Baba Yaga: Terror of the Dark Forest

Although the mythological Baba Yaga kidnaps and eats children and seems to go hunting for them throughout the day for her evening meal, she also serves as a catalyst for change. There are a number of tales in which she acts as an agent of transformation, helping the heroine or hero toward self-actualization and the completion of a quest. In this form, Baba Yaga is probably best known from the story Vasilissa the Beautiful in which she inadvertently frees the heroine from the tyranny of her stepmother and stepsisters. And even in the movie, is throughout her terror that the children get noticed, loved and missed by their parents/guardians.

Referenced in Close-Up: How Horror Works (2024)