Why We Crave Horror Movies

In the essay “Why We Crave Horror Movies,” Stephen King—a novelist and writer known as the “King of Horror”—elucidates what draws people to not just watch but crave horror movies. The essay was first published in the January 1981 issue of Playboy magazine, by which time King had written seven novels (Carrie, The Shining, Salem’s Lot, The Dead Zone, The Stand, Firestarter, and Cujo), a novella, several novels published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, a short fiction collection, and the nonfiction book Danse Macabre. In 1976, his novel Carrie was adapted into a film, the first of many of his books to be adapted for the screen, including Salem’s Lot in 1979 (as a television miniseries) and The Shining in 1980.

This study guide refers to a reprint of “Why We Crave Horror Movies” published in Models for Writers: Short Essays for Composition, Eighth Edition from 2004, edited by Alfred Rosa and Paul Eschholz. King’s essay examines why modern movie audiences love to watch horror films—the primitive urges and emotions that drive this desire and the necessity to express them.