#BookishThoughts-Happy (S)mother’s Day!

Most of us who have mothers/are mothers/have mother figures, wish we were a little more ‘Stepford Wives’ than ‘Psycho’, a little more patient, a little more forgiving and less fighting the inner beast like…

Being a parent is tricky-your children take you to the edge of insanity and back again, sometimes on a daily basis! But these women will kill for their children, taking maternal bonds to a whole new level, or even turn their children into horror novel staples and the stuff of nightmares…

So for Mother’s Day, as an antidote to all the cloying sentimentality , here are some famous literary mothers that no one will be buying flowers for today…

1. Cersei Lannister-Matriach of House Lannister in ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ by George RR Martin, this is one woman who will scheme, murder and plot like no mother has ever done before to get her own way and secure one of her children’s place on the Iron Throne of Westeros ! Pure evil or just an uber helicopter mum…you read the books and decide! She is one of the best written women with a complicated background that I have come across in years!Looks like butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth, but this is one ambitious mother you don’t want to cross.
2. Margaret White-the mother of Carrie White in the Stephen King novel that began it all, ‘Carrie’. Published in 1975 in an epistolary format , there isn’t a clear image of why Margaret deliberately ostracised herself and her daughter from mainstream society. It seems to be a self imposed punishment for the sinful ways of the flesh of which Carrie was the product.What is known from the fragments of reports and anecdotes that remain after the high school fire, is that she was possessed by a religious mania which was ultimately to be the undoing of her and many others.
3. Norma Bates-The mother and victim of the monster that she created, Norma was an abusive, manipulating parent with one, unforgettable offspring-Norman Bates, the central figure in Robert Bloch’s 1959 novel, ‘Psycho’. A seething teeming psyche of unrequited desire, believing all women were evil , abused and neglected at the hands of his mother was it any wonder that Norman grew up to become the archetypal serial killer?Shudders!!
4.  Corrine Dollanganger-Her husband dead, an inheritence promised on account that she has no offspring and resumes the ‘perfect daughter’ role that she was brought up to play…what do you do when the only thing between you and poverty are your 4 children? Hide them in the attic, as per grandmother’s instructions of course! So begins the dynasty for which V.C Andrews is most well known-‘Flowers In The Attic’ .Corrine begins it as a game, telling the children that they just need to keep quiet until their grandfather can get used to the idea that he has grandchildren, but before long, they have lost track of time, realise they are trapped and that maybe, not all of them will survive… Gaslighting at it’s finest, this is a mother and grandmother tag team of abusive parenting par excellence.
5. Rosemary’s Baby-A taut masterpiece from genius plotter , Ira Levin, this plays on the maternal fear of ‘the other’ which permeated the horror genre of the 1960’s/early 1970’s. Rosemary and Guy Woodhouse finally find the flat of their dreams, not in the best circumstances but, let’s not dwell on how they get it. The neighbours, after all are delightful, super helpful and attentive, especially as Rosemary announces that she is pregnant. There couldn’t be a sinister motivation in their attachment to her, could there?
6. Crystal Lil Binewski-Lil and husband Al think that there is  nothing better as a parent than to gift their children with a lifetime job at the circus. So during each of her pregnancies, she takes a concoction of experimental drugs with no idea what the outcome will be. Her children, instead of being gifted, are born freaks -Arty,born with flippers is known as Aqua Boy, Electra and Iphigenia, are Siamese twins and narrator, Olympia, is an albino hunchback dwarf. The youngest,Fortunato,known as Chick, is depressingly normal in appearance,or is he? This is a masterpiece of American literature and I would highly recommend it to anyone who has no fear of being disturbed by their reading material.‘Geek Love’ is written by the much missed Katherine Dunn.
7. Grendel’s Mother-Literally the mother of a medieval beast, she is a killing machine in search of those who destroyed her son in this Old English poem.Slain by the titular hero,‘Beowulf’, Grendel had laid siege to the mead hall of  Danes of Heorot, ruled by Hrothgar . In return Beowulf searches for and slays the monster but in doing so becomes monstrous himself. A powerful and moving meditation on familia,tribal and societal obligations, this is a timeless and treasured classic.
8. Julia-Peter Straub’s titular parent has moved to London to recoup after the tragic and soul destroying death of her daughter,Kate. The first of his novels to explicitly address the are of supernatural horror, this an original and moving exploration of grief, haunting and loss;is the house haunted or is she? What has crossed the ocean with her and why will it not leave her alone? Also, just to add as Peter Straub is one of my favorite authors, one of his short stories appears in anthology ‘Bad Seeds’, edited by Holly Black about demonic offspring..
9. Aunt Penelope-‘The Women In The Walls’ by Amy Lukavics is a terrifying tale, set in a Victorian mansion in the middle of a wood where female members of the family walk into it…but never leave again until they are heard whispering through the walls in the house…Orphan Lucy Acosta goes to live with her Aunt Penelope and cousin Margaret who becomes increasingly unstable after her mother disappears. Spending more and more time in the attic , Lucy uncovers a sinister family secret which has plagued the women of her family for decades. Spooky and drenched in atmosphere this is a brilliant read!
10. Josephine Hurst-‘Mother,mother’ by Koren Zailckas features one of the most terrfiying mothers since Norma Bates. A controlling domineering matriach she keeps her daughters and husband under the strictest of controls until Rose runs away leaving younger sister Violet ,and brother Will at Josephine’s mercy…until something happens that risks exposing all the Hurst family secrets . A twisted tale of family loyalty and maternal psychopathy, this is a well written story told from the younger sibling’s perspectives
11. Nita’s Mother-In the first book of the Market of Monsters, ‘Not Even Bones’ by Rebecca Schaeffer, Nita works with her mother in the disection and selling of body parts…but it isn’t until a living acquisition ends up on the lab table that Nita starts questioning her family loyalty and how far she will go. Refusing to do her mother’s bidding, she is sold herself at the Market of Monsters.Her mother whose name escapes me, is completely terrifying! Imagine not only finding out that you are supernatural, but that your mother sells body parts on the internet to the highest bidder?!
12. Frankenstein’s Monster-the endlessly intepreted tale ofhuman made monsters, was, let it not be forgotten, created by an 18 year old girl who basically invented the genre of science fiction. Her real life story was even more tragic and for this reason I am including my current read,‘Monsters’ by Sharon Dogar. Blending the tale of Mary, Shelley and their love which has endured across the ages, with the creation of gothic masterpiece, Frankenstein’, this a beautifully written book which is full of heart and will chill you to the bone at the same time.

And there you have it!
It was a huge struggle trying to think of monstrous mothers which weren’t immediately obvious so if you have any more mums from hell, please drop me a line!