Zombies, werewolves and chainsaw-wielding maniacs are tried-and-true staples of horror films. But none can match the visceral dread evoked by a child with an innocent face and a diabolical stare. Cinema’s evil children attack our cherished ideas of innocence and our innocent bystander status as the audience. A good horror film is a scary ride—a “devil child” movie is a guilt trip.
This book examines 24 international films—with discussions of another 100—that in effect “indict” viewers for crimes of child abuse and abandonment, greed, social and ecological negligence, and political and war crimes, and for persistent denial of responsibility for them all. For 75 years evil children have ritually rebuked audiences and, in playing on our guilt, established a horror subgenre that might be described as a blood-spattered rampage on an ethical mission.

T.S. Kord is a professor, cultural historian, author of eight books and has received six major awards for her writing. She lives in London.

T.S. Kord

Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 228
Bibliographic Info: 24 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2016
pISBN: 978-1-4766-6606-8
eISBN: 978-1-4766-2666-6
Imprint: McFarland

Preface 1
Introduction 3
1. Birth: Gynecological ­Gross-Out 13
2. Family: ­Home-Grown Horrors 33
3. Nature: An Abundance of Horror 56
4. Science: Seeing the World in Black and White 76
5. Religion: The Road to Hell and What It’s Paved With 94
6. Consumption: Dying in a Material World 118
7. Abuse: Leaving the Family Behind 138
8. Play: The Peter Pan Syndrome 161
Conclusions 178
Chapter Notes 187
Bibliography 195
Index 215