Horror Film Countdown Day 3 – Movies Anxious Parents Should Avoid

If you haven’t stopped by so far this month, let me sum up;

Lessons From the Mothership is doing a Halloween countdown just for parents!!

Each day, we are covering the films I both love and hate because they’re awesome and they give me panic attacks.  These are 31 of the most anxiety-inducing films I, personally, have ever seen.

With several days to go until we get up to number 1, today we will talk about one of the most cringe-worthy, rip your heart out, psychologically damaging movies a parent could ever see;

Disclaimer: Trigger warnings are a given when you talk about horror, but I’m going to say it anyway.  Many subjects covered by horror films are disturbing to parents in ways we can’t possibly understand and each is unique to the parent and his/her experiences. Tread carefully and know your limits.  If this begins to be too much, there’s no shame in closing the window.  Also, this post contains some spoilers throughout. 

29. The Sweet Hereafter

Okay, so this one is not a “horror film” of typical standards, but it was horrifying and that’s close enough.  I saw it long before I had children or was even remotely close to being married, so it didn’t hit me in a place of knowing like it does now.  The interesting thing is, I had completely forgotten about this film, having seen it over a decade ago, until I had children.  Then, one insomnia-filled night, I’m holding my baby boy and feeling an overwhelming sense of belonging and complete, perfect love sweep over me.  In that exact moment, the question crept in my mind; “what would I ever do if he died?  How could I ever recover?  Would life even have any sort of purpose?” I started sobbing and my heart flooded with fear of what life would be like if I suddenly lost him to disease, SIDS, some kind of bizarre accident…

In that moment, in the midst of a 3:00am insomnia-fueled panic attack, I remembered this movie and the thought of it made my stomach turn.  I became physically ill at the thought and even now, the idea of this film and the horror of how something like this COULD HAPPEN one day can send me into a state of fear.

Depicting an entire town who has lost its children (yes, all of them) in a freak bus accident, this film will send chills down any parent’s spine.

So, how does this affect me now?  Well, it’s pretty simple… This is a major reason I don’t like the mountains, driving TO the mountains, being near the mountains or driving on winter roads. The images of the bus in this movie start scanning through my head at every single turn like a flip book you can’t shut off. Speaking of busses…

Tomorrow’s picks all left them rolling.  To their deaths.  Stay tuned!