• Psychological Approach: King’s psychological approach to his novels focuses on exploiting the reader's fears and vulnerabilities. He establishes a wide range of common fears like claustrophobia, acrophobia, and zoophobia to trigger anxieties that the readers already possess. In The Shining,  “Psychological Horror is seen in Jack trying to kill his family and in the line, “this inhuman place makes human monsters” (Bienne, 2022). Jack Torrance struggles with alcoholism and mental deterioration which  allows readers to experience the fear through his inner conflict and bodily changes as he deteriorates. In addition, “King ensures a fear response from his audience by incorporating all subgenres of horror in The Shining” (Bienne, 2022). He uses a variety of horror in one novel to induce a response. Some examples of horror that  he incorporated are Rural, Cosmic, and apocalyptic. To go into a little more detail,  Rural Horror is where king “reflects the reader’s hometown, the coziness of their house, and places where evil is not supposed to lurk” (Bienne, 2022). King creates two places in The Shining which are the Sidewinder and the Overlook. Cosmic fate is the “fate and inevitability, which also includes the acceptance of something otherworldly” (Bienne, 2022). This is shown in the actual existence of The Shining. Lastly, Apocalyptic horror is “symbolized by the end of the season, which alludes to this being the end of the world for the Torrance family” (Bienne, 2022). Stephen King meticulously creates a novel which allows the reader to get comfortable with the setting and characters, and then he emerges the reader into fear that is within themselves, as a reader which is what makes his books successful. 

• Formalistic approach: Another approach is the formalistic approach King utilizes. This relies on the narrative structure, setting, and literary devices to build the fear. “King takes the comfortability readers are meant to experience when thinking of where they are from and uses it in a way to remind them that even small towns can be dangerous” (Bienne, 2022). So,  he begins the story using comfortability and familiarity through rural settings and normal environments before gradually revealing the supernatural dangers. This is reinforced by the Overlook Hotel, where king, “Creates a world where supernatural danger is hidden in the hotel” (Bienne, 2022). He turns the safe place, the hotel, into a source of terror. By shifting perspectives throughout the book, the readers are able to “Understand the background and thought processes of the main characters” (Bienne, 2022). This increases tension and suspense. He uses literary devices like simple short sentences to “make the reader's heart quicken” (Bienne, 2022) which ties into the suspense and tension. Symbolism plays a key role, particularly when “The wasp nest is representative of the evil hiding in the dark planning to attack when they feel the safest” (Bienne, 2022), reinforcing that there is danger hiding beneath normalcy. King’s usage of the formalistic approach manipulates the reader's expectations which proves that using fear is powerful because it initially feels safe and familiar until it is not. 

Stephen King is known as the “King of Horror” because his writings include a variety of terror in his novels; However, King himself claims that horror is a narrow word. His work contains a blend of genres to create more meaningful and complex stories. King incorporates elements of science fiction, fantasy, historical fiction, and psychological realism. He weaves together demons, parallel universes, and human conflict to prove that different genres share “a common origin” Rothman, 2017). Some examples from his stories is Doctor Sleep, which mixes supernatural horror with psychological conflict, The Gunslinger which combines science fiction, fantasy, and western, The langoliers which highlights science fiction through time travel and suspense, and lastly, Carrie which focuses on horror with coming-of-age themes. King’s ability to cross genres enables him to dive deeper into truths about human nature. Stephen's writing can't be confined into one genre, which proves that his work is more expansive than horror by itself.