The last remnants of summer are fading away, and the darker days of autumn and, eventually, winter are steadily creeping up on us. Even with this somewhat silly “time change” only a couple of weeks away, the days have already begun to get shorter, and the sun carries itself off to bed a little earlier than it had been a few weeks prior. Darkness has found its way to the Halloween season.

A bit of that darkness has found its way to the Halloween Horrors series today, courtesy of returning contributor Danielle Zepeda. This year marks Danielle’s fifth appearance as a part of our (mostly) annual series, first joining us back in 2018. Over the years, Danielle has presented us with memories of films such as Idle Hands and Coraline, as well a staple from the childhood of many a reader, Disney’s “Halloween Treat” television special. As such, I’ve always considered Danielle contributions to be something of a much-welcomed “lighter side” to some of the darker films and topic discussed each year.

However, for this year’s series, Danielle presents us with a look at a film that generally offers little in the form of “levity”, dealing with much darker tones and topics than some of her previous topics. I mean, I don’t think that the gorilla that escaped from the city zoo is a manifestation of Huey, Dewey, and Louie’s sadness and anger. Possibly Donald’s. 

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“Casting a Long Shadow” – The Babadook
By: Danielle Zepeda

I was scared of the Babadook before I even watched The Babadook. The image of him with his mile wide grin and dagger-like fingers was enough to make me pause and consider whether or not I wanted to watch the film. As a horror fan, it’s rare when a creature, monster, or villain makes the hairs on my arms stand up, but something about the looming shadow of the Babadook did.

For this reason, I didn’t watch the film until some years after its release. It was spooky season and I was doing my usual 31 days of watching something Halloween adjacent, and finally decided to take the plunge. Typically, I have no problem watching these types of films alone and will generally watch in the dark, but not “The Babadook”. I made sure to have company and watched it in bright sunlight, but not even the sun could keep the Babadook from embedding his nails into my subconscious.

“The Babadook” (masterfully directed by Jennifer Kent) is layered like the most frightening and subversive cake. Using a combination of suspenseful storytelling, subtle sound design, and haunting visuals, the film takes no time filling you with a sense of dread. From the opening scene which shows a car crash flashback, to the final battle with the Babadook, Kent paints a portrait of mental illness that is both harrowing and empathetic, as it illustrates the lasting effects of untreated trauma and the isolation that can accompany those experiences.

Watching the film for the first time, I found myself transfixed by the bleakness of Amelia and six-year-old Samuel’s world. From the outside, their home is modest and charming, but inside it is dimly lit, devoid of color, and in many respects devoid of life. It was the first thing I noticed about the movie that made it stand out from other horror films. In most genre films, we’re introduced to a nuclear family who are driven to madness by some such terror, but in The Babadook it’s as if we’re starting in the middle of their story. The pair are trying and failing to navigate life without Samuel’s father, who died in the car crash shown at the beginning of the film. Amelia is a woman on the brink. She works long hours at a nursing home, Samuel is beginning to display erratic and troublesome behaviors, and she’s barely sleeping. One could say they are existing and not quite thriving, when a book called “Mr. Babadook” mysteriously finds its way onto Samuel’s bookshelf. As the film progresses, Amelia’s grip on reality begins to weaken, and she becomes more and more convinced of the Babadook’s existence. Her paranoia escalates, leading to violent outbursts and delusional behavior that leave mother and son at odds. Similar to his mother, Samuel is living with his own unresolved pain and more than anything he wants her to save their family from the monster overtaking their lives. However, by the films climax she herself has transformed into the monster under the bed.

Without giving away the ending, just in case anyone reading this hasn’t watched the film(!), “The Babadook” is a movie that doesn’t leave you. While it becomes clear that he is a physical manifestation of the unresolved grief that has overtaken Amelia, I feel that the Babadook can be something different to each one of us. We all bring our own experiences to the films we watch, and I think the Babadook can represent not only grief, but depression, self-loathing and even failure. Each of those emotions are like weights on our backs, preventing us from getting where we want in life. Much like how the Babadook is preventing Amelia and Samuel from having a meaningful and loving relationship. “The Babadook” is both psychological horror and cautionary tale, that ultimately asks us to reflect on the Babadook in our own lives. How can we make sure that we’re taking the time to process our pain, heal our wounds and fix what ails us, so we’re ready to do battle with the Babadooks under our beds?

The film is heavy and not for the weak of spirit, but I consider it to be one of the best modern horror films and Mr. Babadook has rightfully earned his place in the annals of horror history.

Happy Halloween!