Margaret Shelburne is known as "The Dire Mother" in the film Thirteen Ghosts.
The Dire Mother is the ghost of Margaret Shelburne, a shy woman who rose to only a mere three feet in height. She was constantly stared at for her small size but Margaret didn’t care as long as she found some form of acceptance. A carnival barker named Jimbo placed her on display in his freak show. One night, she was raped by a carnival freak called The Tall Man.
Her son, Harold, the Great Child, was born as a result, and eventually weighed over 300 pounds. Since infancy, Margaret spoiled Harold, so he remained in diapers his entire life. The two became very close and protective of each other.
One day, some circus workers decided to play a cruel joke on Harold by kidnapping his mother. He found that she had died of suffocation in the sack she was kept in. Filled with anger, Harold violently chopped the workers to death with an axe, and placed their remains on display for paying customers to see. When Jimbo found out what Harold had done, he ordered an angry mob to rip and tear Harold apart.
Their ghosts are always together and the Great Child still holds his axe.