Whenever we think of kids, or even teenagers, we don’t think of murderers or monsters (not usually anyway). We might reminisce about when we were young, swept up in the follies of youth and young love. We might even try to relive our dreams through them, or we may simply just watch them grow. But one thing’s for sure; when a child speaks, suddenly everything comes to life. Even the most mundane things have that sort of magical flair to them.

Perhaps that’s why the horror genre enjoys exploiting them. 

From the disturbing realms of Stephen King’s Carrie and Children of the Corn, to the dark, dystopian world of The Hunger Games, writers have used children as a means of scaring audiences for decares, tearing down the stereotypes that normally perpetuate in society. Whether it be to show a specific warmth in a meadow of flowers, or the callousness of a sea of bloody corpses, it’s interesting to show just how these children can fool audiences for so long. 

So what makes using children so effective? Why do we, as writers, keep utilizing them in horror novels? More importantly, how can we include children in horror novels, building up the tension in our readers while avoiding cliches? Below are just a few of the ways you can portray them properly.

Innocence 

In many early works, children have been used to give adults a different way to see the world. To have that innocence disturbed in any way is terrifying, to say the least. It disrupts our own world, shatters the expectations we have whenever we deal with the younger generations. Whether it be by murder, demonic possession, or a good old apocalypse, ruining the adult’s expectations and tricking them with the same kind of innocence is a common way to get what you want, both in literature and in real life.

Obedience

In the Silent Hill movie, Rose Da Silva, states that: “Mother is God in the eyes of a child.” It’s a frighteningly accurate principle; children, after all, do use their parents as role models. It’s why it's so disturbing whenever you hear about stories where children gleefully follow in their parents’ bloody footsteps. To be raised to hunt the supernatural, or become just another monster, is something society cannot control, no matter how many warnings we implement. It’s an idea that has been utilized in a lot of supernatural and dystopian thrillers. This obedience and innocence, however, are a symptom of a more absolute concept below.

Unconditional love 

Unlike adults, children tend to love whoever comes to care for them. It doesn’t matter whether their friends are mass murderers, or their parents are serial killers, they will do whatever they can to protect them. This love is what blinds them to their own conscience, if they even had one to begin with. 

Of course, children aren’t stupid. They see what goes on around them, and can recall various details instantly. Not only that, they also have a unique sense of right and wrong. They aren’t blinded by predicaments not even adults could understand. This trait is unique, so much so that it has been recreated time and time again, and is incredibly infamous in the literary world.