5 Life Lessons from Women in Horror {Feature}

Gale Weathers from Scream:
​Don’t Let Anything Get in the Way of Your Career Goals
If I’m right about this I could save a man’s life. Do you know what that would do for my book sales?

​Every woman knows the double standard at work. Too often decisive men are labeled assertive and ambitious while decisive women are labeled bossy and unlikeable.  Many women are conscious of this bias and will tailor their demeanor to avoid problems, but Gale Weathers is the antithesis of this idea. Gale Weathers doesn’t care if she’s liked, she only cares that she gets the job done. She wrote a book proclaiming the innocence of a convicted killer because she believed he was innocent. When a murderer once again begins stalking Woodsboro, Gale returns to the town and continues reporting despite a frosty welcome and a growing pile of bodies. Even after Gale herself is attacked by the killer she still manages to come to the rescue of Sydney, before immediately going outside to report on what has occurred. Gale is a career woman who never lets what people think of her get in the way of her goals. At the end of most horror movies there is one final girl, but Gale Weathers was never one to play by the rules. 

​Nancy Thompson from A Nightmare on Elm Street:
Believe in your dreams even when no one else does.
There’s this guy; he’s after us in our dreams.
​

It’s a universally acknowledged truth that no one wants to hear about someone else’s dreams. Nightly visions are usually strange, incoherent, and hold no emotional connection except for the dreamer. This may be the reason why Nancy Thompson has such a difficult time convincing anyone to listen to her when Freddy Krueger begins stalking her dreams. Or perhaps the idea that a man was killing people as they slept was too far fetched for anyone to believe, especially when these accusations are coming from a girl who has not slept in awhile. Despite the doubt of family and friends Nancy continues to fight Freddy in her sleep and does not stop trying to convince the rest of her world about the danger waiting for them when they close their eyes. Through her sheer tenacity Nancy is able to learn the truth about Freddy and formulate a plan to use the power of dreams to escape Freddy’s clutches. Nancy proves you should always believe in your dreams and maybe we should all be a little more open to listening to our friends when they say “I had the weirdest dream last night.” 

​Marion Crane from Psycho: Never Get Between a Mother and her Son
You know... if anyone ever talked to me the way I heard... the way she spoke to you...
​

Everyone knows that a son’s relationship with his mother can be one of the most important and complicated relationships in his life. Every family has their own dynamics and even the best relationships can be hiding a skeleton in their closet. Marion Crane learns this particular lesson when she stops at the Bates Motel one rainy night. It is here that she meets Norman Bates, a young man with a complicated relationship with his mother. On her first night at the motel Marion overhears Norman having a fight with his mother.  Over dinner Marion attempts to encourage Norman to break away from what she sees as a bad situation, but as anyone who has been in this situation before will attest, it’s often better to not get involved in family drama. Poor Marion finds this out the hard way, but hopefully her story will remind others it’s just not worth it to get in between a mother and her son. 

​Sarah Bailey from The Craft: Choose your friends wisely.
Yeah well, you know what they say. You are who you hang out with.
​

Nobody knows the importance of friendship more than a teenage girl. So when Sarah Bailey first moves to Los Angeles, she is thrilled to quickly make new friends who also love witchcraft. With their powers combined the girls are able to create powerful magic and their friendship continues to grow. Unfortunately, as with most relationships that start fast and heavy, Sarah slowly begins to notice cracks in her newfound friendships. When Sarah begins to question the way group leader Nancy is using magic the girls quickly turn on Sarah and use their powers to torment her. Sarah once again finds herself alone and must draw on her inner strength in order to fight back against the girls and end Nancy’s reign of terror. In the end, the powerless former friends attempt to reconcile with Sarah, but she knows better than to let friends like that back into her life. 

Annie Wilkes from Misery:
Too much of anything is a bad thing.
I did a lot of reading. That was when I first discovered Misery. She made me so happy. She made me forget all my problems.
​

The many benefits of reading are well known, from increased intelligence to better sleep it seems like there is no downside to this popular pastime, but like all good things there is a limit. Annie Wilkes began reading her favorite series as a way to pass the time at her hospital job, but her intense love quickly turns to obsession. When her beloved author crashes in a blizzard Annie is able to save him and bring him back to her house to recuperate. Or so she would lead you to believe. Once Annie discovers Paul has killed off her beloved Misery, she completely snaps and keeps him prisoner until he writes the ending she believes Misery deserves. She has all sorts of ways to influence Paul including a pretty infamous scene involving a sledgehammer. What starts as a sincere love of books quickly dissolves into kidnapping and torture. While reading may seem to be a harmless way to pass the time for most people, Annie Wilkes shows us that too much of anything is a bad thing.

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Author

Maureen Trinh is a screenwriter who was a finalist at the Athena LA Film Lab, semi-finalist for Screencraft Drama, Academy Nicholl Top 15%, Killer Shorts QF. She is also a fan of the New York Jets and Los Angeles Angels.