Last year, I started a graphic and fanmix series on my tumblr titled The Teenage Gaze Series, with a horror themed one for Halloween called Hell Is a Teenage Girl. They were extremely well-received so I thought I would finally get around to writing a piece on it this Halloween as part of my female-driven horror cinema series.

"A girl can only be a slut, a bitch, a tease, or the virgin next door." - Ginger Snaps

Teenage girlhood is almost like a cult. Only the ones who have been through it understand how hellish it can be. It is a world on its own that is so vastly complex and different from the male experience, and frankly, make for more compelling stories.

Cinema has long tried to explore these secret, dark parts of teenage girlhood. Astute directors and writers have realized that it is a breeding ground for horror stories. The teenage girl sees everything and feels everything with such intensity. Everything burns.So turning these experiences into a fantastical, heightened story is only natural.

Teenage girls are also particularly misunderstood and marginalized group.The media treats her with disdain. Her interests are frivolous and unimportant. She is sexualized and fetishized for her innocence and budding sexuality. Her moodiness and angst is a way of attention seeking. Meanwhile, schools all over the world still continue to study Holden Caulfield's dribble and see his white upper middle class angst as "complex".