Telling Scary Stories

Most of the tales of horror and fright we tell the children in our care are, we believe, metaphors for things we want them to learn and absorb.

Boogiemen under the bed aren't real, but we use the concept to discourage the child walking around in the dark and night. Trolls were about racial groups in the past, now about strangers. The Tooth Fairy is about capitalism, and so on.

But actually, we've forgotten the real reason, it's to ensure generations are prepared of those creatures might one day return.

Except trolls, that's just been racism from the get go.