The Horror Of Horror Movies Essay

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:

Stephen King never clearly states the thesis of this essay however there is enough information provided that we can infer one. We need to keep our inner lyncher at bay by feeding ourselves with small portions of demonic, bloody, violence, found in horror movies. King writes “It deliberately appeals to all the worst in us. It is morbidity unchained, our most base instincts let free, our nastiest fantasies realized...” (Why We Crave Horror Movies, paragraph 12) and by doing so he’s implying that horror movies are like a temporary fix for our violent craves.

sample, but it also appeals to population and emotion. To further explain why we crave

In the essay, "Why We Crave Horror Movies" by Stephen King the author tries to prove that the modern day horror movie is are relief of violence, are fix of adrenaline and fun, and also something that can dare the nightmare. In a lot of ways these things can be related to real life situations. My relief of violence is playing video games, and my fix of fun and adrenaline is when I play football, and something that dares my nightmare is when I challenge my brother.

As I was lying in bed recalling the event happened an hour before I was thinking to myself that I will never look at lightning the same way again. Thunder and lightning was still present in the night sky as I lay there in bed thanking God I was alive and well. Each flash of lightning lit the entire room and each clap of thunder rattled the windows of my hotel room. Lightning can seem much more terrifying when you’re up 20,000 ft in the mountains, and the thunder sounds a lot louder too. The sound of nature’s fury seemed to slowly descend as the night went on, but my nerves did not. I was still stunned and in shock of being stuck in a lightning storm high in the mountains. I never thought about the power and damage lightning can inflict

One report by Bernie DeGroat says that watching horror movies can cause effects such as “inability to sleep through the night after exposure” to the graphic movie (DeGroat, par 3). After seeing the movie Jaws, one person said that the thing that scared him the most wasn’t the shark “or actual deaths that was frightening, but the blood” (DeGroat, par 9). According to the Greek philosopher Aristotle, people that watch horror movies are more prone to releasing their negative emotions, also called catharsis. Although, studies have shown that Aristotle is completely wrong, horror movies actually make people more aggressive than they were before watching the movie. Therefore, why would everyone crave horror movies when really they make us more

Most young children despise horror movies and dread waking up in the middle of the night due to daunting nightmares controlling their sleep. But somewhere in transitioning from a child to a young adult, many begin to acquire a love for horror movies. In “Why We Crave Horror Movies”, Stephen King proposes the idea that watching such gruesome violence keeps our inner demons in check while providing a “psychic relief” (2). Kings’ claim that watching violence prevents violence is simply false; in reality, horror movies desensitize us to the effects of violence and normalize the many acts of violence we see in our world today.

him or her involved in the film - how often have you been watching a

Horror movies. The type of genre that gives a thrill of adrenaline, yet also gives nightmares late at night. Everyone has watched a horror movie at least once in their lives. And during the movie there is also a time in which the viewer just wants to punch the TV screen and call it quits. Whether it is because their favorite character just did something dumb, or because the ending was horrible, there is always a moment in which one thinks: I would have chosen a better option. I could have survived. In literature, it is often the same thing. Believe it or not, fear is a huge contributor to how the story goes; how it ends, and who dies. Fear either motivates the character to take action or, defeats them. But fear doesn’t act alone. Fear influences people, but what influences the fear? The answer is quite simple, no matter how shocking it can be. Just as love brings happiness, it also brings forth the poison of fear. Whether it is the fear of losing the person they love, or fear that they are no longer loved, both of them are huge contributors on how a character’s actions or decisions are influenced.

The emotion of fear injects the sense of dread all throughout our body, causing our muscles to tense up, pupils to dilate, body to sweat, stomach to clench, and to breathe heavily. Fear’s main intention of doing so is to warn ourselves of any potential danger we might be in and prevent any future harm done to us. (Dayton) So, for what reason might we humans want to experience fear; such as watching horror movies, when it is so closely associated with pain?

A girl runs frantically through the woods trying to escape an axe wielding villain. The defenseless victim suddenly trips and collapses to the ground. The villain laughs wickedly as he lifts the axe above his head. The girl releases a final scream as the weapon quickly ends her life, causing the audience to go silent as they watch the villain drag away the lifeless body. Death, blood, guts, suspense, screaming, and terror are all just a few things to expect when watching a modern day horror film. What is horror? Horror can be defined as an intense feeling of fear, shock, or disgust. (Wilson) The description of horror is not very pleasant, but for some reason horror films are extremely popular. Why is this so? People are addicted to the

​Over the many years media has had a tremendous impact on society. Media has been responsible for shaping the culture for generations through music, movies and television. It seems logical that since the media has an influence on society’s norms when the media promotes violence and crime the audiences become more likely to imitate those behaviors. The media has been known to contribute to the violent culture through music, art, television and movies (action, suspense and horror); Movies and music where the dominant violent roles were occupied by men and when they involved women they were often accomplices or accessories to the crime. Although they may be amusing they are also exposing the

The media has a way of influencing people of all ages. Specifically, violence and horror in the media are the most debated. Why do people go to watch violent movies or horror movies? They go for entertainment without realizing the physical or mental effects. Kathy Benjamin’s “5 Scientific Ways Watching Movies Effects You” and Bernie DeGroat’s “Scary Movies Can Have Lasting Effects on Children and Teens” both mention the negative effects of movies, especially horror movies, with research or studies. However, only one of the essays, “5 Scientific Ways Watching Movies Effects You,” mentions some positive effects. Statistics have shown that watching these type movies can have short and long term repercussions.

One of the reasons that this film made the top ten films of all time

Ever since the advent of celluloid films, horror movies have always held a fascination for viewers. Just why do people pay good money to be scared out of their wits? Apart from its entertainment value, the horror movie satisfies certain primordial needs in man. Through the horror movies, one is able to come to grips with one's personal demons, fear of death and other irrational phobias and in the process achieve a catharsis. Far from being morbid, such movies actually affirm life for the movie-goer, for he is able to emerge from the dark into the light, both literally and figuratively, having explored the world beyond our normal perception as well as the deep recesses of the human soul and say, "It's good to be alive."