So… how does an American couple end up adopting an adult from a mental hospital without deliberately seeking illegal adoption out?

In the film, the American couple find Esther in an American orphanage. No one who runs the orphanage knows much about her–just that she came from an orphanage in Russia (which, it’s eventually revealed, has no record of her ever being there), and that her last adoptive family died in a fire. It’s not a very realistic plotline, but then, it’s a horror movie.
.-= Tera´s last blog ..Rosemary =-.

It seems that it is implied that Esther’s intelligence and moral perceptions are “diminished” in parallel to her physical size

You know, I hadn’t thought of this before–but you’re right! Esther’s sense of right and wrong (such as it is) is based entirely on reward and punishment. Not only does she punish people who hurt her; she also works very hard to avoid getting caught. IOW, killing people is only wrong because unpleasant things will happen to her if people find out.

This sort of moral system isn’t at all unusual for fictional serial killers. But in Lawrence Kohlberg’s stages of morality development, a reward/punishment system is the first stage, and is appropriate in typically developing young children.

So Esther doesn’t just seem like a child physically: her sense of right and wrong is childlike as well.
.-= Tera´s last blog ..Rosemary =-.

I’ve read a murder mystery (I think it was an Agatha Raisin mystery) with the same twist: a man with the same disorder passing himself off as a child and killing people.

Shiva of Biodiverse Resistance pointed me to a short story/novella by Arthur Machen called “The Bright Boy,” about a creepy adult who looks like and pretends to be a child.

I’ve been watching an anime called Saki, which is about a high school mahjong club. The antagonist is a mahjong player from a rival school who a) is a demon, b) is 16 years old (a year older than several of the main characters) and c) appears/sounds like a little girl.

Her name is Koromo, and there’s constant punning off her name and the Japanese word “kodomo,” which according to the translation notes means “child.” Other characters also pick her up like a toy and squeal “kawaii!!” (“cuuuute!”) while she fights back. (“Not KoDOmo! KoROmo!” “I’m 16!” “Put me down!”) It’s supposed to be a running gag, but just disturbs the hell out of me.
.-= Tera´s last blog ..Rosemary =-.