When children are sacrificed in a society, whether it be religion or otherwise, it speaks volumes about the morality that society. Children are generally seen as innocent, incorruptible beings, so it disturbs readers when something bad happens to them. Though we sometimes believe these instanes to be fictional, or so far deep within the annals of history that we can forget about it. Despite this, we often draw inspirations from child sacifices. 

Child sacrifices are often seen in human history. After all, our horrific muses can’t just imagine something as disturbing as this without help. The Aztecs have often practiced child sacrifice, because they believed that being sacrificed will keep the gods appeased. Many ancient Hebrews have often been known to practice sacrifice, as was other cultures, and these instances have been confirmed, both by the Bible and by historical sources. An example of this would be Moloch, an ancient Canaanite deity that is often associated with child sacrifice. The Carthaginians also performed human sacrifices, but they will only sacrifice a child in instances of dire need. Even now, child sacrifice is still being sacrificed. In Uganda, children’s body parts are used in witchcraft. In America, many cases of child abuse, such as parents refusing medical treatment for their child because it went against their religious beliefs. As such, their child dying is also seen as a form of child sacrifice. 

It’s because of this history that it’s no surprise we see this in modern day entertainment. For example, in Suzanne Collins’s Hunger Games series, children are sacrificed as “tributes” to a Capital that will do whatever it takes to impose their superiority on others. In the fairytale, The Imp Prince, the protagonist manages to save a young girl who was about to be sacrificed at the temple. In H.P Lovecraft’s The Dreams in the Witch House, the witch engages in child sacrifice. In the movie, Witch, the titular witch sacrifices the main heroine’s baby brother in order to regain her former powers.

But why is child sacrifice such a popular trope to use in literature? Sometimes, it’s simply for the shock factor. Other times, it’s to show how completely horrible the villain is. And even still, sometimes we’d just want to explore the more maddening aspects of our psychology. And though many people may read our work, wondering just what the heck we were thinking, we can’t really just be judged based on the subject matter of our book. 

Child sacrifices aren’t a pleasant topic to talk about, much less write about. Still, writing gives us a sort of passion that we can explore, even in the darkest corners of our imagination. What’s more, child sacrifices have often been reflected in history, and writing about them are a way that we can understand just what was going on in those societies. It’s this very thing that’s made literary genres and other non-horror genres so appealing.