Childhood - for some, it's a time of innocence, a sun-soaked reverie of tricycles and hula-hoops, running inside to have some cookies and milk and going to bed confident that the world was safe, comforting and peaceful. For others, it's a non-stop hell ride of trauma and derangement, where the boy next door could be Satan, a ghost, a robot, or just a psychopath. This feature, we're sorry to say, is not about the former. It's time to put aside childish things, and fully embrace the dark side, as we pull back the covers to reveal the monsters on top of the beds. With the forthcoming release of the motion picture Orphan, the latest entry in the creepy-kid sweepstakes, we figured it'd be good to take a look back at the sordid history of evil youth.
Top 11 Creepy Kids
Join us as we count down the eleven scariest youngsters in horror history.
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By K. Thor Jensen December 18, 2008 |
Emily Callaway, Hide and Seek
You know, Dakota Fanning is just weird. No matter what she's in, her unsettling adult-in-a-little-girl's-body routine just creeps us out. But her role in the 2005 thriller Hide and Seek let her channel this uneasy energy into a part that truly merited it. As Emily Callaway, she starts manifesting one of the telltale signs of creepy kid-dom, the imaginary friend, soon after her mother dies an apparent suicide. However, Emily's invisible friend Charlie is a lot more sinister than he appears. Although (and here there be spoilers) Charlie eventually turns out to be her dad's split personality, the path to that discovery is an unsettling one indeed. By the end of the film, when her bipolar dad has been taken care of once and for all, we're treated to a little extra jolt as Emily draws a cute little picture of herself... with two heads. You win this time, Fanning. You creepy little creature.
