Essay Why We Crave Horror Movies

My grandma once told me, “If you stay up too late at night, the boogeyman will get you”. I never believed her but I knew I wouldn’t want to see the Boogeyman if he actually existed. Most people would actually want to watch these horrible beings. In this case, they would want to view a horror movie such as “Friday the 13” or “Nightmare on Elm Street”. It is part of our Human Condition to be attracted to the films and asking for more. Stephen King’s claims in “Why we crave horror” asserts us that humans crave horror to face our fears, to re-establish our feelings of normalcy, and to experience a peculiar sort of fun.

King is a credible author and has many written novels yet he also has fallacies. We might just be going to watch a horror movie for the thrill but King has his own opinion on horror movies. King mentions our desire for horror movies and how it affects us emotionally, and mentally. King says, “I think that we’re all mentally ill” (345). This assumption is made to the whole world which is clearly not true. His generalization of all of us being mentally ill is an example of hasty generalization. Although this novel does have some humor and some support to evidence it has little to no effect on his faults and weaknesses. King doesn’t think about everyone but his own opinion being made. The biggest flaw that King makes is that his audience is intended only for those who watch horror movies and has no means for those who don’t. King is a credible author who has written other novels that pertain the idea of violence or horror so he knows what he is doing. The only problem that he has in his critical essay is that he doesn’t involve or think about others. In a way, King also uses the logical fallacy ad populum because of the way he talks about people. Restating the quote, “I think we’re all mentally ill” is an example of ad populum as well. Most of Kings comments are towards the readers who have been to the theater or have watched a movie at home. King makes negative remarks to people who watch horror movies. I find this very curious of the author to speak to the public in that manner to avoid the

So say my personal tastes in movies make me a sick bastard just because of the subject matter portrayed in the narrative. Ok, well that isn’t exactly about what Stephen King was saying. King tells us that the horror movie does a dirty job of satiating our urges and letting our instincts run free, which in turn means that most people have something deep and dark inside them, merely a hairpin away from freaking out and murdering adorable puppies for no good reason (and there are plenty of good reasons, stop lying to yourself). I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel anything deep and evil inside of me that must be satiated so I don’t go on a weekly blood rampage so I feel like that isn’t the reason.

“One critic has suggested that if pro football has become the voyeur’s version of combat, then the horror film has become the modern version of public lynching.” (paragraph 6) This is a prime example of one of the many argumentative strategies in the essay. Not only does the said quote prove that King’s opinion is shared by others but also that it appeals to authority. By including an experts shared opinion on the matter, King’s argument becomes much more compelling. “To show that we can, to show that we are not afraid, that we can ride this roller coaster” (paragraph 3) is an extremely effective metaphor king uses to help better describe why we go to see movies in the first place. We’ve all been on a roller coaster before so we can easily relate to what the author is explaining to us. King also uses a personal anecdote as an example of feeding our dark side what it wants; “For myself, I

to King, these “sick jokes” prove our insanity and our need to release that insanity

In essence, we might be inclined to believe horror films in fact create a sense of gray. To take this a step further, there’s documented facts proving how people are inspired by horror films and actually carry this out in real life. However, King’s suggestion that horror films are like roller coaster was more persuasive. When I think of riding a roller coaster, I recall all of my experiences of watching horror movies. The emotions are similar, almost always leaving me with an adrenaline rush, sense of fear, rapid heartbeat and at times sick to my stomach. It’s terrifying watching someone on the “big screen” being harmed or murdered and yet I’m always relieved when the bad guy or gal receives pay-back in the end. I guess that would be my sense of excitement?

In the essay, "Why We Crave Horror Movies", Steven King explains that the modern day horror movie is our relief for violence it is what feeds the gator. He uses horror movies because of there violent nature. We all need to be able to step outside life's boundaries and certain

“Why we crave horror movie” is a type of mini review written by Stephen King in playboy 1981 in which he had discussed, various features of the horror movies. Stephen King is an American writer well famous for writing the horror movies and is popular in the world of literature as Richard Bachman. In this mini-review King had used an ethical approach to delineate the differences between the some of the horror movies and to highlight certain psychological factors responsible for people’s craving for the horror movies. In this piece of writing, King had spotted certain emotions that become reason for this psychological drive. Moreover, he by using his straightforward approach

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

Why We Crave Horror Movies,” Steven King shares his opinion for why society enjoys watching horror films. He is a very well-known author and is very good at what he does. Let’s take a closer look at his article to examine his use of rhetoric to bring his readers to a point of considering a new perspective about themselves. Mr. King takes his reader on a journey of a mix of reasoning and emotions to help guide him or her from one perspective to the other side of a new perspective.

“Why We Crave Horror Movies” does not argue any opposing perspectives, causing weaknesses in the essay. Stephen King neglects to argue reasons against

If somebody asked me what my favorite type of movie is I would probably say horror. I would say horror because it provides a thrill in me that no other type of movie sparks within me. When reading Stephen King’s article I realized there is more to a horror movie than just thrill, there is anticipation, and even suspense shown. In “Why We Crave Horror Movies”, Stephen King uses a mysterious tone and pathos to successfully persuade his audience of kids and adults into watching mysterious horror movies that will let you re-establish your feelings.

King then adds, that another reason we will go and experience a flick intended to raise one’s heart rate, would be “to re-establish our feelings of essential normality.” This suggests, that we go to show ourselves that we are not all that abnormal and horrible when compared to the rest of the freaks that could be potentially roaming the

It was a dark, cold, November night. The moon overlooked the lake as it mirrored its reflection. It was peaceful, too peaceful. I was on my way to my aunt’s, who lived a mile or so from my house. I didn’t want to go, but my mother made me. She was working a double shift at the hospital and she didn’t want me to be alone tonight. Tonight was the night my brother died two years ago. It’s a funny story how it happened, but that’s a story to tell another time. According to Stephen King’s essay “Why We Crave Horror Movies” he draws viewers into horror stories like the one above simply because we crave it. King claims in his essay we obsess over the wanting of horror as if we are daring the nightmare. The human condition is finally allows people

Horror is designed to scare, cause alarm and dread, while also entertaining the audience at the same time in a cathartic experience (Dirk, 2016). Horror films are meant for a specific type of audience that enjoy scary films. Dirks (Tim, 2016) approach to genre horror, is that films went back as 100 years ago, from the earliest days our vivid imagination in seeing ghosts in the shadows to be connected emotionally of the unknown, and fear things that are improbable. You watch a horror film, it makes you aware of the scary surroundings, the essence of fear itself, without actually being in any sorts of danger. Dirks argues that there is a fun and thrill factor in being frightened, or watching something disturbing. It gives you that feeling of an adrenaline rush, as well as having that feeling someone is actually next to you lurking in the dark (Dirk, 2016).