Considered by many to be The King of Horror, Stephen King owes his entire career to a short scene from a children's film
On many occasions we have come across horror films that are for under 18s, and even some have been for all audiences. And of course, Being exposed to such horrors at an early age can mark anyone's life.and in some cases, for the better. As was the case with Stephen King, who had a traumatic experience that shaped his mind at an early age.
During a 2014 interview with Rolling Stone, King claimed that a horror movie scared him so much that He had no choice but to become a horror author.or the King of Terror.
And the film in question we are talking about was none other than an animated classic from 1942, Bambiby David D. Hand. And yes, a children's film was the trigger for King's career –although there is already a horror film Bambi–. Especially the final scene of Bambi in which a talking deer gets lost in the woods after being set on fire by a human bonfire. This sequence was so terrifying for King that it changed his life and inspired his entire career..
Why is almost all of Stephen King's work horror?
It's actually a bit of everything, but King says that It all started when he saw Bambi and thought he was watching a horror movieA small deer caught in a forest fire is intense enough to terrify anyone, even King, but at the same time, he felt some excitement.
It seems that horror was already a part of his life, but it wasn't until he saw this Disney movie that his innate interest was exposed. Stephen King is used to being a little different: his family drinks coffee, while he prefers tea. He loves anchovies while his family would be incapable of eating a pizza with anchovies.
And here, curiously, something similar happens. While an entire generation was traumatized by the death of Bambi's mother after she was shot in an open meadow. King, on the other hand, remembers the forest fire.
What has been Stephen King's inspiration since then?
Contrary to what we might think, King's literary inspirations do not lean at all toward the macabrebut rather the Western canon. The writer finds it a pleasure to read classic works, stories of lust, and poetry. Of course, like almost any book-loving person, Stephen King has favorite authors and not so favorite ones, but there is one that he definitely hates.
The King of Terror considers that, precisely, this genre is found “on the other side of the tracks” when it comes to the literary community. But, there was nothing to be done, it was about the genre that attracted him the most.
I love D.H. Lawrence. And the poetry of James Dickey, Émile Zola, Steinbeck… Fitzgerald, not so much. Hemingway, not at all. Hemingway sucks, basically. If people like him, great. But if I had set out to write like that, what would have come out would have been hollow and lifeless because it wasn’t me. And I have to say this: To a certain extent, I have elevated the horror genre.
But stop there, Don't think that King's comments are arrogant, because, in the end, he is completely right.. After his novels, horror was taken to another level, becoming one of the best-selling authors of all time. Not to mention the huge list of feature films he has inspired and the other huge amount of works that are still available to adapt to the big screen. Without a doubt, King managed to put a twist on the genre itselfand for the better.
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