Both “Knocking” by Rick Hautala and “The Road Virus Heads North” by Stephen King are masterfully crafted horror stories that lead readers on a psychological rollercoaster. The authors are able to generate such a detailed and in-depth atmosphere that it causes readers to picture themselves in the terrifying situations that they have devised for those reading. Through the evolution of “monsters”, point-of-view and atmospheric conditions which help to create a mood that engulfs readers both King and Hautala are able to write brilliant horror stories.
“Monsters” do not have to be literal to create an enjoyable piece of horror fiction. King and Hautala are both able to create thrilling stories by utilizing fear of the unknown and exploiting
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This is ineffective because he is paranoid about the painting and is completely consumed by the thought of it harming him. Paranoia is terrorizing Kinnell similarly to how fear devastated Gordon in “Knocking”.
King is able to turn a used concept into a phenomenal story by perfectly using the third person point-of-view in “The Road Virus Heads North”. Encounters throughout the story are much more interesting because King allows the reader into the other characters feelings. The third person point of view is best exemplified during Kinnell’s eventual demise. “The feet coming down the hall now, worn boot heels rapping on polished hardwood. “A terrible paralysis had gripped Kinnell.” While reading this I could almost hear the way the boots would sound and I began to become tense thinking about something coming. King used the third person point-of-view beautifully to transform an already done topic into an interesting piece of horror fiction.
Like “The Road Virus Heads North” Hautala uses the third person point-of-view which makes an already fantastic story even better. At different points throughout the story Hautala uses third person point-of-view to show you just how psychotic Martin Gordon is. “No!” he told himself. “Mother is dead!” Little quotes like this give readers a glimpse into the troubling life of Martin Gordon and effectively allow for you to connect
As previously mentioned, the author utilizes perspective in order to create powerful style and language. The writer implements a first person perspective in order to accomplish this. The writer mentions “Throughout the evening people came to warn me about themselves.” Using this first person perspective the author gives the reader insight on his perspective and how he perceives things. This adds upon the language and style as it revolves around this perspective.
Firstly, the authors all aim for a more intellectual audience that find horror stories entertaining. These articles were written for The New York Times and The Atlantic Monthly, which are both papers for very intelligent people. The New York Times and The Atlantic Monthly are both known for being very complex reads, so people must be very intelligent to understand them. Authors Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan use high vocabulary words such as “enthrone,” “pandemic,” and “archetypal” to show the difficulty of this reading. This
What’s a good book if it is not terrifying? Throughout the decades there have been different types of authors that have created terrifying books such as Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. But how do the authors terrify and surprise a reader? The author surprises and terrifies the reader by using foreshadowing, setting, and cliffhanger. This can be seen in the short story, “August Heat” by W.F. Harvey. The author uses these types of task to surprise and terrify the reader.
“Strawberry Spring” offers the reader an opportunity to “show that we are not afraid” of facing our fears (King, “Why We Crave” 1). After all, anyone who has heard of Stephen King will automatically know that reading one of his stories may result in a thrill. For example, near the beginning of the narrator’s encounter, “a junior named John Dancey” happened upon a “dead girl lying in a shadowy corner of the Animal Sciences parking lot” (King, “Strawberry Spring” 2). Accordingly, the explicitly specific imagery used to reveal the brutality of Gale Cerman’s death is quite unsettling! Most of us spend our entire lives avoiding our “hysterical fear” of death, and allowing us to read such a description is “daring [our] nightmares” (King, “Why We Crave” 1). “Strawberry Spring” fulfills Stephen King’s claim that one reason we watch and read horror is to show “that we are not afraid” (1).
The fear creeping up my skin as goosebumps begin to appear with the first steps into a haunted house filled with monsters, screams, and darkness. The weird smells and sounds and occasional air blasts lead to a rush or adrenaline, which create a dreadful sensation. The idea of having someone creep up behind me causes my spine to tingle and the hairs on my neck to rise. Fear is an inevitable emotion that comes in various forms whether it be monsters, Gothic elements, or transformations within stories. Through the three short stories, the readers are introduced to the effects that the transformations in the mood, characters, and setting have on the tension and build of fear in the readers.
Stephen King wrote the short story “Why We Crave Horror Films” explaining why our mind gets so excited during horror movies. He continues to make the statement “the horror film has become the modern public lynching” (paragraph 6) showing that no matter what generation a person is in the excitement of gore will always exist. King proves this statement discussing emotions and psychiatric points in his work.
Horror Stories are a very popular genre of books. Some can be exceptionally malicious and gruesome in nature while others are tamer and rely on suspense. People tend to read these stories for the adrenaline rush, to explore the unknown, and to conquer their own adversities. Studies show that us as humans like to experience fear. We read and view scary stories so we can experience artificial situations of “fight or flight.” These scenarios, whether real or imagined, get your body ready for action by giving you an extra dose of adrenaline. The thrill and suspense that hangs over us while reading, is a welcomed feeling. Scary stories also allow us to explore the unknown. In books there are boundless supernatural realms, where wonder and horror walk side by side- realms were people rise from the dead, and fight their own
“Why we crave horror movie” is a type of mini review written by Stephen King in playboy 1981 in which he had discussed, various features of the horror movies. Stephen King is an American writer well famous for writing the horror movies and is popular in the world of literature as Richard Bachman. In this mini-review King had used an ethical approach to delineate the differences between the some of the horror movies and to highlight certain psychological factors responsible for people’s craving for the horror movies. In this piece of writing, King had spotted certain emotions that become reason for this psychological drive. Moreover, he by using his straightforward approach
In Stephen King’s somewhat subjective essay in the 1984 Playboy magazine, Why We Crave Horror Movies, King describes his reasoning behind why so many people are fond of watching movies residing in the horror genre. The content of his essay, though inserted in an unconventional area for
Stephan King is easily one of the most well-known writers in the horror genre. Often regarded as “The Master of Horror,” King’s impact on the horror genre is remarkable, and he has written both books and screenplays. Many of his works have been turned into movies, further increasing his popularity. Most people at least vaguely know who Stephen King is, but not many know his real story. In today’s time Stephen King entrances audiences and his classic books are converted into screenplays for movies.
While this text is set from a third person viewpoint, it also uses an interesting narrative technique, which is known as 'free indirect discourse' or 'free indirect style'. This is when a third person story uses certain features of first person speech. This style is different in the fact that introductory expressions such as, ‘she thought’, and ‘they said’, are not used. Using this technique allows a third person text to utilise a first person perspective, portraying the characters thoughts and words more directly.
King creates the ideas behind many horror films and books, he’s liable to support the
It was a dark, cold, November night. The moon overlooked the lake as it mirrored its reflection. It was peaceful, too peaceful. I was on my way to my aunt’s, who lived a mile or so from my house. I didn’t want to go, but my mother made me. She was working a double shift at the hospital and she didn’t want me to be alone tonight. Tonight was the night my brother died two years ago. It’s a funny story how it happened, but that’s a story to tell another time. According to Stephen King’s essay “Why We Crave Horror Movies” he draws viewers into horror stories like the one above simply because we crave it. King claims in his essay we obsess over the wanting of horror as if we are daring the nightmare. The human condition is finally allows people
Do you enjoy watching murder, the paranormal, and any other morbid scene which makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up, your palms sweat, and your adrenaline surge? Why people enjoy watching murder, tragedy, and carnage in their spare time has been a mysterious phenomenon. If these gruesomely horrific scenes would not be enjoyable in real life, why is watching a recreation of it so riveting? Stephen King, a world-renowned horror novelist, wrote “Why We Crave Horror Movies” to give insight as to why horror movies, although gruesome and morbid, captivate audiences. King also aims to persuade readers to continue to watch horror movies, arguing that they are a crucial part of keeping sanity. King delves into this psychological aspect of humans and believes that the desire to watch horror films is a normal tendency of humankind. “Why We Crave Horror Movies” includes appeals to emotion, logic, and author credibility in order to convince readers of the positive, normal desire to watch horror films, why it is important to watch them, and why the reader should believe what the author is saying. King utilizes the rhetorical devices—pathos, logos, and ethos—in an effective way through the use of metaphor, logic, humor, and emotion to persuade readers that watching horror films is normal.
The story is written in third person narrative. I feel the choice of narrative style is important, because it adds effect to the story to engage the reader.