I LOVE Horror Movies!

by Adelyne
(California, USA)

I own over three hundred horror movies. One could say that I am a collector. I simply love watching scary movies because I enjoy being scared. However, is there more to my love of scary movies than just the thrill? Stephen King says in “Why we Crave Horror Movies”, that horror movies have “a dirty job to do”: they feed the hungry monsters in our psyche (King, 2011, para 12). Do I crave horror movies because I hunger for death, gore, and suspense?

I was eight years old when my mother asked if I would like to watch a movie with her. It was almost my bedtime and I was not even close to being tired, so I said yes. I remember I was sitting on our archaic couch in my Scooby-Doo pajamas excited to stay up after nine o’clock. What I didn’t realize was that night would change my life forever. Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) was my first horror film and I was so frightened yet so allured to this nightmarish evil. I could not take my virgin eyes off the screen. I experienced contentment, fear, and laughter all in one sitting. Of course later, I had Freddy Krueger nightmares for months, but I didn’t care. I wanted more. Like when a wild animal gets its first taste of human blood—it cannot help but want more. Why did I enjoy watching an evil man with razor sharp fingernails tear the flesh off of innocent young people? What was it about all the gore and violence that led me wanting more? At eight years old, could I have had “hungry monsters” in my head?

Watching A Nightmare on Elm Street made me a horror film fanatic. If there were horror film conventions, I would be the first to go. Watching that first grisly film when I was just a child has made me the person I am today. For instance, my favorite holiday is Halloween. I am fascinated with crime shows and curious about people like Charles Manson and Jeffrey Dahmer. I also deeply enjoy ghost stories and suspense novels. Nevertheless, I am not an evil person. I do not enjoy watching people get hurt in real life. I cry when someone dies, even if I do not know them. I guess it is the fantasy of evil that I enjoy. I know no one is really getting hurt. According to King, my monsters just need to be fed.

When I crave a good scary movie, does that mean I am hungry for violence, torture, blood, and pain? I do not think so. Although Stephen King is one of my idols, I disagree with his analogy of horror movies feeding the beasts inside of us. If I am craving a scary movie and I am unable to get my fix, I do not “starve”. Sometimes the yearning even goes away. I do not want to go out and find a victim to prey upon simply because I cannot watch a horror film. I have no “hungry monsters” awaiting dinner. I just love the thrill that a horror film provides. I love jumping out of my skin, getting goose bumps, and sitting at the edge of my seat, excited to find out what happens next.

Maybe it is because of A Nightmare on Elm Street that I love the most harrowing roller coasters at the amusement park.—the thrill and adrenaline of not being sure if I am going to make it out alive. Maybe it’s the reason I enjoy scaring my friends and family and witnessing the fear in their eyes. I even bet that fateful night fifteen years ago altered my life completely. I will always enjoy being frightened, feeling my heart pound against my chest as I watch any horror movie that crosses my path. But it's not because I have “monsters” to feed.