Obsession in Horror: The Female Stalker

JC Bratton's Things That Go Bump in the Night

When we think of stalkers, the typical image is a male hooded figure lurking in the dark. We think of fictional characters like Michael Myers in Halloween or real life creepers such as John Hinckley Jr., who attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan to gain the attention of actress Jodie Foster. Believe it or not, though, it’s not just the males that can “go a little mad sometimes.” Stalking by women is not that uncommon. Community-based studies of stalking victimization indicate that women are identified as perpetrators in 12%–13% of cases.

Researchers Meloy and Boyd (2003) were able to classify female stalkers into four distinct groups:

1. The Rejected Stalker — stalking follows the end of a relationship
2. The Intimacy Seeking Stalker — stalking based on a desire for intimacy
3. The Incompetent Stalker — stalking with lack of social skills; stalker feels entitled to a relationship
4. The Resentful Stalker — stalking meant to frighten victims

Obsession plays a large part in horror, and some of the scariest stalkers in the history of the genre are female. All four of these “stalker groups” have been represented in horror literature and film. Let’s take a deeper look.