the character katy is initially hired to babysit, though it turns out that there is no baby. previous horror films, including "when a stranger calls", have made use of a babysitter as a plot device, and an urban legend involves a babysitter downstairs with a threat upstairs. both the viewer and the babysitter learn about the environment together, with both beginning in a position of ignorance. for pemberton, the device works because the character has been moved from a safe environment into the unknown. in "the harrowing", he suggests, it is obvious that there is something in the bedroom. the writers experimented with different endings, in an attempt to make the bedroom's contents interesting and genuinely scary.