Karen Quach | October 24, 2019

2019 Stephen King Scream Job Challenge Winner

Meet the doctor who took on the master of horror 

When USDish.com launched the first Stephen King scream job challenge in 2019, there was no shortage of eager entries. But one man, or should we say doctor, stood out from the half a million applicants. 

Dr. Anthony Tobia, a professor of behavioral medicine and psychiatry at Rutgers Medical School, saw an opportunity to take his love of horror films and the challenge issued by USDish to create unique criteria for his students. 

Using the thirteen films, Dr. Tobia and his students took on the challenge to learn more about human psychology and what makes the master of horror a master of his craft. 

Here are the results from the challenge. 

What Stephen King movie was the scariest?

Dr. Tobia named the 2017 version of It the scariest movie he watched, calling Pennywise “the most sinister character adapted to film.”

Which Stephen King movie caused the most jump scares?

Not surprisingly, the scariest movie caused Dr. Tobia the most jump scares. Pennywise, the killer clown, got the good doctor to jump four times throughout the film. 

Which Stephen King movie resulted in the most interesting heart rate data?

Dr. Tobia was asked to monitor his heart rate while watching each Stephen King film to see how he physically reacted to the master of horror. 

With the results provided, the three Stephen King movies that saw the most significant rise in Dr. Tobia’s resting heart rate were: Creepshow, The Shining, and Salem’s Lot.

Dr. Tobia selected a few Stephen King films to watch with his class, including Pet Sematary, The Shining, and Salem’s Lot. Students could receive an extra elective credit for watching and participating in the discussion following the film. 

The viewing of It from an analytical lens inspired Dr. Tobia to compare and contrast the Stephen King film to The Sandlot, which includes a psychological breakdown of two of the main characters. Read Dr. Tobia’s post here. 

Do you have what it takes to be our next scary challenge winner? Enter the USDish.com Stephen King Scream Job challenge: Chapter Two here before entry acceptance closes on Friday, October 8, 2021. 

While digging through all of the applications to find our winner, we also came across some interesting facts based on the information that was submitted. If you’re curious about what we found, click here.

Spook on, horror junkies. 

If you have any questions please email media@usdish.com.