Mothers Lock Up Your Daughters Because They Are Terrifying

If I were to change the title of one of the short stories we have read I would change the title of “Mothers, Lock Up Your Daughters Because They Are Terrifying” to something like, “Mothers Know Best”. I don’t totally like the title, “Mothers, Lock Up Your Daughters Because They Are Terrifying” because in the story, the girls aren't the terrifying ones, it's the mother who is a crazy ghost. The mother supposedly killed herself for the girls and came back as a ghost to be a parent. The mother becomes even more terrifying when Ronnie reveals that the mother is not from this planet and sleeps in her bone marrow and feeds on thoughts. When the girls began turning on her, she became jealous and threatened to kill them while driving. Before I read the story I thought the daughters were actually going to be terrifying like serial killers or something, or something like every girl in the town turns into a monster at night and the mothers have to lock them up before dusk or else everyone would die.

I enjoyed “Mothers, Lock Up Your Daughters Because They Are Terrifying” but if the title were “Mothers Know Best” it would lead into the idea of scary ghost mom being scary and controlling like she ended up being, instead of being disappointed the daughters didn't turn into chupacabras. The ritual performed by the daughters at the beginning of the story was somewhat creepy, but by no means terrifying, the manipulation of the ghost mother is what terrified the daughters. 

Comments

  1. UnknownMay 25, 2020 at 3:42 PM

    I like your suggested alternative title, "Mother Knows Best," which aligns well with Mom's creepy, controlling behaviors! You're right in pointing out the peculiarity of the title suggesting the *daughters* are terrifying, when clearly it's Mom who's the scary, demonic presence in the story. -Ms. O'Brien

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