King asserts that “[t]he mythic horror movie … has a dirty job to do. It deliberately appeals to all that is worst in us” (par. 12). He adds, “It is morbidity unchained, our most base instincts let...

King asserts that “[t]he mythic horror movie … has a dirty job to do. It deliberately appeals to all that is worst in us” (par. 12). He adds, “It is morbidity unchained, our most base instincts let free, our nastiest fantasies realized …” (par. 12). What if we don’t watch horror movies, don’t like them, or don’t believe they represent our “nastiest fantasies”? If you don’t share King’s assumption about universal human nastiness, how do you respond to his essay? What alternatives to King’s thinking occur to you? In a culture that has a different view of the human mind, what other causes of horror movies’ popularity might be just as believable?