The Dire Mother is the ghost of Margaret Shelburn, a woman whose diminutive height constantly attracted stares from others. She joined a carnival freak show, but was raped by one of the other members and gave birth to a son, Harold (The Great Child). Carnival workers kidnapped Margaret as a prank, but she suffocated to death by the time her son Harold found her. The first twelve of the thirteen ghosts that make up the fictional "Black Zodiac" each have their own unique background stories. Although these stories were not described in the film, the production and make-up teams explain their guidelines on the DVD special feature "Ghost Files" which Cyrus narrates each ghost's back story. This is a carnival ticket and souvenir paper that was used in the back story within the “Ghost Files”. The Carnival Ticket for the freakshow has the Margaret’s name along with the following text: “This ticket hearby allows you to view the traveling freakshow exhibit featuring the grotesque miniature woman to your pleasure. Please be our guest. Martin Behrman, Mayor” while the other souvenir paper has the letters “PPP” with writting along the bottom with the date of the show being February 12, 1698.
