Wes Craven's 1991 horror film The People Under the Stairs is perhaps most notable for its protagonist being a working-class Black child named Fool (Brandon Adams). This was a rare sight in an R-rated studio horror film, but in a promotional interview in Cinefantastique, Craven positioned this intersection of youth, social marginalization, and horror as an obvious match:

Over thirty years later, this statement seems prescient of how American horror would develop to be more inclusive of marginalized filmmakers, characters, and audiences. Black horror films—made primarily by, for, and about Black Americans—have existed for decades. However, Get Out's (Jordan Peele, 2017) capturing of the zeitgeist triggered a surge of interest and production of Black horror in American popular culture that resonates with a socio-political climate which continues to be characterized by racial injustice and inequality. Horror specifically for children has also become increasingly mainstream, with the Goosebumps and Monster High transmedia franchises, and films like ParaNorman (Chris Butler, Sam Fell, 2012). As Craven alludes to, Black horror and children's horror both focus on characters and cater to audiences who occupy marginalized positions in society. They are both also the subjects of growing areas of scholarship. It would seem obvious, then, that these categories would be rife for cross-over in child-friendly horror films that center the experiences of Black children navigating a myriad of horrific experiences, from puberty to racism.

Nonetheless, US children's horror films focus almost exclusively on white children, who are also usually male and from affluent suburban locations—for instance Gremlins (Joe Dante, 1984), The Monster Squad (Fred Dekker, 1987), The Gate (Tibor Takács, 1987), Hocus Pocus (Kenny Ortega, 1993), Monster House (Gil Kenan, 2006), and The Hole (Joe Dante, 2009), to name a few.