Why We Crave Horror, By Stephen King

671 Words3 Pages

As a child, I always wanted to scare other people by creating my own haunting fantasies. Now that I’ve matured, I face nastier creations compared to my juvenile stories. Although frightening, I develop a craving when watching horror. I face some of my fears that develop while watching horror, I redevelop my average self, and experience a different kind of fun. All it is is the dark side of our Human Condition. These childhood experiences supports the claims that Stephen King made in his essay, “Why We Crave Horror”. Stephen King claims that humans crave horror to face our fears, to re-establish our feelings of normalcy, and to experience a peculiar sort of fun due to our human condition. To begin, Stephen King’s first claim that humans crave …show more content…

Horror keeps our insanity, “down there” and our average selves, “up here” (King, “Why We Crave” 4). As we hear of a serial killer slaughtering a college student and taking “her head with them” (King, “Strawberry Spring” 5), or smearing, “HA! HA!” in human blood all over a car windshield (King, Strawberry Spring” 8). Due to the morbid side of our Human Condition, we satisfy our, “nastiest fantasies” because of horror (King, “Why We Crave” 3). Horror supports Stephen King’s third claim on why humans hunger horror for the reason that we need to, “keep the gators fed” (King, “Why We Crave” 4).
When talking about why humans crave horror, Stephen King states, “If we share a brotherhood of man, then we also share an insanity of man” (King, “Why We Crave” 3). To think that everyday people share an insanity with inmates of an asylum is outrageous, but it is true. It shows why people are capable of so many horrible things. Not only does horror support Stephen King’s three claims, but it also shows helps Human Condition. How society deals with fear, new evils, harsh realities they have to face. Horror may be more than just a craving for humans, but a cure for our Human