Stephen King Explains the Two Types of Evil He Perceives

Considering how many nightmares author Stephen King has given his readers over the decades, many fans want to know more about his opinions on crafting a scary story. In a new featurette for the latest adaptation of IT, the author reveals that everything boils down to "inside evil" and "outside evil."

"I've written books that deal directly with the idea that faith makes it possible to battle the monsters," King details. "I divide evil two ways: there's inside evil and there's outside evil. Those kids, they're the only ones who are still able to believe in monsters. You have to have faith and you have to believe that good is going to triumph over evil."

King's comments might seem pretty vague, but most likely refer to an actual manifestation of evil, such as Pennywise in IT, as opposed to the evil that dwells inside oneself, including what your fears and imaginations can conjure.

It's also possible, however, that King was mirroring comments made by filmmaker John Carpenter about his outlook on horror stories.

"There are two different stories in horror: internal and external," Carpenter told Vulture in 2011. "In external horror films, the evil comes from the outside, the other tribe, this thing in the darkness that we don't understand. Internal is the human heart."

From serial killers to the supernatural, King's works have covered virtually every horror imaginable, but that doesn't mean the author himself is immune to being scared.

"Air travel is a big one with me because I feel like I'm not in control," King said of his fears to Variety. "I'm close to 70 now, so I'm worried about basically having the cheese slide off my cracker — Alzheimer's, dementia, stuff like that."

The author also revealed that some of his biggest fears are things most of us are afraid of.

"I don't like bugs, I don't like bats, I don't like things that creep and crawl. With the exception of snakes, somehow they don't really turn my dials," King confessed.

"But I'm also afraid of people like [serial killer in Mr. Mercedes] Brady Hartsfield, they're out there. And it crosses my mind every time I do a public event. You think about somebody like Mark David Chapman, and you think maybe somebody's got a knife out for you. But that's part of life," King continued.

Despite his fears, we shouldn't expect King to stop creating terrifying stories anytime soon.