Why We Crave Horror Movies

“I think that we’re all mentally ill; those of us outside the asylums only hide it a little better—and maybe not all that much better, after all.”

King begins the essay with this line to create a hook that draws readers in. This quote emphasizes the theme of “Insanity” and Normality in Society and Horror Film, which he notes is in everyone (even those who don’t have a mental health condition), whether they hide it well or not.

“When we pay our four or five bucks and seat ourselves at tenth-row center in a theater showing a horror movie, we are daring the nightmare.”

King uses the phrase “daring the nightmare” to refer to those who face their fears, particularly their fear of death, by going to see a horror film. He paints a picture of this scene by using the specific imagery of sitting in a theater.

“Freda Jackson as the horrible melting woman in Die, Monster, Die! confirms for us that no matter how far we may be removed from the beauty of a Robert Redford or a Diana Ross, we are still light-years from true ugliness.”

This is the first of two film examples used in the essay. King uses them not to describe plot or delve into concrete examples in horror film history but to support the essay’s argument. Here, he uses the example to illustrate how the ugliness of monsters in horror films contrasts with the “normality” of everyday viewers and the film industry’s portrayals of ideal physical beauty.