The Horror of Black Motherhood: Navigating Fear, Family, and Survival with Roshelle Patterson

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In horror cinema, the Black mother often stands at the intersection of terror—both supernatural and systemic. The Horror of Black Motherhood explores how films centering Black mothers and their children use the family unit not just as a narrative device, but as the core site of horror itself. Drawing from works such as Beloved, Never Let Go, The Front Room, The Deliverance, Them, Us, and The Woman in the Yard, this talk examines how Black maternal figures navigate dual layers of fear: the everyday horror of systemic racism and the genre-specific horror of monsters, hauntings, or possession. The talk argues that these films transform motherhood into a political and psychological battleground—where love, protection, and resilience become both tools and curses. Through visual and narrative analysis, we’ll unpack how Black motherhood redefines horror tropes, resists dehumanization, and reclaims agency in the face of structures designed to erase or exploit it. Ultimately, this session invites us to reconsider what—and who—horror cinema is truly about when the mother is both the hero and the haunted.