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Every parent is terrified that they cannot keep their children safe.
So do the two most buzzy fright fests out right now: theHalloweenremakestarringJamie Lee Curtis, currently theNo.
1 movie at the box office, and NetflixsThe Haunting of Hill House.
She tries to assert control over these thoughts, breezily noting that this is just irrational anxiety talking.
And it is hungry and it is stupid and it eats mindlessly.
It doesnt care that theyre innocent.
Olivia takes these words, and the words she imagines Nell saying, quite literally.
But like many overprotective parents, Olivia cant see that.
Its what the house is doing to their mother.
In a sense, horror will find the Crains no matter what they do.
Laurie shares some things in common with Olivia, too.
As a young mother, she was afraid of what might sink its teeth into her daughter Karen.
But where Olivia is fragile and jittery, Laurie is determined.
But the best kind of horror always provides an exaggerated setting in which to process our own fears.
I hesitate to describe either of these stories as comforting, but there is some comfort in that.
(I mean: probably.)
Watching these worried moms acts as a release valve for some of those fears.
But it also acts as affirmation.
