Scary teachers. They’re a staple of children’s literature, and it’s not hard to guess why. Outside of parents and guardians, teachers are the biggest authority figures in young children’s lives; they control the entire school day, and alongside imparting knowledge, their jobs involve discipline, giving out punishments, and, often, stopping kids doing what they really want to do.
Of course, many teachers do these things with kindness, fairness, and compassion for the children they look after – but we’ve all had that one terrifying teacher who just really, really seemed to hate kids, and wasn’t afraid to show it. Add to this the fact that many classic children’s books were written by authors who went to school during the age of corporal punishment—Roald Dahl being a famous example—and it’s easy to see why so many stories feature frightening teachers who exist solely to scare the children in their care.
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In this list, we have some of the scariest teachers in children’s literature, from classic books to modern fiction. These evil educators include teachers who physically or psychologically terrorise their students, magical or supernatural creatures who use their powers to scare children into good behaviour, and master manipulators who see their authority over students as just the first step on the path to ultimate power.
A quick warning to readers: this list contains some spoilers, particularly for the books Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun and The Vanquishers. Read on at your own peril!
Miss Trunchbull from Matilda by Roald Dahl
As skilled at psychological and physical torture as she is at hammer-throwing, Crunchem Hall headmistress Miss Trunchbull is the quintessential scary fictional teacher. Whether she’s throwing her pupils into the Chokey or force-feeding them cake in an ironic punishment, Miss Trunchbull spends her life terrifying the children around her—and the adults, too. This is, perhaps, the most frightening thing about Miss Trunchbull: that the children she terrorises can’t turn to any adults to stop her, because they either won’t believe the cartoonishly evil things she does, or she’s already cowed them into submission. As it turns out, the only way to take her down is to confront her with her own past—and a little bit of magic.
Miss Hardbroom from The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy
Deputy headmistress at Miss Cackle’s Academy for Witches, Miss Hardbroom is the polar opposite of sweet, soft, affable headmistress Miss Cackle. Miss Hardbroom is spiky, rigid, strict, and terrifying, often appearing out of thin air when Mildred Hubble and her friends have got into trouble, and constantly pointing out Mildred’s every mistake. Miss Hardbroom embodies the most intimidating, authoritarian side of school, and her presence looms throughout the stories.
Mr. Jason from Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman
Mr. Jason, Callum and Sephy’s teacher who appears in the first Noughts and Crosses novel, is scary for a different reason than Miss Trunchbull and Miss Hardbroom—not because he’s an example of cartoonish or exaggerated evil, but because he’s so close to reality. In a pivotal scene, Mr. Jason humiliates Callum, the only Nought in the class, by listing prominent historical figures who are all Crosses, arguing that Noughts made no contribution to history or culture. Rather than protecting and including his marginalised students, Mr. Jason uses his classroom to amplify his own bigotry, something that many prejudiced teachers in the real world have done.
The Demon Headmaster from The Demon Headmaster series by Gillian Cross
The Headmaster should not be on this list. The Headmaster is a marvellous man, and his school is the best school I’ve ever been to.
Shaking off the hypnotism for a moment, the unnamed Demon Headmaster from Gillian Cross’s long-running series is one of the more terrifying figures in middle grade fiction. Whether he’s using his mesmeric powers to turn schoolchildren into compliant drones or attempting to take over the government, the Headmaster is sinister, powerful, and often seems to be unstoppable. Adults can’t help; he’ll just hypnotise them, the same way he does his pupils. The only people who can stop him are the few children who are resistant to his powers—if anyone believes them.
Dearborn, Murgatroyd, and Rosenfeld from the Nevermoor series by Jessica Townsend
Young magical students get three terrifying teachers for the price of one in the Nevermoor series, centering around Wundersmith Morrigan Crow and her friends as they learn to control their talents. Dearborn, Murgatroyd, and Rosenfeld are Scholar Mistresses, in charge of the curricula of new students at the Wundrous Society—and they share a body. New students aren’t warned about this in advance, and witnessing Dearborn transforming into Murgatroyd and, later to Rosenfeld, can come as quite a shock. On top of their unusual situation, the Scholar Mistresses can be pretty scary as individuals: Murgatroyd in particular, with her affinity for magic and her frightening demeanour, is not someone you want to get on the wrong side of.
Dr. Dòyìnbó from the Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun series by Tọlá Okogwu
For most of Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun, Dr. Dòyìnbó, head of the Academy, seems like the perfect teacher: kind, wise, and always happy to help and support his students as they learn to use their ike, or superhuman powers. Unfortunately for Onyeka and her fellow students, this is all a front; Dr. Dòyìnbó is actually using his students as both human experiments and a private army, training them up so that he can gain ultimate power and control. Onyeka and her friends rebel against Dòyìnbó’s plan, joining forces with other renegades to try to bring him down. But Dòyìnbó’s influence, and his ability to manipulate so many people, make him a truly frightening figure.
Mr. Rupert from The Vanquishers series by Kalynn Bayron
Mr. Rupert is a slight swerve from the other teachers on this list: frightening though he is, he’s actually a good guy. A counsellor at the school attended by main character Boog and her friends, Mr Rupert behaves suspiciously when new student Aaron disappears, and Boog believes he might be something to do with vampires, an ancient threat that she feels sure has returned. Fortunately, Mr Rupert isn’t involved with the vampires; but he’s still strict, intimidating, and not a person the children want to cross.
Looking for some more creepy characters in kidlit? Try these children’s books with complex monster characters, or these scary books that doomed millennials as kids.
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