Why we crave horror movies
Introduction
Stephen King has developed a theory that suggests that human beings possess some levels of insanity amongst themselves. This is as a result of the adrenaline rising activities people seem to involve themselves in. These activities range from watching horror movies whereby people enjoy seeing other people being tormented, taking rides in roller coasters, and getting involved in other dangerous tasks to derive happiness from them. King describes these decisions as insane since everyone has a different level of insanity, and by undertaking these activities, people try to keep their insanity levels suppressed (Wormack, para 3). These decisions are abnormal such as paying money to go and watch someone being tormented by villains or paying money to undertake a risky activity. This paper seeks to reinforce Stephen King’s argument that we all possess traits of insanity to some extent and by using evidence from ‘The Masque of the Red Death’ and ‘Man from the South,’ it is crystal clear that ordinary people have found ways to suppress their insanity levels.
The fear Humans possess
Humans have an inbuilt fear which is triggered by a particular occurrence. Due to the levels of insanity amongst people, they may result in activities that trigger their inner fear, such as watching a horror movie that will at some point lead people to get frightened due to the suspense created in the film. People tend to convince themselves that they are in control of their fear at different times of their ages. Children might tend to love riding on roller coasters, which seem frightening to them and raises their adrenaline. This may be different from youths who may have a different way of engaging their insanity levels by watching horror movies or gothic oriented movies. For older people, these things may be uninteresting to them, and they may result in activities such as reading gothic fictional stories to keep them engaged. This kind of fear is also evident in the Masque of The Red Death. When the land is hit by a deadly disease that seems to wipe out everyone, the prince decides to lock himself up with his guests in a bid to protect themselves from the pandemic. During the masquerade festival, there are seven rooms, but the seventh one has been colored in a way that identifies with the dark plague color (Poe, para 14). Most guests have the fear even to face that room. Their fear of the plague leads them to their death since being the nobles, they were able to lock themselves up in an abbey. However, the plague comes and kills them all. By organizing a masquerade ball, the prince was trying to contain his insanity levels by deviating his thoughts from the situation at hand, which was the death plague (Poe, para 14).
The different levels of insanity
King goes further to suggest that we possess varying degrees of insanity. This is whereby some people in asylums have been unable to control their insanity levels and thus are confined to get treatment. King goes further to describe that the mentally ill in asylums are people whose insanity was beyond their control and therefore required psychiatric treatment. This is best brought out and supported by the short story The Masque of the Red Death. The seven rooms describe the different stages of life. These stages range from birth until death. The Clock on the seventh room indicates that time is moving on, and we cannot run away from the time of death. That is, the first rooms are decorated neatly and are attractive, and most people tend to like and go into them (Poe, para 13). Bas for the seventh room, it looks creepy, and guests are scared of getting inside the room.
Similarly, most people seem to enjoy their youth, but they tend to deny their progression towards death as they age. The seventh room is colored in dull colors, indicating that no one fancies death since it makes life uncolorful. When the guests remove the masquerade from the creature, death strikes all people. This is as a result of the fear of the guests to try and identify the creature that seems to be killing everyone.
Anti civilization emotions
King suggests that anti-civilization feelings will not go away unless they are fed. In the last paragraph of his article on why we love horror movies, he says that “as long as you keep the gators” This statement has the power to explain that as long one keeps feeding the insanity urges, they will not attack. This is emphasized by the short story, The man from the South. Carlos has an addiction to gambling, and he has lost a lot of property while he tries to keep his insane levels suppressed by betting (Dahl, paragraph 13). He is obsessed with cutting people’s fingers and sometimes is not lucky, and he loses his property in bets. The car he gives as a security in the bet is not his but the woman who storms in the room. The woman explains that Carlos is mentally disturbed, and they had fled from their home since Carlos would be placed under psychiatric treatment. She further says that Carlos has lost everything to betting and has also cut 47 fingers (Dahl, paragraph 13). This short story describes the extent to which people are willing to take risks, the levels of cruelty, and also suspense that is demonstrated in our lives. This novel backs up King’s argument on why people love to watch horror movies. This is because of the insanity that is present in humankind.
Conclusion
Humans possess different levels of insanity, and they find ways to keep the insanity levels low. This ranges from watching horror movies as King suggests indulging in dangerous activities.
Works Cited
Dahl, Roald. “Man From the South.” Roald Dahl, 25 June 2016, www.roalddahlfans.com/dahls-work/short-stories/man-from-the-south/.
Poe, Edgar A. “The Masque of the Red Death.” Edgar Allan Poe Museum: Poe’s Life, Legacy, and Works: Richmond, Virginia, 1842, www.poemuseum.org/the-masque-of-the-red-death.
Wormack, Mark. “Why We Crave Horror Movies.” Stephen King, 2012, drmarkwomack.com/pdfs/why_we_crave_horror_movies.pdf.