10 One-Off Horror Movie Villains Who MUST Return

2014’s The Babadook was beloved for being a creepy yet poignant allegory for grief, and its titular monster endures in the zeitgeist due to its haunting façade. Roughly ten years on, a second outing with the character would surely be creatively and commercially successful.

The original follows a widow named Amelia who’s perpetually mourning the loss of her husband, Oskar, who died six years prior on the way to the hospital so Amelia could give birth to their son, Samuel. Speaking of Samuel, he’s an absolute terror, and Amelia is also at her wit’s end trying to understand, appease, and love him.

Eventually, Samuel comes across a pop-up book called Mister Babadook and becomes convinced that the creature is real. The rest of the duration is devoted to both of them dealing with strange events that seem to verify the Babadook’s existence while Amelia wrestles with her sanity and her increasing dislike for her son.

The symbolism of the monster is solidified when Amelia accepts that the Babadook – and thus, her trauma – will always be around, locked in her literal and mental/emotional cellar to occasionally be confronted.

Grief-themed horror is extremely popular these days, too, as illustrated by the popularity of Hereditary, Smile, and The Night House. Clearly, now’s the perfect time to let the Babadook out of the basement.