Three Times the Victim: The Unique Traumatic Terror of the Child Victim in 'Guilty Mom' Horror

I'll be presenting at the Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference taking place in Pittsburgh during the middle of June. Here's my abstract: 

Attention has been paid to the role of mothers in horror film yet a deconstructing analysis of the types of horror film mothers and how the actions of those types impact their child victims is lacking. Consequently, the relationship and circumstance of the fictional horror mother and her fictional horror child victim is often generalized as simply dysfunctional. This broad interpretation of dysfunctional prevents an understanding of the child victim’s experience and role. A frequent type of child victim is the child of a ‘guilty’ mother. Often, her guilt arises from her inability to assist her child and is further complicated by her relationships with those around her. Her guilt impacts her actions and attitudes and as a result impacts her child. While, both the ‘guilty’ mother and the tormented child are victims, their torment is experienced individually. The evil does not pull them together. It pushes them apart. Within the context of a horror film, the resulting tensional dynamic highlights the unique vulnerabilities of the child with a ‘guilty’ mother. The terror and trauma is focused and amplified. Additionally, the resulting story circumstances highlight society’s unjust treatment of those who are outside the mainstream, vulnerable, and in need of assistance.

Carrie's mom, not guilty. Just bad.

This paper differentiates the types of horror film mothers, specifically the ‘bad’ mother from the ‘guilty’ mother, in order to focus on a unique type of child victim. After isolating the unique circumstances of the ‘guilty’ horror film mother this paper asserts that this specific child victim is more than a placeholder for the target audience’s viewing experience. This unique victim functions as a prompt to consider the role of society, and consequently that of the target audience members, in perpetuating evil by rejecting and silencing marginalized persons.