Guillermo del Toro reigns supreme in horror, and his upcoming film “Frankenstein” is set to be another masterpiece in his collection. The man who has brought us horror classics like “Pan’s Labyrinth” and “The Shape of Water” has always loved the spooky world. However, that love for the macabre wasn’t appreciated by his great aunt, whom he calls his grandmother.

Del Toro’s entire life seemed to have prepared him to become the King of Espooky. His mother nurtured his fascination with horror and monsters when she was around. He was never afraid of monsters under the bed but it turned out his grandmother was the monster.

Guillermo del Toro knows spooky and his upbringing is answering a lot of question

The horror genius was raised largely by his maternal great aunt, whom he calls his grandmother. Growing up, his father was a car dealer, and his mother was a poet, artist, and homemaker. For fun, del Toro’s mother dabbled in tarot and the occult. Her own connection to the macabre gave him space to explore and discover his own relationship with his favorite genre of story.

While his parents were attentive at the beginning, his father won the lottery, and soon his parents were seldom around. Instead, they spent much of their time traveling and spending extended amounts of time in Mexico City. This is when Guillermo del Toro started to live with his grandmother.

The horror visionary has always been interested in all things that go bump in the night. As a child, he embraced the scary stories that he encountered. But his grandmother was not going to sit quietly by.

Del Toro experienced attempted exorcisms and mortification

According to interviews and his own recollections, his grandmother tried to save his soul. She tried to do this in multiple ways. She was a devout Catholic who wanted to use her faith to heal del Toro from what she thought was a demonic force.

One thing she did to save his soul was body mortification. The practice is used by religious extremists to feel closer to God. Body mortification is the practice of self-inflicted injuries to the flesh to overcome sinful impulses. In an interview in 2019, del Toro opened up about his grandmother’s treatment.

“She used to put upside [down] bottle caps on my shoes for my feet to bleed,” del Toro said during a Visitations podcast. “And I was a child, a little child. And she would say this would amortize your time in purgatory. So you get a sense of spiritual danger at all times.”

She also attempted to exorcize him using holy water. She apparently cornered him twice and began to throw holy water on him, attempting to save him from the evil he was interested in.

The facts from his childhood explain everything

Religious trauma has a way of manifesting into art. The famed horror director is no different. His work is filled with religious undertones influenced by his upbringing. Catholicism is evident in his movies, and it is usually a burning critique.

The Pale Man in “Pan’s Labyrinth” is a strong example of how Guillermo del Toro weaves in religious commentary. The Pale Man stands as a reminder of Catholicism and fascism during the Franco regime in Spain. The one character is a commentary on how the two worked together during that time in history to hurt the innocent.

Understanding more about what del Toro experienced in his childhood really makes a lot of sense. He has created some of the most hauntingly beautiful creatures and stories. He loves these creatures because he sees them not as monsters, but beings with stories worth telling.

Del Toro never feared them because he understood what created them. Through his own experience, he has been able to dive deep into his mind and create a world that so many understand.

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