revenge. In Stephen Kings essay “Why We Crave Horror Movies” he says we all are mentally ill in a sense, but some of us can hide it enhanced than others.…

    • 585 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are plenty of different reasons why people like horror movies. For some people it may not be about just watching people be murdered, it could be more so about the fascination of how they made the scenes look so real. If the people who watch horror movies are said to be mentally ill, does it also mean that the people who create horror movies are too? Imagine what goes into a director's head when they are creating these movies. Creating horror movies to them may seem like art, it is a game of making something so fake look so real. It could be possible that the creators of horror movies only make horror movies to attract as King said “mentally ill” individuals (King 598).…

    • 747 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In Stephen King's essay “why we crave horror movies”, King informs the readers about how insanity can vary in everyone, and how horror movies can suppress the madness. King is expressing that everyone has their own issues, but some are better at disguising it than others. The author is explaining how horror movies help conserve a feeling of normality in society due to horror movies being so deranged. Some even get scared for pleasure. King states that people enjoy horrific circumstances if they are going through them personally. Horror movies allow us to go back to simpler times and cope ;however, it helps to confide in others to stay balanced. Insanity comes in different multitudes. When holding in our emotions they're bound to come out…

    • 172 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In Stephen King’s “Why We Crave Horror Movies,” he enlightens the audience on their obsession and captivation with horror movies. King describes fears, illnesses, and nightmares that most people in the audience experience. He compares horror movies to roller coasters and explains that the reader often rides or watches them to prove that they are not afraid. King references the horrific movie Die, Monster, Die! And reminds us that we are still far from “true ugliness.” He identifies the kind of twisted fun that comes from watching horror movies. Horror movies allow us to gain control of our emotions and let our imaginations run wild, King explains. Everyone in the audience, as he states, is insane and their insanity can range anywhere from unmentionable…

    • 227 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    3. Lynching- to hang someone for his or her wrongs. 4. Penchant-liking for something. 5. Immortalized-to bestow unending fame upon.…

    • 442 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Horror movies test us on our fears, desires and mentality. As from the king’s thesis, “the reason we all crave horror movies is because we are all mentally ill”. That gives a point that we need to watch horror movies just to release our tension.Some people prefer horror movies for a different reason. They want to prove to themselves that they are brave and that they fear nothing. People always try to prove certain things true when they are not that sure of themselves. Even though they choose to watch these things, the images are still disturbing for many people.But people have the ability to pay attention as much or as little as they care to in order to control what effect it has on them, emotionally and…

    • 740 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    ” Our emotions and our fears form their own body, and we recognize that it demands its own exercise to maintain proper muscle tone.” Stephan King quotes. Most people watch horror movies just to show that they are not afraid, to just watch it for fun, or even to release the inner kid in themselves. Insidious had to be one of the scariest movies I’ve ever saw.…

    • 360 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Stephen Kings essay "Why We Crave Horror Movies" he claims that we are all mentally ill. According to King, people’s quirks are proof of this. The antidote to our mental illness, king says, is that we watch horror movies to "re-establish our feelings of essential normality". King also says that we watch them to satisfy the bad in us. We all do crazy things in our lives. Once in awhile we all want to thrash out on someone, to prove a point, or just to hurt them for the sake of hurting them. We do not do this instead we watch horror movies, ride roller coasters and let our frustrations out through our imagination, rather than physical action.…

    • 1303 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In King’s article “Why We Crave Horror Movies,” he says, “ We also go to reestablish our feelings of essential normality: the horror movie is innately conservative, even reactionary.” (King par.4) King reveals the feeling’s of every person that goes to see a horror movie because he knows that people want to do something that drives us away from anxiety and into a dangerous situation. Most humans like to live a spontaneous life. They go and do something like ziplining, skydiving, or even watching a horror movie in order for them to not think of anything else but their own life. In Chocano’s article “How Tabloid Train Wrecks are Reinventing Gothic Literature” she says, “Celebrities in the new gossip economy are simply the ghostly, gothic embodiments of our shared anxieties...they’ve willingly become the tragic heroes and doomed heroines in our collective tales of terror, abjection and ridicule.”(Chocano par.13) Celebrities are the ones that have it harder than any of us because they go through so many scary things every single day. From their private lives all out in the open to being threatened by people that hate them, they wake to face all these problems while trying to stay…

    • 617 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    For those who prefer horror films tend to really love to be frighten or grossed out of their mind. They also really like the suspense and anxiety horror movies offer.…

    • 95 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Horror Vs Thriller Analysis

    • 2291 Words
    • 10 Pages

    There have been many studies that center around the idea of empathy being the most important variable in why someone likes a show or film. Empathy is an emotion or feeling that includes sympathy and concern of another person’s well-being, and a shared negative affect. Though empathy is feeling for someone else, it is proven that the closer you actually are to the event you’re feeling empathy for, the more empathy you actually feel. People like when good people win in the end. The punishment of evil is a theme in many type of movies, and one that pulls many people in. With this is mind, it should conclude that people that are highly empathetic should dislike horror movies for the pain and suffering of the characters, however, many fans of horror movies have stated that they cannot watch a viral clip of someone humiliating themselves on life TV, but still enjoy a good horror movie. The problem with this hypothesis is that most horror movies do not end happily, and people still like those movies. So for those select few that DO end happily, this suggestion would apply, but for most it doesn’t…

    • 2291 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    A Horror Film Analysis

    • 582 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Furthermore, we watch a horror movie to satisfy our mental thirst of wanting to actually witness the harm of another human being. A public lynching is the act of purposely killing someone who is guilty of crimes, moreover, this action is normal to be heard of or witnessed by an outstanding number of people across the world. The connection is that we need horror movies to satisfy our craving of committing horrific acts upon other human beings. We view horror movies as killings, which is the exact content of a public lynching. We witness both horror films and public lynching with the expectation of seeing some type of killing. It is human nature for us to be curious.…

    • 582 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Horror Movies

    • 252 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The article "Why We Crave Horror Movies" by Stephen King examines the popular trend of attending horror films and he explains 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. As a result, King claims that we need/crave horror movies for various basic reasons. First, he suggest we need to view these horror films to fulfill our basic need for entertainment and excitement. Also, we need to view these horror films to satisfy a certain psychological requirement. 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. Besides that, he indicates that we go to "re-establish our feelings of essential normality". With great subject description, sufficient example and fact support, and dramatic writing King's article appears to present it's self to be accurate. At the same time, some of this article tends to overstate and amplify the facts.…

    • 252 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays