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The essay “Why We Crave Horror Movies” by Stephen King was originally published in 1981 and can be found in the Horror iBook from Systime.

Considering that the essay’s theme is horror movies, we can say that the article is, first of all, aimed at readers who are horror movie fans. This is also reflected in King’s references to known horror movies such as Die, Monster, Die! and Dawn of the Dead. King thinks that “horror movies, like roller coasters, have always been the special province of the young” (ll. 18-19); this shows that the essay is more specifically aimed at younger readers because they are more interested in the horror genre than older readers.

To make his arguments appealing to those who are not necessarily familiar with horror films, King references better-known real-life figures such as Jack the Ripper and the Cleveland Torso Murderer.

Because the essay debates the reasons for which people watch horror movies – in other words, the psychology of the horror movie fan – we can also assume it is aimed at readers who are passionate about film culture and psychology.

As Stephen King was already a well-known novelist in 1981, who had also achieved a level of fame due t...