# Those missing kids aren't dead, they're... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 24, 2015, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-missing-kids-arent-dead-theyre/732438 "2015-09-24T22:59:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2015, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-missing-kids-arent-dead-theyre/732438/1 "2015-09-24T22:59:14Z")
I watched a trailer this morning that reminded me that I’ve watched a few movies with the premise that a character’s missing and presumed child was instead [fill in blank here]. So for fun, can we list some movies, shows, and/or books that have that basic theme: missing children aren’t actually dead, they’re, um, something else. Genre doesn’t really matter, though it seems more likely a plot in scifi and horror. Spoiler boxes, please, if you want to explain what they are other than dead. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2015, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-missing-kids-arent-dead-theyre/732438/2 "2015-09-24T23:02:38Z")
Here are a couple to start with. **The Forgotten** The kids aren’t dead, they’ve been kidnapped by aliens who are testing the adults to see how much trauma they can handle before they convince themselves that the kids are dead rather than missing **The Tall Man** The kids aren’t dead, they’ve been kidnapped by a couple who has been giving them to other families because they think their real parents are unfit ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2015, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-missing-kids-arent-dead-theyre/732438/3 "2015-09-24T23:42:10Z")
I stopped watching _The X-Files_ several seasons before it actually ended, but a while back it occurred to me to wonder if they ever explained what really happened to Mulder’s sister. He’d believed for years that he’d witnessed her being abducted by aliens, but there was plenty of room to doubt whether this was really true. She might have been kidnapped and murdered by a serial killer, handed over to the government for secret experiments, etc. I checked [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samantha_Mulder) and found out that the mystery had been resolved, in a surprisingly stupid manner. [spoiler]Samantha Mulder had basically been handed over to the aliens by the Cigarette Smoking Man for use in alien experiments, although that’s not the dumb part. The aliens finished with her and brought her back, and she was taken away by the government for secret experiments. She managed to escape and wound up in a mental hospital, where she remained until supernatural beings called “Walk-Ins” \*like the closet) took pity on her and turned her into magical starlight. Seriously.[/spoiler]Since I didn’t see the episode(s) in question then for all I know they managed to tell this idiotic-sounding story in a satisfying manner, but I kind of doubt it. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2015, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-missing-kids-arent-dead-theyre/732438/4 "2015-09-24T23:46:25Z")
Peter Pan? ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2015, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-missing-kids-arent-dead-theyre/732438/5 "2015-09-24T23:58:18Z")
Jumanji. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-missing-kids-arent-dead-theyre/732438/6 "2015-09-25T00:03:35Z")
Subverted in The Others The kids aren’t sick they’re dead ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-missing-kids-arent-dead-theyre/732438/7 "2015-09-25T00:13:51Z")
I don’t think I need to spoiler this because it isn’t a mystery on the show. In The Strain, the missing kids (that no one is looking for because they were blind orphans–yep the show lays it on thick) are now Vampire Spider Monsters. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-missing-kids-arent-dead-theyre/732438/8 "2015-09-25T00:17:44Z")
SW:TOR: … kidnapped and brainwashed into becoming a psycho killer in a rebellion (not _THE_ Rebellion, _a_ rebellion). Serenity: actually, see above. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-missing-kids-arent-dead-theyre/732438/9 "2015-09-25T00:24:16Z")
**Sinister** and **Sinister 2** The missing children from each murdered family end up (after having murdered said family) as undead slaves of an ancient Babylonian demon who’s also slowly devouring their souls and using them to recruit more children. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-missing-kids-arent-dead-theyre/732438/10 "2015-09-25T03:55:06Z")
The Deep End of the Ocean. That was one of the worst books I ever finished. I figured out all the plot twists 50 pages before they happened. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-missing-kids-arent-dead-theyre/732438/11 "2015-09-25T04:19:19Z")
Huh. I wonder if the OP has hit upon a trope that doesn’t have its own TV Tropes page yet. At least not one that I could find (correct me if there is one). I suppose Peter Pan should be the trope namer. I guess the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin kinda-sorta fits. The rat-catching piper lures away the children as he had done with the rats. The way I’ve heard it explained, he’s meant to be symbolic of death, in a time of high child mortality. How about _The City of Lost Children_? I haven’t seen it in yonks, so I don’t remember if anyone presumes that the children are dead, but in any case, they are actually being kidnapped by a mad scientist, who wants to steal their dreams. Maybe this kind of shades into some zombie-type stories, too. _Les Revenants_ comes to mind, where people, notably a teenage girl, are [spoiler]well, OK, dead. But they get better. At least for a while. I suppose it’s not the same thing, but the aforementioned teen returning to her family has a lot of the “we wish our kid wasn’t actually dead” motive about it.[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-missing-kids-arent-dead-theyre/732438/12 "2015-09-25T04:35:39Z")
_The Last Starfighter_ Kid goes off with aliens to fight a war. Leaves a gross synthetic replacement on Earth. Synthetic replacement is discovered to not be the real guy, and hijinks ensue. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-missing-kids-arent-dead-theyre/732438/13 "2015-09-25T06:31:48Z")
\*Flight of the Navigator \* A 12 year-old boy disappears for 8 years and then returns without having aged. He was abducted by aliens. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-missing-kids-arent-dead-theyre/732438/14 "2015-09-25T13:08:01Z")
Peter Pan and all of it’s spin offs with the “Lost Boys.” Also, Little Big Man with Dustin Hoffman. He kept getting lost and being presumed dead. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-missing-kids-arent-dead-theyre/732438/15 "2015-09-25T13:48:11Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > I stopped watching _The X-Files_ several seasons before it actually ended, but a while back it occurred to me to wonder if they ever explained what really happened to Mulder’s sister. He’d believed for years that he’d witnessed her being abducted by aliens, but there was plenty of room to doubt whether this was really true. She might have been kidnapped and murdered by a serial killer, handed over to the government for secret experiments, etc. > > I checked [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samantha_Mulder) and found out that the mystery had been resolved, in a surprisingly stupid manner. [spoiler]Samantha Mulder had basically been handed over to the aliens by the Cigarette Smoking Man for use in alien experiments, although that’s not the dumb part. > > The aliens finished with her and brought her back, and she was taken away by the government for secret experiments. She managed to escape and wound up in a mental hospital, where she remained until supernatural beings called “Walk-Ins” \*like the closet) took pity on her and turned her into magical starlight. > > Seriously.[/spoiler]Since I didn’t see the episode(s) in question then for all I know they managed to tell this idiotic-sounding story in a satisfying manner, but I kind of doubt it. I wish that had been the crux of the show. Have Mulder find his sister still young (somehow) and alive and let them walk off into the sunset. Don’t want to cancel the show? Give Scully half a season struggling to come to grips with a Mulder-less universe, and bring Mulder back cause now that he’s “won” he finds his life hollow. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-missing-kids-arent-dead-theyre/732438/16 "2015-09-25T15:37:17Z")
> [@Eliahna](#): > > Jumanji. Eh, that one’s bit complicated, since in the end… It turns out the game takes place entirely in the mind of the player. Presumably, anybody who looked in on Alan would just think he was really engrossed in the game. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-missing-kids-arent-dead-theyre/732438/17 "2015-09-25T16:40:07Z")
Not the premise, but a major plot point in **12 Monkeys** was the kid they thought fell down a well but was actually hiding out in a nearby barn the whole time. It’s how the guy from the future proves to the woman from the present (1996) that he’s from the future. That, and a fresh WWI bullet wound in his leg. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-missing-kids-arent-dead-theyre/732438/18 "2015-09-25T18:11:18Z")
Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. Not dead, just runaways. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-missing-kids-arent-dead-theyre/732438/19 "2015-09-25T18:12:09Z")
_The Borribles_ The kids aren’t dead, they’ve run away and become Borribles, pointy-eared adventurers and scavengers who remain ageless unless they’re caught and their ears are cropped. Sort of grungy, cynical urban Lost Boys. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-missing-kids-arent-dead-theyre/732438/20 "2015-09-25T18:25:31Z")
**Honey I Shrunk the Kids**. Forgot about that one. Not dead, just shrunk. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-missing-kids-arent-dead-theyre/732438.md?page=2)