Writer

The writer of the essay “Why We Crave Horror Movies” is Stephen King, an American author known for his novels and short stories of horror, supernatural fiction, science fiction, and fantasy. Many of his books have been best-sellers around the world and have been adapted into films, television series, and comic books.

Note that, in some ways, this essay is a way for King to justify the stories he writes (which often make use of the horror genre) and to argue that his work has an important place in society.

From the essay itself, readers can learn a few things about King. For example, we learn that King thinks all people, himself included, are insane. He goes on to list various strange fears and behaviors to support this statement (ll. 3-7). He also believes that people watch horror movies for various reasons: to test their courage, to establish a sense of normality, and to have fun (ll. 13-30). However, King thinks that the concept of having fun while watching others being menaced and killed in horror movies deserves to be further analyzed.

For King, horror movies provide psychic relief for our negative emotions, which are discouraged by society. For this reason, he considers horror movies “reactionary, anarchistic, and revolutionary” (ll....