The first horror movie I ever saw was The Exorcist. I was nineteen years old when I watched this movie, while over at my friends’ house. This movie was the most terrifying experience of my life. It left me fearful of Ouija boards. I spent many nights awake wondering whilst in my bed, what was going to pass through the floor while I slept. To this day I cannot sit through a horror movie because I am always afraid that the actions depicted in these movies will eventually become my reality. In Kings’ essay on “Why we crave horror movies,” he makes the argument that horror movies feed the hungry monsters in our psyche. It is up to the individual how this affects us. This essay will demonstrate the effects of the film The Exorcist had on me.
The Exorcist is a movie about a successful actress named Chris, her twelve year old daughter named Megan, and a young Catholic priest with a background in psychology called Father Damien Karras. Megan was possessed by a violent spirit after playing a game on her Ouija board. At first it was believed that Megan was suffering from depression brought on by her lack of relationship with her estranged father. It was not until her behavior became erratic and violent did her mother look to Father Damien Karras for help. It was then that he realized that her problems were of the supernatural and not emotional.
I had never seen an Ouija board before but did hear stories about its association with the dark side. I must say that I was a bit curious and did for the sake of experiment find one and attempt to see if the old wife’s’ tales were true. King makes the point to say that we watch scary movies to show that we can and that we are not afraid of the mind-bending horrors directors create. It was for those reasons that after the movie I tried my hand at the Ouija board. King was correct when saying that horror movies quenched our hunger. However the hunger that was satisfied was curiosity. I was curious, and brave enough to...