20 Scariest Female Horror Villains

Nicole Kidman as Grace Stewart (Image via Canal+)

19. Grace Stewart (The Others)

What if the villain didn’t known she was the villain until the last few minutes of her story?

Grace Stewart is, to all appearances, a mother of two young children grappling with the aftermath of World War II. The lonely widow moves to a remote house in the Channel Isles, just off the southern coast of England. Grace is isolated and tense, though it’s unclear whether this move is meant to soothe her nerves or agitate the general situation.

To make matters worse, her son and daughter suffer from a rare skin disease, xeroderma pigmentosum. Exposure to sunlight could eventually be deadly for young Anne and Nicholas. As a result, Grace takes extreme measures to shield them from the sunlight and thereby set an appropriately creepy atmosphere for the rest of the movie.

So, Grace, her children, and the few servants on the property are thoroughly isolated. Soon after the family’s arrival, they also begin experiencing strange occurrences within the house. Objects change places. Curtains are left open. People arrive and leave without warning, including Grace’s supposedly deceased husband. Both Anne and Nicholas begin to report that there are people inhabiting their house, though no one else can see these invaders.

Eventually, it becomes clear that the presences are not ghosts. In fact, they’re living people. Grace and her children are the actual specters. They’re apparently making life unbearable for the young family in their home. Grace soon remembers that, in the aftermath of World War II and wracked by despair over her husband’s death, she killed her children and then committed suicide. She and her children are consigned to the house for the foreseeable future.

The one bright side? Anne and Nicholas, no longer photosensitive, are now able to play in the sunlight. At least there’s one reward for being an unwitting villain.