In American Horror Story: Coven, the Supreme, the leader of the group of witches, saw her own daughter as a vision of her death. Because of this, she abused and neglected her, trying to preserve the delusion that she was going to be powerful forever, that she would be young forever. In fact, towards the end of the series, she even plans to kill her daughter to regain her power. But despite this twisted version of motherhood, she claims to still love her daughter. It’s these depictions that have captivated audiences for centuries. After all, how could a mother turn her back on her own child? How could a mother, who supposedly embodies love and nurture, become the boogeyman in her own children’s eyes?

In society, the mother is sacred. Roles of women are often tied up with motherhood, and were expected to perform necessary tasks at home. Although these roles depended on the region and the culture, mothers are more likely to be credited with their children’s upbringing than fathers. This is likely because mothers are primarily linked to the protection and upbringing of the family, and if they fail, there may be a moral wrong within the family. What is more, many careers in society are geared towards nourishing the mother. Examples may include teachers, caretakers, and nurses.

Mothers are also glorified in religion and the arts for fulfilling their roles, often encouraging women to do the same. Famous examples of this include the Virgin Mary from Christianity, the Mother Goddess from Hindu, and Demeter from Greek mythology. Dianic Wicca is a female-centered branch of witchcraft that includes the worship of Diana, while the Goddess Movement included spiritual beliefs that celebrated femininity.

It’s because of these glorifications that it can be very difficult to see mothers as the perpetrators of their children’s harm. This may culminate in domestic violence, assault, matricides, and filicide. However, this conflict isn’t new. Cleopatra III of Egypt had been in conflict with her own son, Ptolemy X. In 1998, Kenisha Berry killed her infant son by covering his body with duct tape. Unsurprisingly, this is reflected in literature, with a particularly infamous example being Norman Bates from Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. In Stephen King’s Carrie, the titular protagonist undergoes tremendous abuse from her mother, which inadvertently leads to her mother’s death. In Neil Gaiman’s Coraline, the Other Mother pretended to be other children’s mothers to lure them to their deaths.

Even so, a mother may have a good reason to abuse or even kill their offspring. It all depends on the writers. Take, for instance, the movie Brightburn. The young boy murdered his own mother, despite all the love she had provided for him because she was going to murder him for his increasingly dangerous crimes. In another movie, Hereditary, a mother will go to lengths to protect her family from unspeakable evil, only to fail in the end because of her own mother’s dark, religious zeal.

A mother evokes two character types. On one hand, we would like to think of the mother as a patron saint who guards over her family. She upholds family morals and values and is praised throughout society. On the other hand, we can’t deny there’s a darkness within the mother figure, one that can infect her family with violence and mayhem. Despite this, we can’t help but love the mother, regardless of what she does. This love is embedded in our instincts. We can’t get rid of it, which is why authors and artists alike enjoy toying with it.