Language
In his essay “Why We Crave Horror Movies”, Stephen King often uses complex words and sentence structures to express his ideas. The essay is interesting because of its humor, compelling metaphors, multiple references, and thought-provoking contrasts. As such, the essay is accessible and appealing to people with intellectual inclinations and a sense of hu…
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Choice of words
The choice of words indicates a mix of formal and informal styles. The formal style is reflected in the use of longer sentences that provide thorough information and in the use of more difficult words, such as “depleted” (l. 19); “reactionary” (l. 24); “penchant” (l. 40); “remonstrance” (l. 73), etc.
The informal style is reflected in phrases such as “pay our four or five bucks” (l.9); “we clap you away in the funny farm” (l. 48); “rotten little puke of a sister” (l. 69); “Because it keeps them from getting away, man.” (l.99)
The …
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Sentence structure
In his essay, the writer mainly uses medium-length and long sentences, which help him express complex ideas and explain his statements fully. For example, to justify his bold statement at the beginning of the essay – “I think that we’re all mentally ill” (l.1), King enumerates a few strange, yet common, human behaviors:
We’ve all known people who talk to themselves, people who sometimes squinch their faces into horrible grimaces when they believe no one is watching, people who have some hysterical fear – of snakes, the dark, the tight place, the long drop . . . and, of course, those final worms and grubs that are waiting so patiently undergrou…
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Tone
In his essay, King alternatively uses a formal and an informal tone. The formal tone is reflected by the use of more difficult words and well-argued ideas that rely on psychological concepts:
We also go to re-establish our feelings of essential normality; (…) the horrible melting woman in Die, Monster, Die! confirms for us that no matter how far we may be removed from the beauty of a Robert Redford or a Diana Ross, we are still light-years from true ugliness. (ll. 23-28)
By referring to essential normality and alluding to people’s sense of self, King adopts a critical tone to suggest it is unhealthy for people to compare themselves to celebrities. However, this is a common occurrence which can be damaging to one’s self-esteem. In King’s opinion, witnessing the true ugl…
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Personal stories and anecdotes
King uses a brief personal story to show readers that he prefers more aggressive horror movies. As he explains why, he also provides an explanation of how horror movies help us feed our dark, basic instincts:
For myself, I like to see the most aggressive of them – Dawn of the Dead, for instance – as lifting a trap door in the civilized forebrain and throwing a basket of raw meat to the hungry alligators swimming around in that subterranean river beneath. (ll. 93-97)
To show that peo…
