27 pages • 54 minutes read
Why We Crave Horror Movies
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Sociohistorical Context: Horror Film in the 1970s and Early 1980s
Horror movies of the 1970s and early 1980s reflect several social issues of the time, as noted on the website Horror Film History. These include feminism and gender equality, the role of science and technology, fears about changing family values, the decreasing role of organized religion in people’s lives, and the fear of children (a byproduct of the advent of the birth control pill and abortion debates during that period). Examples of films with these themes include The Exorcist (1973), The Stepford Wives (1975), The Omen (1976), and film adaptations of Stephen King’s The Shining (1980) and Carrie (1976). Monster movies and slasher movies also appeared during this period, such as Dawn of the Dead (1979), Jaws (1975), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), and Halloween (1978). Films of the early 1980s featured new special effects and plots related to aliens, ghosts, and materialism.
Addressing the role of horror movies in society, writer and story consultant Karina Wilson notes the following:
Horror offers us a fictional space in which we can share and evaluate our collective fears—whatever they may be at the time. Scary movies allow us to stare down whichever one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse—Pestilence, War, Famine, Death—is currently leading the charge. They also let us examine the darkest possibilities of new concepts in science and technology. Despite religious and government censorship, they serve a wider moral purpose, reinforcing social taboos and demonstrating the macabre fate of those who transgress against our collective rules (Wilson, Karina. Horror Film History).
King’s essay reflects that sentiment and further emphasizes the concept of fear as the driving force behind audiences’ need to watch horror movies, a concept that connects to feared social issues at the time of the essay’s publication. He broadens the argument by showing how this fear is part of humanity’s shared “insanity,” which is allowed to run wild when an audience watches horror movies, and these films thus serve as an outlet for people’s fears.
Authorial Context: Stephen King
Before the publication of “Why We Crave Horror Movies,” King wrote some of his most famous novels, including Carrie, The Shining, Salem’s Lot, The Dead Zone, The Stand, Firestarter, and Cujo, all of which were later adapted for film or television. He also published a nonfiction book, Danse Macabre, in 1980, around the same time as “Why We Crave Horror Movies.” The book is a broader discussion of the horror genre in novels, film, radio, and television from the 1950s to 1980. It draws on lecture notes from courses he taught at the time and also discusses his influences, relevant autobiographical moments in his life, and examples and themes that appear in the horror genre in different media, along with analysis of them. In the book, King discusses ideas similar to those in “Why We Crave Horror Movies,” and the essay appears in a slightly different form in the chapter “The Modern American Horror Movie—Text and Subtext.” He considers the role of horror movies in society by proposing the following:
The work of horror really is a dance—a moving, rhythmic search. And what it’s looking for is the place where you, the viewer or the reader, live at your most primitive level. The work of horror is not interested in the civilized furniture of our lives. Such work dances through these rooms which we have fitted out one piece at a time, each piece expressing—we hope!—our socially acceptable and pleasantly enlightened character (King, Stephen. Danse Macabre, Everest House, 1981).
In “Why We Crave Horror Movies,” King writes as a horror fiction author whose novels have been adapted for the screen, an author who has researched and examined the genre (in Danse Macabre), and a horror film enthusiast. His essay establishes that he has not only analyzed the genre but seen and appreciated horror films. This multifaceted perspective gives more weight to his argument, creating a sense of trust that King is an expert.
Unlock all 27 pages of this Study GuidePlus, gain access to 8,800+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features:
Related Titles
By Stephen King
