09/14/2026 Uncomfortably Dark Celebrates Seniors
Ain’t Aging Grand?
Written by Kerry E.B. Black
In the United States, National Grandparents’ Day is celebrated on the first Sunday after Labor Day. That’s 13 September this year. What a great opportunity to explore aging and representation of the elderly in horror!
Since horror acts as an outlet for social commentary and criticism, a repeated theme in consumable media points to problems or commonly held beliefs. Often, depictions of the elderly, especially in Western cultural presentations, reflect negative aspects of growing older. Aging marks a decline in attractiveness and usefulness. In a culture obsessed with youth and abundance, old faces indicate a scar on presumed beauty, and the slower pace and “old fashioned ideas” weary generations hopped up on energy drinks, the need to produce, and TikTok-type pacing.
Actresses, in particular, complain that roles drop off after they reach “a certain age.” They’re not cast as the desirable ingenue or leading lady. Theirs are often background or supporting parts, but sometimes, they become the villain. Certainly, Meryl Streep was offered three “witch” roles after she turned forty. She declined them, but she accepted a witch role from “Into the Woods” later in her career. From Shakepeare and Fairy Tales all the way to George R.R. Martin, many old women are relegated to the role of witch, crones with abilities and agency, though some tenaciously aspire to instead be fairy godmothers.
How many fairy tales, for example, have an “evil queen” character resorting to murderous methods to maintain their youth? That was the main complaint against the Blood Countess Elizabeth Bathory, who supposedly consumed young maids and servants, believing she would thereby maintain her good looks. Reducing a person to mere appearance destroys their other contributions, yet it is a trope that persists. This belief that crones, and to a lesser extent, decrepit old men, will suck the youth out of the young terrifies many. The Sanderson Sisters comedically tried to syphon off the life forces of Salem’s children in 1993’s “Hocus Pocus,” as did the ailing aunt in the film “Weapons” from 2025. The smiling, hatted Reverend Kane in the 1986 film “Poltergeist II” attempts to lure the youthful Carol Anne Freeling to steal her life essence. Though not a witch, certainly Demi Moore’s aging fitness celebrity in the 2026 film, “The Substance” gives up everything to buy time as a “better,” younger self. If the only way to remain a viable, contributing member of society involves at least the appearance of youth, what’s a person in their “Crone age” to do?
If a body’s just too worn out, though, more drastic measures might be employed. Some films where trading in an old body for a younger model include “Skeleton Key” (2005), “Something Wicked This Way Comes” (based on the Ray Bradbury story) (1983), Jordan Peele’s “Get Out” (2017), and “The Mephisto Waltz” (1971). The 1959 novel, Immortality, Inc. by Robert Sheckley transfers consciousness into younger bodies. Of course, Oscar Wilde would doubtless advise caution, as his novella, The Picture of Dorian Grey, points to the cost of the pursuit of youth and beauty.
Much of the time, the elderly complain of loneliness and feelings of inadequacy. Therapists recommend activities to keep the mind and body sharp. “Rosemary’s Baby” (1968, based on the Ira Levin novel of the same name) finds the elderly residents of a posh, New York Brownstone rallying around a pregnant new resident. “The Brotherhood of Satan” (1971) finds its seniors forming a desert cult that indoctrinates young people. Though not horror, many elderly become sleuths in popular mysteries, such as those written by Agatha Christie, Richard Osman, Amanda Ashby, Gu Byeong-mo, and Mary Blesy. Television shows such as “Murder She Wrote” and “The Father Brown Mysteries” find their octogenarian leads solving cases with little fuss, proving experience can be leveraged in productive ways.
Retirement presents a trying transition with which many seniors struggle. This is illustrated by the 1962 film “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?” starring Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, where Vaudeville stars hope for an unlikely comeback. Samantha Downing’s novel Too Old For This and Joe Hill’s Heart Shaped Box prove their protagonists can keep up, whereas Stephen King’s Apt Pupil finds its elderly character imparting his teachings to an interested student. Mr. Mercedes and its sequels, also by King, allow a retired police officer a chance to close a cold case.
When safety and convenience become concerns for potential caregivers, the elders of North America sometimes find new homes in senior care facilities and communities. Even the nicest of these have an identifiable scent and the potential for secrecy. This is painfully illustrated by George A. Romero’s 1975 film, “The Amusement Park.” A Swiss Spa where young and old guests check in, but, as in the Eagles song, never leave is the setting for the 2016 film, “A Cure for Wellness.” The 2025 film, “The Home” bears the tagline ‘Evil never gets old.’ Set in a senior care facility, Iain Reid’s novel We Spread sees an aging artist whose mental decline may be supernatural. 2002’s “Bubba Ho-Tep” (based on the Joe R. Lansdale novel) discovers a mummy in a retirement home. A stroke victim played by Barbara Hershey moves to a suspicious nursing home in 2021’s “The Manor”.
Books and films focusing on a mental, bodily, and societal decline due to natural aging include 2014’s “The Taking of Deborah Logan,” M. Night Shyamala’s 2015 “The Visit” and his 2021 indictment of Big Pharma, “Old.” The aptly named, 2015 psychological thriller, “Dementia,” follows a war vet. 2016’s “I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House” finds a nervous nurse caring for an ailing horror novelist in a secret-strewn house. “Vortex,” released in 2021, examines the final days of an elderly couple. 2018’s “The Haunted” follows a nightshift carer to a dementia patient,
Perhaps at its heart, this ageism ultimately reflects an overall fear of death. Nobody wants to believe their life is over, especially when they’re still waking every day with goals. Where there’s life, there’s ambition - or something like that. Mia Goth’s dual characters Maxine and an aged Pearl certainly seem to feel this way in Ti West’s 2022 film, “X.”
Generational horror explores the fear of becoming something undesirable. The 2022 film “Umma” stars Sandra Oh. Peter Straub’s novel, Ghost Story, was adapted as a 1981 film followed two generations of men haunted by a ghostly woman (Alice Krige). Another 2022 film, “Evil Eye,” follows a family visit to Granny’s to find a cure for a girl’s sickness. 2020’s “Relic” turns a haunted house into a metaphor, and “Hereditary” adds a wicked twist. “The Front Room” from 2024 has a newly pregnant couple welcome an estranged, older step mother. Some elders are just evil.
Often, the best way to face fear is through humor. “Arsenic and Old Lace” finds a nephew harried by his elderly aunts’ murderous proclivities. It’s hard to think of a sweet, old person as capable of terrible things, but everyone has a past, and some of those histories might be less than stellar.
However, the goal of humanity is to live long enough to become what has been outlined in this exploration, an old individual, which then morphs into the very thing the younger generation will in turn fear. The way society treats its most vulnerable members reflects on its core, its very soul. After all, the reward of living is aging, and not all elders devolve into dementia or convalesce with illness.
Some positive depictions of aging include these novels: David Sodergren’s The Haar, Philip Fracassi’s The Autumn Springs Retirement Massacre, and Jesse Q. Sutane’s Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers. The tv series “The Boroughs” felt like the 1985 film “Cocoon,” but make it horror. Many of Stephen King’s books, especially his newer offerings, feature older protagonists, including Dumas Key, Mr. Mercedes, Insomnia, and Delores Clayborn.
Other books that explore themes of mortality, isolation, loneliness, body changes, and the afterlife include John Langon’s The Fisherman, Laird Barron’s The Croning, Mary by Nat Cassidy, Stirring the Sheets by Chad Lutzke, Leonora Carrington’s The Hearing Trumpet, and Ruby Jean Jensen’s Cry of the Soul. For a more hopeful exploration, check out Carissa Orlando’s The September House, too. Some shorter stories of applicable interest include “Soon” by Lois Murphy, “Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead” by Olga Tokarczuk, “The Haunted Haven” by A. Erskine Ellis, and “The Conqueror Worms” by Brian Keene.
Although this article’s presentation is tongue-in-cheek, a very real and disgusting fact, according to the National Council On Aging (www.ncoa.org), is one in ten American seniors experienced abuse of some sort (physical, emotional, deprivation, confinement, sexual, or financial), but the number may be much higher. Only an estimated 1 in 24 cases are ever reported. During the confinement of the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of reported elder abuse cases rose to one in five. Loneliness and depression settles on still minds like algae over ponds. Even if the pace is slower, seniors offer wisdom, insight, and perspective. They lived through good and bad times, including wars and peace, recessions and economic growth. Their contributions created much of our world. So, perhaps take this opportunity to check on and celebrate your elders.
And as always, please share related recommendations. (I’m always hoping to increase my TBR and pop culture cred.)
*Free image above created by Creatifrankenstein! available in Pixabay
About the Author:
Kerry E.B. Black is a Western Pennsylvanian writer intimately familiar with chronic pain and physical disability - through personal experience and vicariously through her family. Besides writing for journals, ‘zines, and anthologies, she’s published two YA paranormal thrillers (Awakening at Equinox and Spring of Spirits), four collections of short stories (Herd of Nightmares, Carousel of Nightmares, Nightmares on Holidays, and Fairy Herds and Mythscapes), a novella (Wolves at Bay), and two poetry collections (Poetic Nightmares and Witches in the Air). Please follow her social media accounts, including:
Comments