Mother, May I? Top Moms of Horror

These Characters Are Clearly Not Getting Anything This Mother's Day

They criticize our hairstyles.

They question our dating choices.

When we come home for the holidays, they ask us about those exes we’d rather not think (or talk) about ever again.

For all their wonderful, nurturing qualities that we’ll be celebrating on May 11, let’s admit (quietly, of course) that mothers can be a scary bunch.

In honor of that theme, let’s count down the most memorable maternal figures in horror history starting with my all-time favorite…

Margaret White “Carrie”

Despite all the carnage that Carrie caused with her telekinetic abilities, I’ve always considered the real villain of the classic ‘76 film her religious zealot of a mother, “Margaret.” From her modest white robe to her shrill voice and those wild eyes, Piper Laurie brought this character to horrifying life. It was clear that whatever bullying Carrie ( Sissy Spacek) faced at school, she was receiving ten times the trauma at home, courtesy of her Bible-wielding parent. And the effect of her insanity is quite lasting, even for the viewer. Sometimes before an important presentation, I hear “Margaret” shouting “they’re all going to laugh at you,” as she did in a pivotal scene, hours before her blood-soaked daughter came home for an unfortunate family reunion.

Annie “Hereditary”

Being roasted by your mom when she is in the right is a singular experience. The woman who brought you into the world or raised you clearly knows all your weak spots and how to hit you with words that truly sting.

Take that, multiply it by one million and you have a dinnertime dress down from “Hereditary” that somehow stands out as one of the most frightening scenes in a movie that is about demon possession and cults. After a horrific accident involving her son and daughter, “Annie” (Toni Collette) unleashes on her son after trying, and failing, to hide her growing disgust for him as the reason her daughter is gone. Colette’s raw emotion will shake your soul as she rages against him while trying desperately to remember she is still his mom. Watch the clip below, and suffice it to say, this would not be a contender for a Mother’s Day movie screening. In case this scene doesn’t convey it strongly enough, it does not end well for this mother-son duo.

Katherine | “The Witch”

Anya Taylor Thomas burst onto the cinematic scene playing “Thomasin,” a hapless, though dutiful daughter to two deeply religious settler parents. Her father and mother are ready for her to move out of the nest, but that desire becomes even more pronounced when her baby brother vanishes while in her care. This unthinkable event is the work of a sinister supernatural force, but you can’t tell that to Thomasin’s cruel mother “Katherine” (Kate Dickie) who seems envious, even resentful of her first born from the start.

Though Thomasin’s non-vanished younger siblings are obnoxious little snots and the father is not much better as he allows family chaos to crescendo, Katherine stands out as someone nearly as awful as an infant-snatching entity. She practically holds the door open for Thomasin to embrace evil.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

• “Ramona” in “The Woman in the Yard”:

  A grieving mother invites evil to her house, well, her backyard in this 2025 film starring Danielle Deadwyler.

  

• “Grace Stewart” in “The Others”:

  Nicole Kidman takes being an overprotective parent to a chilling new level in this horror classic with a truly heart-wrenching twist.

• “Mary Brady” in “Sleepwalkers”:

  This maternal character, portrayed by Alice Krige, has a strange relationship with her son which is saying something seeing as how they are both feline shape shifters.

YOUR TURN: Did I miss a mom? Who would you say are some of the most horrific moms of horror and other films, TV series or books?