“Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win.” – Stephen King
It’s Halloween! It’s that time of the year again when we see creepy costumes and characters all around our neighborhood. It also means the Holiday season is just around the corner. Halloween and horror movies are a perfect combination. People take time out to celebrate Halloween in offices and at the workplace too with arranging movies to enjoy with their peers. It helps employees in team building and bonding with each other.
When it comes to horror, science fiction and supernatural stuff, Stephen King ranks among the best. He has sold more than 350 million books and with 3 more titles hitting the stands this year alone. That’s one reason to prove that he is still very much popular among his fans. Virtually all of his best-seller books have been adapted for movies. Right from “The Shining” and “Pet Sematary” to the most recent “IT”, movies based on Stephen King’s novels have scared the hell out of the movie buffs worldwide.
People usually watch a horror movie on Halloween just to have a good time with their family and friends. But there are lots of lessons for us in all of Stephen King’s novels adapted for movies. Let me offer you 7 of them which people from all walks of life can easily relate to.
The Value of Long-Lasting Friendships
Generally, all of us value friendships and some of them last for life. The necessity of maintaining long-term friendships has been emphasized time and again in Stephen King’s novels. The plot of the novel IT revolves around this fact. If you are not aware of this novel, in the town of Derry, Maine, 7 friends face a shape-shifting demon who disguises himself as a clown and hunts down children. Together these 7 friends confront “Pennywise the Dancing Clown” and succeed in their bid.
A friend in need is a friend indeed – we have all heard this phrase and this novel revolves around true friends who remain committed to each other through thick and thin. The friends in the novel share a similar social background and form a deep bond that lasted in their adulthood too. This novel emphasized their struggles, successes and even their failures too. The novel and the movie based on the novel offer you insights into how is friendship must be perceived, what to do to make it lasting and how to overcome obstacles and difficulties.
Importance of Variety of Life Lessons
I am sure most of you don’t know how to fix a car when it refuses to start on a cold morning. Heck, some of us don’t how to change a wheel and look for some help in this regard. In our childhood and adolescence, we shy away from small tasks through which we can earn a lot of money. For example, learning how to fix the sink pipe, your shower or replacing the side mirror of your car. The Stand was one movie which emphasized on these facts.
The characters of this adapted movie by a Stephen King novel learned this the hard way. Mr. King tried to put emphasis on the fact that what people could do when they are forced to rely upon themselves and how their little expertise comes into play to go through a scenario and come out triumphant. Varied skill set will not harm you. In fact, it can help you out when you face dire consequences with no one but you to do the job.
Don’t Run Away From Your Fears
People who run away when they face a difficult situation are not outright cowards but most of them don’t know how to confront your fears and stand up against all odds and succeed too. “The Shining” released in 1980 is a perfect example. The title character tried to run away from his responsibilities as he was trying to get away from the stigma of losing his teaching job.
Running away from the fear only keeps it out there so that’s not a viable solution at all. We need to make sure that we face a situation keeping in mind all the positive aspects. You may never know you can come out of a tough situation by just remaining positive in your approach.
Increase Your Productivity Level
Every one of us likes to play games on PC, Xbox or on our smartphones. Stephen King’s characters, in his novels, usually have to play mind games to think of defeating a demon or making sure they are on top of their game in coming out of a tough situation. We face scenarios like these most of the time and generally, people get depressed when they face an uncomfortable situation. So what’s the remedy?
In any tough situation, recall what you do to succeed in a game. Habitica is a game that lets you turn all your tasks (habits, daily tasks and to-do lists) into little monsters that you need to overcome. I strongly recommend you to play this game to increase your productivity level, develop better habits and compete with your friends/boss at work in a healthy way.
Be Careful What You Wish For
Sounds so cliché but sadly it’s true. Whatever we wish may come true but what are the consequences of it and how it can affect us in the long run? Pet Sematary is a perfect example of how our wishes can be turned into our worst nightmares. As a character in the movie tried to resurrect his dead son, it turned out that an evil being was let loose on the world.
We all wish for the best things in our lives but seldom get all of them. If you can foresee your future, I bet you would turn your back on most of your current and childhood wishes. Just money and fame is not everything as a stable future with our loved ones can make all of us happy and secure.
Use your Powers to the Best of Your Advantage
Rose Red was one of Stephen King’s novels which were adapted for a TV mini-series. The theme of the novel and the mini-series was a group of people having psychic powers and were invited to spend a night in a haunted house.
The message we can get from this story is about using your powers to the best of your advantage. In situations as grave where life is in jeopardy, a person must use all his skills deftly to make the situation favorable for him.
Patience is the Key for Eventual Success
The theme of the movie “The Mist” which was based on the Stephen King novel of the same name was exploring what ordinary people will be driven to do under extraordinary circumstances. In the end, there is a strong message about being patient even in dire scenarios and wait for the situation to be normal.
As in the movie when a character killed other characters in order to save them from being killed by the giant insects, if he had waited for some time, the US army would have arrived and the complete group would have been saved.
Final Word
Halloween is surely a time to rejoice and attend fun events. But we need to think wisely about what we can do to live a better and productive life. Stephen King is a visionary when it comes to writing horror and supernatural thrillers. But there are several strong messages in the narrative that are worth mentioning. The 7 lessons mentioned above can not only help us in making a better decision in dire scenarios but also vital lessons that can transform our lives for the better.
If you think you can add something to this blog or want to give your valuable feedback, please go ahead and use the comments section below in this regard.
This is a Brillant article! good job