This research project is concerned with 'children in horror fiction and film'. The project will involve looking at how and why the figure of the child is so predominant in the horror genre. The history of this will traced through authors such as Henry James and Mary Shelley. Modern film adaptation, such as the work of Stephen King, will also be addressed alongside films such as Chuckie, Sixth Sense, and the Exorcist. The methodology will follow a psychoanalytical and cultural material approach to interrogate a wide range of texts and their psychological/material significance today.