Horror Movies And Novels: A Dark Mind

Brieanna Brown
May 2
3 min read

Whether you're 9 years old hiding under the blankets from Scream or on a friday night date in a movie theater playing My Bloody Valentine It's no secret what watching horror movies does for us. Many studies have been done that bring up questions of why people find pleasure from horror movies, it could be said the adrenaline from being scared is a major part or maybe having the power to turn off the tv and send the monsters away brings you comfort. But what exactly does it take to write your own? The need to be scared? Some trauma of your own?.

If you like your books or movies labeled under the horror/thriller section then you´ve most likely heard the name Stephen Edwin King. Born September 21, 1947 King started writing at the age of 7 and by his young adult years he would start his journey to being dubbed the ¨King of Horror¨. His debut work Carrie started as a novel and has since been made into a musical and many adaptations of film. Beyond Carrie many others you may have heard of include Christine, The Green Mile, Cujo, Pet Sematary and more popularly known the 1990 IT mini series, 2017 IT and 2019 IT 2. While many question what must have happened to make King enjoy writing what he did, King recalls a pretty average childhood except for the fact that he had just always wanted to be scared. More of his more gruesome works like It and The Shining are very different in their novels than the actual films mostly due to the fact that King wrote The Shining about his own alcohol abuse and he wrote It heavily under the use of narcotics where he´d pen 600 pages of everything strange and bizarre.

The simple truth is that bad dreams are far better than bad wakings --- Stephen King

If you're not a big fan maybe you don´t know the name or the face but you definitely know Wes Craven's work. He didn´t start in the horror genre mostly because of his own fear that his family would be displeased with his work but he crashed into it quickly with The last House on the Left, A Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream. Growing up Craven was raised in a strict baptist church and family which alone confused and molded him into what he is today and gave him what he calls his ¨religious trauma¨. He recalls many times at a very young age where his family had drilled into his mind that anything he found inspiration and joy in was considered a sin to the church. This would be one of the major reasons he wrote the Last House on the Left with a religious theme and didn't tell anyone in his family but it was also the reason a young craven and his own nightmares inspired A Nightmare on Elm Street.

Its partially a way to immune yourself from Terror and Fear. And Im sure there is a certain amount of anger and even rage in being raised in a way that says half the great sources of inspiration and joy in life are sins and you burn in hell forever. Im sure that had done a lot of psychic damage --- Wes Craven

John Carpenter, most known for his rather long Halloween film series, is one of many that wanted to change the stereotypes and the Idea that you're completely helpless in the reality of a dangerous situation. He co-wrote Halloween with the starting idea to write about a killer that was targeting babysitters instead of getting to the kids asleep in the upstairs rooms. He strayed away from the idea of senseless violence while still keeping our masked killer but giving him a backstory that attempts to explain his actions But he also wanted the main character to be an aware, strong and independent young woman that could make it out and be the Final girl, something Jamie Lee curtis would perfect than and many times since.