Stephen King Why We Crave Horror

“Strawberry Spring” fulfills all of the three reasons of why we crave horror. One of the three reasons is “to show that we are not afraid” of facing our fears (King, “Why We Crave” 1). Watching a horror film or reading one of Stephen King’s terrifying books can give us an adrenaline rush or maybe even chills. For example, near the beginning of the narrator’s encounter, “a junior named John Dancey...began screaming into the fog” when he found a “dead girl lying in a shadowy corner” of a parking lot (King, “Strawberry Spring” 2). After all, finding out about Gale Cerman’s death, while having a rather horrifying image of her dead body, is quite shocking. Not many of us go face to face with our fears, but reading such a description is like we are facing and, as mentioned by King, “daring [our] nightmares” (King, “Why We Crave” 1). Given these points, “Strawberry Spring” fulfills Stephen King’s claim that one reason we watch and read horror is to show “that we are not afraid” (1).

In “Strawberry Spring” there are many details that we could relate to. Actually, the narrator is a student himself; he goes to classes and towards the beginning he “busts his brain out on a Milton essay” (King, “Strawberry Spring” 2). As students, we could relate to him. Adults could have a connection with the narrator as well, since he had mentioned that he “married” and found a “good job” and even “had a child” (King, “Strawberry Spring” 2). Although we relate to those details, what we cannot relate to is the horror of “Springheel Jack” and his capabilities (which is cutting throats and removing heads). The protagonist proved that “no matter how far we may be removed from the beauty...we are still light-years from true ugliness” and that gives us the feeling of normality (King, “Why We Crave”