Abstract
<p> Possession films are a subgenre of horror films in which a character is possessed by a supernatural, or non-human, entity. Women in possession films are often either the target of possession or witness to the possession of someone else. The act of possession, then, disrupts and challenges the ordered structure women are part of, especially in the case of mother/child and mother/family relationships. This book explores how different depictions of women in possession films show various facets of motherhood. The possession films spotlighted are <italic>Rosemary’s Baby</italic> , <italic>The Exorcist</italic> , <italic>The Amityville Horror</italic> , <italic>Insidious</italic> and <italic>Insidious Chapter 2</italic> , <italic>The Conjuring</italic> and <italic>The Conjuring 2</italic> , <italic>The Babadook</italic> , <italic>The Witch</italic> , and <italic>Hereditary</italic> . The films are placed in chronological order within the chapters to better connect with each other and to demonstrate how mothers in possession films have changed over time. It analyzes the films through the lenses of history and gender to show how society and cultural norms impact the depiction of mothers and possession. Topics explored include pregnancy, single motherhood, divorce, witchcraft, maternal archetypes, and forced motherhood. The book questions how possession can free, fracture, and transform women’s bodies and selves into ones that threaten patriarchal structures. It argues that women are always possessed because of unseen forces that seek to control them; how women react and navigate these forces highlights the need for more women’s and maternal agency. </p>