Line #14 Main/HauntedHeroine


1	[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/HouseOfSecrets https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hauntedheroine_4103.jpg]]]]
2
3	-> ''"You best start believing in ghost stories, Miss Turner. You're in one!"''
4	-->-- '''Captain Hector Barbossa''', ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl''
5
6	A heroine haunted equally by her own past and the uncanny events around her.
7
8	This character continually pops up in films involving ghosts or supernatural characters. She moves into HauntedHeadquarters without any idea of what's in store for her. She seems attractive, capable, and altogether normal until...the strange noises from the attic keep waking her up. Or that CreepyHousekeeper keeps making [[ArcWords cryptic comments]]. Or her kid starts going on about some ImaginaryFriend who [[NotSoImaginaryFriend might not be so imaginary after all]]. The Haunted Heroine typically comes equipped with a kid (or younger sibling) that is inevitably the first one to notice the supernatural goings-on, possibly because kids are supposed to have more imagination. It won't take long however before the woman realizes she's being haunted.
9
10	Now the fun begins as the Haunted Heroine sheds her well-groomed exterior to reveal the barely-concealed neuroses and phobias hidden underneath. This character tends to have a MysteriousPast and hinted-at childhood trauma. She might be sexually repressed [[RapeAsDrama or traumatized]] too. Whatever her problems, there's always the subtle suggestion that she herself might be [[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness imagining the whole thing]] because of her messed-up psyche. Freud would have loved the Haunted Heroine. It doesn't help that [[CassandraTruth nobody ever seems to believe her story]]. As the story continues, expect to see hints of MamaBear in her as well when her kid or kids are threatened.
11
12	The originator of this trope is Henry James' ''Literature/TheTurnOfTheScrew'', in which a governess becomes convinced that her dead predecessor and her lover have somehow come back from beyond the grave to mess with the kids. This famous and influential story set the tone for a slew of SupernaturalFiction ever since that tries to imply it might be All in Their Minds. All this while still having a lot of fun with the ghosts.
13
14	A staple of GothicHorror. Compare and contrast with SupernaturalProofFather. See also HauntedHouseHistorian, who typically warns the Haunted Heroine and gets ignored for their trouble. Also see FinalGirl.
15
16	----
17	!!Examples:
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19	[[foldercontrol]]
20
21	%%[[folder:Anime and Manga]]%%
22	%%* Rohan in ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure''. From the manga to the one-shots, every story about Rohan involves him encountering ghosts.%%Encountering ghosts is not enough to qualify for this trope%%
23	%%[[/folder]]%%
24
25	[[folder:Film]]
26	* Grace from ''Film/TheOthers2001'': Subverted with a twist: [[spoiler:the haunted heroine and her children ''are'' [[TomatoInTheMirror the ghosts]]]].
27	%%* Yoshimi and Dahlia from ''Film/DarkWater'', both the 2002 Japanese original and the 2005 American remake, respectively. %%
28	* Julia from ''Film/FullCircle'', who tries to escape her overbearing husband and the trauma of her daughter's tragic death, which she may have caused, by moving into a house that turns out to be (apparently) haunted.
29	* Laura from ''Film/TheOrphanage''. She grew up in the eponymous orphanage and must figure out what happened there when she was a kid in order to rescue her missing son, whose [[NotSoImaginaryFriend imaginary friend might be real after all]].
30	%%* ''Film/TheWatcherInTheWoods'', an atypical (suspenseful) Disney movie from 1980.%%
31	* ''Film/{{House}}'' is a comedy-horror movie with Creator/WilliamKatt as a male version of this trope, trying to rescue his son who disappeared in the house of the title. There is some implication that it may all be in in his head (although it turned out that it isn't), and it all centres around trauma in his past (specifically, UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar).
32	* Any version of ''Film/TheRing'' has this character as the protagonist except for the book, which has a Haunted ''Hero''.
33	%%* Katie in ''Film/ParanormalActivity''.
34	* ''Film/TheHaunting1963'' is a classic example, with Eleanor, a deeply neurotic young woman who is brought to a HauntedHouse as part of a ghost-hunting study. She becomes so fascinated by the house and the idea of ''belonging'' somewhere that she [[spoiler: decides to stay forever and become a ghost.]] Nell's own backstory is mostly only hinted at, but she seems to have been the victim of a lot of emotional abuse by her [[MyBelovedSmother overbearing mother]], whose death she feels responsible for. The history of the house also has a few uncanny parallels to her own experience.
35	* ''Film/CrimsonPeak'' plays this pretty straight with Edith, an American heiress who grew up haunted by the ghost of her dead mother. After a whirlwind romance and the sudden death of her father, she marries an English baronet who takes her off to his [[OldDarkHouse family home]], where she becomes increasingly isolated and lonely, beginning to question her own sanity as she's apparently the [[ISeeDeadPeople only person able to see]] the ghosts that [[HauntedHouse haunt the place]]. The movie is a very straight-faced and loving homage to older Gothic narratives set in haunted houses, like ''Literature/TheTurnOfTheScrew'' and ''Literature/TheHauntingOfHillHouse'', which featured classic examples of this trope.
36	* Downplayed in ''Film/TheShining'', where Wendy is much less impacted by the [[HellHotel Overlook Hotel]] than her husband and son, both of whom seem to be losing their minds. Only in the film's finale does Wendy start to see a few of the ghosts that [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane may or may not]] be haunting the hotel.
37	* In ''Film/{{Hereditary}}'', Annie goes hard into spiritualism and seances after [[spoiler: the death of her daughter, Charlie]], and becomes convinced that something supernatural is going on, as opposed to her [[SupernaturalProofFather more rational husband]], Steve. Ultimately, though, [[spoiler: it's their teenage son Peter who is the focus of all the supernatural things going on, and Annie does ''not'' get the heroic MamaBear moment that normally comes with this trope.]]
38	* ''Film/TheBabadook'''s heroine, Amelia, is haunted by the trauma of her husband's death and her [[TheResenter complicated relationship]] with their son Samuel - a sort of gender-flipped case of MaternalDeathBlameTheChild. The Babadook itself is a manifestation of that trauma - [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane whether it's an actual demon or just her mental illness]] doesn't ultimately matter - that is [[spoiler: trying to force her to [[OffingTheOffspring kill her son.]]]]
39	* Mary from ''Film/CarnivalOfSouls''. The movie opens with her as the only person to walk away from a deadly drag-racing accident, and she's then stalked across Utah by a sinister ImplacableMan that nobody else can see. The film takes on an increasing tone of SurrealHorror as she begins to doubt her own sanity, becoming strangely drawn to an [[AmusementParkOfDoom old abandoned carnival pavilion]] on the edge of the Great Salt Lake. The movie doesn't really delve into her backstory before the car wreck, though, the trauma of which she doesn't seem to recognize, and she seems so isolated from everyone around her that she comes across as a ProtagonistWithoutAPast at times.
40	* In ''Film/MulhollandDrive'', Creator/NaomiWatts' character is either being stalked by a sinister and possibly supernatural conspiracy, losing her mind, or both. [[MindScrew It's hard to say]].
41	* Creator/AnnabelleWallis' character in ''Film/{{Malignant}}'' is haunted by a mysterious entity called Gabriel, who projects visions into her mind of him murdering people she cares about. As in most cases of this trope, we are often left wondering how much of this is in her head... [[spoiler: and it turns out all of it was; Gabriel - her partially-formed twin brother - is quite literally in her head, or rather on the back of it.]]
42	* Rose Da Silva in ''Film/SilentHill''. Notably, in [[VideoGame/SilentHill1 the game]] that the film was based on, the parent of an adopted CreepyChild who goes missing in the titular EldritchLocation was a man named Harry Mason, but the filmmakers [[GenderFlip made the character a woman]] due to this trope and the expectations surrounding men and women in horror movies.
43	* The title character in ''Film/LetsScareJessicaToDeath'' begins the film having just returned from a stint in a mental institution and is in constant fear of relapsing. Her ordeal with Emily is what finally sends her over the edge.
44	[[/folder]]
45
46	[[folder:Literature]]
47	* ''Literature/GhostGirl2021'': Zee is haunted by the ghost of a murdered woman seeking help and is targeted for DemonicPossession by an evil spirit and his hounds.
48	* ''Literature/TheTurnOfTheScrew'', of course. As well as ''The Innocents'', the 1961 film version with Deborah Kerr.
49	* Subverted in ''Film/TheGhostAndMrsMuir'', where the heroine is a young widowed mother who might just be imagining the hearty sea captain's ghost out of romantic yearning, but the ghost himself is utterly benign and the heroine can matter-of-factly tell him not to reveal himself to her daughter as she's much too young for ghosts.
50	* Eleanor Vance of Shirley Jackson's ''Literature/TheHauntingOfHillHouse'', both the book and the 1963 movie.
51	* Angela in ''The Good House''. She moves into her grandmother's haunted house, but people don't believe her suspicions of supernatural activity until it's too late...
52	* Former governess, apparently a normal, sweet young woman, whose neuroses bubble up to the surface as uncanny events pop up -- Vera Claythorne from ''Literature/AndThenThereWereNone'' fits this trope to a T, but subverted in that [[spoiler: she ''did'' deliberately cause the death of her charge, and she ends up snapping completely in the end.]]
53	* The unnamed narrator of ''Literature/TheYellowWallpaper'' keeps seeing movement in the wallpaper -- and this is supposed to be the result of her medical treatment. There is also a baby in the house (the narrator's own; it's implied she may suffer from post-partum depression) but the narrator isn't allowed to have anything to do with her care or raising; that wouldn't be "restful."
54	* Sara Crowe in ''[[Literature/TheRedTree2009 The Red Tree]]'' takes a lot of emotional baggage (and a seizure-inducing neurological disorder) with her when she moves into a farmhouse near the eponymous tree. How much this affects the goings on in the book is left for the reader to divine.
55	* ''Literature/{{Beloved}}'' by Creator/ToniMorrison: Sethe is haunted by the ghost of Beloved (the child she killed) and her tragic past, which is full of slavery, cruelty, murder, and rape.
56	* It certainly seems to be the case in ''Literature/TheDarkBeneathTheIce'', as the entity shows classic poltergeist behaviour, writes creepy threats in foggy mirrors, interferes with electronics, and even messes with a psychic reading when our hero seeks help from the tarot-reading mother of her new friend.
57	* Played straight with Alex, the main character in ''Literature/NinthHouse''.
58	* In ''Literature/TheLockedTomb'' Harrow has a lot of this. In the first book, she's troubled by the [[HumanSacrifice circumstances of her birth]], having committed a potentially apocalyptic blasphemy against her religion as a child, and causing of her parents' suicide, while exploring a haunted ruin as her companions are murdered. When she becomes the main character in the second book she adds hallucinations, repressed memories, [[spoiler: the spirit of her cavalier dwelling inside her, a separate ghost trying to possess her, and a third spirit that's been haunting her since childhood]], on an ancient space station where the corpse of a dead enemy seems curiously ambulatory. Her necromancy is focused on [[BadWithTheBone manipulating]] [[DemBones bone]] rather than spirits, so it's of less use than might be expected resolving this.
59	* Invoked and discussed in Creator/ManlyWadeWellman's short story "The Theatre Upstairs". The story focuses on a screening of a (fictional) film adaptation of Creator/GuyDeMaupassant's famous ghost story "The Horla", at a movie theatre that [[TheLittleShopThatWasntThereYesterday wasn't there yesterday]]. In this movie, the male protagonist of the original tale is [[GenderFlip swapped out for a heroine]].
60	-->...and it seemed to me at the time that this change heightened the atmosphere of helpless horror. [[Creator/RudolphValentino Valentino]] might have done something vigorous, either spiritual or physical, against de Maupassant's horla. Georgia Wattell, with her sorrowfully lovely face and frail little body, seemed inescapably foredoomed.
61	* ''Literature/NorthangerAbbey'': Lovingly parodied and subverted. When Catherine, a GothicHorror fangirl, arrives at the old and gothic Northanger Abbey, she hopes to be this trope. But not only does she come from a perfectly normal and loving upbringing, but every instance where she thinks she is being haunted turns out to be her imagination running away with her.
62	[[/folder]]
63
64	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
65	* In ''Series/TheHauntingOfBlyManor'', a more contemporary take on ''Literature/TheTurnOfTheScrew'', has the new au pair Dani being tormented by the ghosts of household staff Rebecca Jessel, Peter Quint, and [[spoiler: Hannah Grose]], as well as the Lady of the Lake, [[spoiler: the original owner of the manor]]. Dani is also haunted by a totally unrelated ghost, that of [[spoiler: her ex-fiance Eddie, who died in a freak hit-and-run the night she broke up with him]].
66	* The title character in ''The Haunting of Sarah Hardy'' has spent her life being haunted by the suicide of her mother. After she marries, the viewer learns that her husband and her supposed best friend have been {{gaslighting}} her in hopes that she'll kill herself and leave him to inherit her fortune. At some point, she figures out what's happening and turns the tables on him, but it still ends badly for her.
67	* Lydia on ''Series/TeenWolf''. Initially it seems that she is only being influenced by Peter Hale. But it becomes apparent that she can hear other ghosts as well, and that it is not a voluntary ability. [[spoiler: Lydia is actually a banshee, one who senses and heralds the death of others, whose latent heritage was triggered by a werewolf bite.]]
68	[[/folder]]
69
70	[[folder:Music]]
71	* Music/StarsCanadianBand: The female singer and implicit heroine of "Dead Hearts" describes what seems to be a ghostly encounter of "kids that [she] once knew", alluding to past pain they bring up.
72	-->'''Man:''' Did you touch them, did you hold them? / Did they follow you to town?\
73	'''Woman:''' They make me feel I'm falling down / They make me feel I'm falling down
74	[[/folder]]
75
76	[[folder: Theatre]]
77	* ''Theatre/{{Beetlejuice}}'': ZigZagged. Compared to the film, the musical adaptation centers more on Lydia Deetz, whose new house is haunted by Adam and Barbara (with appearances from Beetlejuice). While she is grieving the death of her mother and this drives a lot of her actions, she is also a goth who loves the strange and unusual, whose ghosts are more friendly and zany than spooky.
78	[[/folder]]
79
80	[[folder:Video Games]]
81	* ''VideoGame/HauntingGround'' centers around Fiona Belli, the 18-year-old heiress of Belli Castle... who has never heard of it and wants no part of it. And with good reason: as the title implies, it's haunted. On top of this, the MalevolentArchitecture and its inhabitants are all either [[EverythingTryingToKillYou trying to kill her]] or [[spoiler: rape her]], because of her Azoth. All Fiona wants is to go home. But to do so, she [[CanineCompanion and Hewie]] must survive the castle's dangers long enough to unravel its secrets and learn [[DarkSecret the unsettling truth about her family]].
82	* ''VideoGame/RuleOfRose'' is essentially a Haunted Heroine's BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind to resolve her issues and trauma-induced amnesia. Unusually for the trope, she obviously and unequivocally '''wins''', because you don't survive an airship crash and kidnapping and an OrphanageOfFear without having some degree of integrity.
83	[[/folder]]
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85	[[folder:Web Animation]]
86	* Kel, the protagonist of ''WebAnimation/CloverLoveHopeFaithAndLuck'', wakes up one day to find herself haunted by three spirits. In an unusual twist, the ghosts are explicitly trying to ''help'' her rather than terrorize her.
87	[[/folder]]
88
89	[[folder:Western Animation]]
90	* Lydia Deetz on ''WesternAnimation/{{Beetlejuice}}'' subverts this as she loves spooky things and the Ghost With the Most is her friend.
91	[[/folder]]

Context Main / HauntedHeroine