Stephan King: Why We Crave Horror Movies

Adrenaline. It’s the chemical that courses through a person’s veins whenever their body thinks something is particurally exciting. In acient times, it was deployed when a sweaty caveman was being attacked by a predator. Today, however, it is used when comfortable viewers watche scary images on their televisions in their cushy chairs. In Stephen Kings’s essay “Why We Crave Horror,” Stephen King challenges the sanity of mankind becaude they like to watch scary movies. However, humans may actually have other reasons.

There are many people who enjoy watching horror movies and many others who hate horror movies; personally, I’m one of those people who just dislikes horror movies. Both Stephen King and Chuck Klosterman have similar opinions on why we watch horror movies which is for that electrifying feeling. As well as, both Stephen King and Chuck Klosterman analyses differently why we watch horror movies. As King states that we are all mentally ill which is true. We all build up anger and frustration that creates an insane side of us. We can’t act like were okay all the time as if we didn’t have any problems of our own because than sooner or later we’ll have to let them out. We might not know how to deal with our anxieties and fears. That’s why King believes that the horror movies help us with them. We are able to portray ourselves as the monster, letting us have some sort of psychic relief. Klosterman gives an example with horror as to how our society is turning. He believes we are becoming just like zombies doing the same repetitive stuff. Our society has become so attached to their electronics, social media accounts, and technology that we have become so unaware of our surroundings. We don 't seem to ever get a break from the internet, that 's why we don’t even realize that it is destroying us. With King, we are able to use horror as a mechanism for our problems we are going through and our fears and anxieties we have within us. As with Klosterman he makes us realize with horror movies how our society is turning us into zombies. Both King and Klosterman did a great job explaing to the readers why we need horror

In Stephen King's essay,“Why We Crave Horror movies,” King describes the reasons why people desire to watch horror movies. King elaborates on the fact that we are all mentally ill in our own way; going to horror movies just provokes those terrors. The young are more inclined to admire the excitement and thrill; however, as people grow older they lose interest. Horror movies, King describes, are for making oneself feel normal by comparison to the mentally insane. For entertainment and joy, people see horror movies, but the fun is morbid. The horror film is used to tap into the childish behavior of simplicity and extinguish the civilized behavior of an adult, King argues. “If we are all insane, then sanity

In the excerpt, “Why We Crave Horror Movies,” written by Stephen King, he argues that that we all have a little bit of insanity in all of us, and we all express it in different ways, from the chills to the guilty pleasure. It’s like we are attracted to horror movies, but we never really knew it. So, King uses a variety of rhetorical strategies to support the allure of horror movies. He uses these strategies to describe what horror movies make us feel like and it’s impressive.

Why do we all crave for horror? Is it because why like the thrill of it? Stephen king thought, “i think we’re all mentally ill” (king, Why we crave ). King might have an idea of why we crave horror. He states that maybe all of us have that one feeling of murder or horrible. “When we pay our four or five bucks and seat, we are daring the nightmare’’, (king, why we crave 1). Nightmare is meaning to show the things we are scared/ afraid of facing our fear. King mentions how “we also go re-establish our feelings of essential normality”, which might mean that after watching horror we think about how the real world is (king, Why we crave. 1). Does he really want to make us think about why we over think the most precise thought.

All humans have emotions. Horror films provide not only the thrill, but also the suspense and adrenaline people need as young adults (King 562). Horror films help people discover their own fears. Stephen King believes horror films also help “provide psychic relief” (562). People’s emotions tend to need a balance. For example, people sometimes use a phrase such as “Aww, he is so cute that I just want to squeeze him to death.”

There is not a minute in the day where a news broadcast is not being televised. For twenty-four hours, the same repetitive and monotonous information is delivered by different news anchors. Even though they report nothing new, Americans will still watch for hours upon hours. The large majority of these television broadcasts deliver stressful and generally upsetting news, but in no way, is this a deterrent to the viewer. The American obsession with spectatorship is a phenomenon created by the inaccessibility of timely and relevant knowledge. This oddly leads to an increase in the demand and likeability of terror. In her piece “Great to Watch”, Maggie Nelson explores the origins of this fascination with horror and gives an

Alfred Hitchcocks powerful and complex psychological thriller, horror film “Psycho” (1960) was classes as the first sub genre of horror, the slasher. The film ushered in the era of slashes with graphic content of blood-letting and shocking killings of the time. Although this was Hitchcock’s first horror film, he was labelled as a horror film director ever since. The film contains disturbing themes of corruptibility, confused identities, voyeurism, human vulnerabilities and victimisation. These themes symbolise the effects of money, oedipal murder and the dark histories. These were explored by the use of the motifs of birds, eyes, hands and mirrors (Filmsite.org, n.d.).

In the article “Why Do We Crave Horror Movies” King shows the idea of why humans crave to watch horror movies. To watch horror movies, people show to others that they have no fear of these things. King’s argument is that the horror films is a way for people to get the sense of normality. King believes that “We also go to re-establish our feelings of essential normality; the horror movie is innately conservative, even reactionary” (King 16). Re-establishing our feelings of essential normality allows us to release our emotions and enjoy our time watching horror films. This sense of normality shows the difference between reality and the dream. With this sense of normality, many people don’t like to watch these horror movies as it is too scary. However, this shows the sense of normality as it shows the emotions of being scared. On the other hand, the other people show the emotions of

Why we crave horror movies by Stephen King. King states how everyone is mentally ill in there own way and we crave the tempted desire to be scared. When approaching a roller coaster we look for the best one. The one with the most turns and the biggest drops we also do this when choosing a scary movie, we daire the nightmare to be scared. As humans we always try and seek for the violent, hence why people like watching Football and UFC for the thrill of the roller coaster ride with the ups, downs, and the unknown of what will happen next. Stephen king implies how we need to keep our alligators fed. In order to seem okay everyone thrives to see the scary, gruesome, sexual things we aren't meant to see. We crave the need to be scared for the adrenaline

In the reading "Why We Crave Horror Movies," Stephen King writes about why we enjoy watching good horror movies which frighten us. He discusses how our emotions get to the point that we can not handle anymore, and they have to be released. These emotions make us feel anxious and challenge us to do more in life. Horror produces anxiety, but the decisions that we make in life challenge us more. There are many decisions in life that make us challenge ourselves.

Over time the idea of entertainment changes. In the past entertainment consisted of live events. Today entertainment consists of live events, movies, plays, etc. Entertainment can further be broken down into smaller categories: mystery, suspense, horror, romance, etc. Although both time frames consider live events as entertainment, they differ from one another greatly. While those differ, past live entertainment and movies today are very similar. In Stephen King’s essay, King states and further explains the idea that past time public lynching is a lot like todays horror films. “How?” one may ask. The idea is actually quite simple.

Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 film Psycho redirected the entire horror genre, and in doing so dismantled the prudent 1950’s societal barriers of cinema. Although unseen for its potential by the large studios of the time, Psycho became one of the crowning achievements of film history. While based partially on a true story of murder and psychosis from Wisconsin, the widespread viewing of this tale made way for a new era of film and ushered in a new audience of movie goers. The use of violence, sexual explicitness, dramatic twists, sound, and cinematography throughout this film gave Hitchcock his reputable name and title as master of suspense. In 2018, reviews of films often are headlined with “the book was better.” But, in 1960 there was no such thing

Movies can be used in various ways to create different moods and emotions in both a person’s growth and well being. People of all ages, use movies as a form of entertainment or even an activity to learn, which aids in the growth of brain activity. The different genres of movies, create different inclines and declines in an individual 's mood, depending on the program they are viewing. Specific films can have different effects on people depending on their background, interest, and personality. Movies have a significant impact on people’s physical and psychological states; negative effects include more aggressive and destructive behaviors, whereas positive effects include making viewers more lighthearted and enhancing productivity within their thought process.

I have always viewed movies as mood boosters. Whenever I watch a movie, I judge how good it is according to how well I understand the story. This is why I never truly understand how critics rate movies. However, upon reading John Berger’s “Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye”, I start to understand how paying attention to the different components of a film helps in understanding the essence of a story. As Berger once said, “There is no film that does not partake of dream. And the great films are dreams that reveal” (Berger 478). Reading these words instantly prompts me to reexamine the highly acclaimed musical, La La Land. The music, editing, and storyline clearly justify what Berger meant by a movie’s ability to transport us into the unknown whilst