History Main / HauntedHeroine

[[folder: Theatre]]
* ''Theatre/{{Beetlejuice}}'': ZigZagged. Compared to the film, the musical adaptation centers more on Lydia Deetz, whose new house is haunted by Adam and Barbara (with appearances from Beetlejuice). While she is grieving the death of her mother and this drives a lot of her actions, she is also a goth who loves the strange and unusual, whose ghosts are more friendly and zany than spooky.
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* ''VideoGame/HauntingGround'' centers around Fiona Belli, the 18-year-old heiress of Belli Castle... who has never heard of it and wants no part of it. And with good reason: as the title implies, it's haunted. On top of this, the MalevolentArchitecture and its inhabitants are all either [[EverythingTryingToKillYou trying to kill her]] or [[spoiler: rape her]], because of her Azoth. All Fiona wants is to go home. But to do so, she [[CanineCompanion and Hewie]] must survive the castle's dangers long enough to unravel its secrets and learn [[DarkSecret the unsettling truth about her family.]]

%%* [[DistaffCounterpart A male example]]; Link in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' manages to be haunted by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ6jisr1Nlk&index=1&list=PLSQLREUw9vwlh8bzgvZCt_WS8615trN5H&t=3m32s The King of Hyrule]] as well as all his friends who died in the past, they seem remarkably understanding considering that it was Link's job to defeat Ganon; most vengeful spirits aren't so forgiving.%%Not really an example of this trope. Breath of the Wild is not a Gothic story%%

A staple of GothicHorror. Compare and contrast with SupernaturalProofFather. See also HauntedHouseHistorian, who typically warns the Haunted Heroine and gets ignored for their trouble.

* [[DistaffCounterpart A male example]]; Link in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' manages to be haunted by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ6jisr1Nlk&index=1&list=PLSQLREUw9vwlh8bzgvZCt_WS8615trN5H&t=3m32s The King of Hyrule]] as well as all his friends who died in the past, they seem remarkably understanding considering that it was Link's job to defeat Ganon; most vengeful spirits aren't so forgiving.

* Invoked and discussed in Creator/ManlyWadeWellman's short story "The Theatre Upstairs". The story focuses on a screening of a (fictional) film adaptation of Creator/GuyDeMaupassant's famous ghost story "The Horla", at a movie theatre that [[TheLittleShopThatWasntThereYesterday wasn't there yesterday]]. In this movie, the male protagonist of the original tale [[GenderFlip swapped out for a heroine]].

* Lydia on ''Series/TeenWolf''. Initially it seems that she is only being influenced by Peter Hale. But lately it has become apparent that she can hear other ghosts as well, and that it is not a voluntary ability.

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Compare and contrast with SupernaturalProofFather. See also HauntedHouseHistorian, who typically warns the Haunted Heroine and gets ignored for their trouble.

* ''Film/{{House}}'' is a comedy-horror movie with Creator/WilliamKatt as a male version of this trope, trying to rescue his son who disappeared in the house of the title. There was some implication that it was all in his head (although it turned out that it wasn't), and it all centred around trauma in his past (specifically, UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar).

* Invoked and discussed in Creator/ManlyWadeWellman's short story "The Theatre Upstairs". The story focuses on a screening of a (fictional) film adaptation of Creator/GuyDeMaupassant's famous ghost story "The Horla", with the male protagonist of the original tale [[GenderFlip swapped out for a heroine]].

This character continually pops up in films involving ghosts or supernatural characters. She moves into HauntedHeadquarters without any idea of what's in store for her. She seems attractive, capable and altogether normal until...the strange noises from the attic keep waking her up. Or that CreepyHousekeeper keeps making [[ArcWords cryptic comments]]. Or her kid starts going on about some ImaginaryFriend who [[NotSoImaginaryFriend might not be so imaginary after all]]. The Haunted Heroine typically comes equipped with a kid (or younger sibling) that is inevitably the first one to notice the supernatural goings-on, possibly because kids are supposed to have more imagination. It won't take long however, before the woman realizes she's being haunted.

* Laura from ''Film/TheOrphanage''. She grew up in the eponymous orphanage, and must figure out what happened there when she was a kid in order to rescue her missing son, whose [[NotSoImaginaryFriend imaginary friend might be real after all]].

* Downplayed in ''Film/TheShining'', where Wendy is much less impacted by the [[HellHotel Overlook Hotel]] than her husband and son, both of whom seem to be losing their minds. Only in the film's finale does Wendy start to see the a few of the ghosts that [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane may or may not]] be haunting the hotel.

* It certainly seems to be the case in ''Literature/TheDarkBeneathTheIce'', as the entity shows classic poltergeist behaviour, writes creepy threats in foggy mirrors, interferes with electronics and even messes with a psychic reading when our hero seeks help from the tarot-reading mother of her new friend.

* In ''Literature/TheLockedTomb'' Harrow has a lot of this. In the first book she's troubled by the [[HumanSacrifice circumstances of her birth]], having committed a potentially apocalyptic blasphemy against her religion as a child, and causing of her parents' suicide, while exploring a haunted ruin as her companions are murdered. When she becomes the main character in the second book she adds hallucinations, repressed memories, [[spoiler: the spirit of her cavalier dwelling inside her, a separate ghost trying to possess her, and a third spirit that's been haunting her since childhood]], on an ancient space station where the corpse of a dead enemy seems curiously ambulatory. Her necromancy is focused on [[BadWithTheBone manipulating]] [[DemBones bone]] rather than spirits, so it's of less use than might be expected resolving this.

* Grace from ''Film/TheOthers'': Subverted with a twist: [[spoiler:the haunted heroine and her children ''are'' [[TomatoInTheMirror the ghosts]]]].

* The title character in ''The Haunting of Sarah Hardy'' has spent her life being haunted by the suicide of her mother. After she marries, the viewer learns that her husband and her supposed best friend have been {{gaslighting}} her in hopes that she'll kill herself and leave him to inherit her fortune. At some point, she figures out what's happening and turns the tables on him, but it still ends badly for her.