The Spanish-language title of the 1984 horror flick Children of the Corn is Los Chicos del Maíz . It’s an acceptable translation, as the titular characters are tots and adolescents, but chicos is too playful a word. The better translation is Hijos del Maíz . The phrase more accurately captures the terror of a maize demon–worshipping cult of minors who murder the adults in their small farming community in Nebraska. In the eighties, farmers and Big Ag had fully embraced genetic modifications and pesticides, making the film a uniquely American reflection of the times.

But there is a more wholesome corn myth. In Mesoamerican lore, deities created humans from corn, and Mexicans were the first to domesticate the grain. These are the true children of the corn—as is on full display at Mid

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