# Monsters in the Closet: Fiction that supposes they're real **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 13, 2004, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monsters-in-the-closet-fiction-that-supposes-theyre-real/239779 "2004-04-13T14:17:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monsters-in-the-closet-fiction-that-supposes-theyre-real/239779/1 "2004-04-13T14:17:05Z")
As we all know, little kids often fear that there are monsters in the closet or under the bed. What fictional works explore the idea that these monsters really do exist? This thread was inspired by a really funny commercial selling some sort of camera/cellphone. This adult guy was excited that he could _finally_ get some evidence that there really was a monster in the closet. The funny part was that the monster was so darn blase. He’s standing there in a bathrobe holding a cup of tea, and obviously doesn’t want to be bothered. When the guy goes to take the photo, the monster utters a halfhearted “arrrgh.” Cracks me up every time. Another rather obvious example is the movie _Monsters, Inc._, which posits that there is a whole monster world out there. The monsters can access human childrens’ closets. They jump out, causing the child to scream, and the monster world then uses the screams as a power source. _Calvin and Hobbes_ depicted monsters under the bed, but whether you count them as “real” or not depends on your interpretation of the strip as a whole. If you see Calvin’s world (the one where Hobbes is alive) as the real world, albeit a real world that only Calvin can see, then the monsters would be real. If you see Calvin’s world as a product of his imagination, then the monsters would be imaginary. So, what else is out there? ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monsters-in-the-closet-fiction-that-supposes-theyre-real/239779/2 "2004-04-13T14:33:23Z")
Piers Anthony’s Xanth series has monsters under the bed (consisting of disembodied hands IIRC) which children can encounter but adults can’t. They make at least one non bed appearance battling a realm-threatening menace. No idea if he has monsters in Xanthian closets but there’s been some pretty rampant speculation the Anthony has some skeletons in his. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monsters-in-the-closet-fiction-that-supposes-theyre-real/239779/3 "2004-04-13T14:40:29Z")
There’s a wonderful children’s book called _There’s a Nightmare in My Closet._ Um, that’s about a close as I can get. ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monsters-in-the-closet-fiction-that-supposes-theyre-real/239779/4 "2004-04-13T14:49:17Z")
Stephen King wrote a short story (called, I believe, _The Boogeyman_ – what are the odds) about a man who has become convinced that the Boogeyman killed his children and ruined his marriage. In the comic strip _Bloom County_, Binkley had a variety of monsters in his closet – ranging from a green, purple-horned monster to Opus looking for the bathroom. There was an episode of, I think, the new _Twilight Zone_ series (back in the 80s) about a boogeyman that lived under a little boy’s bed. The kid is freaked out when the boogeyman first rises from the shadows, but the boogeyman tells him (in a wonderfully hissing voice) that because he lives under the boy’s bed, he can’t hurt the boy. All other children are fair game. So the kid begins to enjoy all the terror and fear that strikes the small community where he lives as children begin to disappear every night. He knows he’s safe. One day at school, a bully is picking on the boy, so the boy challenges the bully to a fight on the school playground – at night. The bully reluctantly agrees. When the two meet on the playground that night, the boogeyman shows up and the bully runs away, screaming. The boy is enjoying this until the boogeyman grabs him by the throat and lifts him up. The boy, struggling, says “You can’t hurt me! You’re my boogeyman!” And the boogeyman says, “No. I’m a different boogeyman. I live under a different boy’s bed.” And the scene fades to black. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monsters-in-the-closet-fiction-that-supposes-theyre-real/239779/5 "2004-04-13T14:52:32Z")
The Fred Savage movie Little Monsters was about a society of monsters whose…country…city…world…something… Anyway, it was connected to the normal world by portals under kids beds, which would only open at night. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monsters-in-the-closet-fiction-that-supposes-theyre-real/239779/6 "2004-04-13T15:36:11Z")
> [@](#): > > There was an episode of, I think, the new Twilight Zone series (back in the 80s) about a boogeyman that lived under a little boy’s bed. That episode freaked the living sh\*t out of me when I was a kid! Thanks a lot, **Sauron**. Now I can enjoy the terror all over again. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monsters-in-the-closet-fiction-that-supposes-theyre-real/239779/7 "2004-04-13T15:46:25Z")
Neil Gaiman’s “The Wolves in the Walls” might qualify. As might “Where the Wild Things Are.” Then there’s the tree in the movie “Poltergeist”. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monsters-in-the-closet-fiction-that-supposes-theyre-real/239779/8 "2004-04-13T15:49:15Z")
> [@Sauron](#): > > There was an episode of, I think, the new _Twilight Zone_ series (back in the 80s) about a boogeyman that lived under a little boy’s bed. That was the “Shadowman”. Wonderful voice! ---
**Author:** ![Darkhold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@Darkhold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darkhold)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monsters-in-the-closet-fiction-that-supposes-theyre-real/239779/9 "2004-04-13T15:55:46Z")
There was a **Tales from the Darkside** where a kid had a monster under his bed, a saw blade coming out of the wall, a monster in his closet and a witch in the bathroom (suck to live in that house). The upside is though they terrorised him they killed his cruel stepfather. The last shot is the boy going into his room with a sign on his door “Warring:Monsters inside” (or some such) ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monsters-in-the-closet-fiction-that-supposes-theyre-real/239779/10 "2004-04-13T16:01:54Z")
Boogeymen make frequent appearances in Discworld books, particularly those featuring Death’s granddaughter Susan, who has been a governess and a teacher when she’s not busy saving the universe. I’m particularly fond of one of the ways she uses to foil a boogeyman: If you put the blankets over your head, monsters don’t exist. Therefore, if you put the blanket over their head, they think they don’t exist. It’s especially effective if there are fuzzy bunnies on the blanket, of course. ---
**Author:** ![belladonna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@belladonna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/belladonna)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monsters-in-the-closet-fiction-that-supposes-theyre-real/239779/11 "2004-04-13T16:23:32Z")
> [@Sauron](#): > > Stephen King wrote a short story (called, I believe, _The Boogeyman_ – what are the odds) about a man who has become convinced that the Boogeyman killed his children and ruined his marriage. Better than that, in the end he knowingly sacrifices his child to the boogey in order to save himself. Or was \*he \* the boogeyman all along? Delightfully disturbing, one of my fave SK short stories! ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monsters-in-the-closet-fiction-that-supposes-theyre-real/239779/12 "2004-04-13T16:24:48Z")
My present house has a hatch to the crawlspace in one of the bedroom closets. How cool is that?! :eek: Crrrrrrrreeeeak. ---
**Author:** ![Papermache\_Prince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@Papermache\_Prince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Papermache_Prince)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monsters-in-the-closet-fiction-that-supposes-theyre-real/239779/13 "2004-04-13T16:39:16Z")
In the John Collier story, _Thus I Refute Beelzy_, Mr. Carter has come home from work early and decided that his son, Simon, shall be taught that his imaginary friend Mr. Beelzy does not exist. The story’s last line is “It was on the second-floor landing that they found the shoe, with the man’s foot still in it, much like that last morsel of a mouse which sometimes falls unnoticed from the side of the jaws of the cat.”. ---
**Author:** ![Papermache\_Prince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@Papermache\_Prince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Papermache_Prince)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monsters-in-the-closet-fiction-that-supposes-theyre-real/239779/14 "2004-04-13T16:49:40Z")
And this tv movie from 1972 might qualify. Arthur Kennedy and Teresa Wright play a childless couple who adopt a young man who had been living in their [Crawlspace](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066954/). Things do not go well. ---
**Author:** ![knarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@knarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/knarf)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monsters-in-the-closet-fiction-that-supposes-theyre-real/239779/15 "2004-04-13T20:07:31Z")
The movie Cat’s Eye has the monster that (IIRC) comes out of the wall to steal little Drew’s breath in the last segment. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monsters-in-the-closet-fiction-that-supposes-theyre-real/239779/16 "2004-04-13T20:23:20Z")
> [@belladonna](#): > > Better than that, in the end he knowingly sacrifices his child to the boogey in order to save himself. Or was \*he \* the boogeyman all along? Delightfully disturbing, one of my fave SK short stories! Wasn’t it that the shrink he was telling the story to, turned out to be the boogeyman in a mask? I remember the reference to hands like shovels for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monsters-in-the-closet-fiction-that-supposes-theyre-real/239779/17 "2004-04-13T20:43:12Z")
There were two episodes of _The Real Ghostbusters_ which dealt with them capturing and imprisoning the Boogeyman. Brilliant stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monsters-in-the-closet-fiction-that-supposes-theyre-real/239779/18 "2004-04-13T22:00:58Z")
Also see the story “The Thing in the Cellar” by David H. Keller. Keller was a doctor and psychiatrist who was also an early writer of science fiction and weird tales. ---
**Author:** ![belladonna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@belladonna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/belladonna)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monsters-in-the-closet-fiction-that-supposes-theyre-real/239779/19 "2004-04-13T23:38:42Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Wasn’t it that the shrink he was telling the story to, turned out to be the boogeyman in a mask? I remember the reference to hands like shovels for some reason. Well, I had to go get out my copy to check and you’re damn close. The final line is “It still held its Dr. Harper mask in one rotted, spade-claw hand.” I’d remembered the ending being a bit more ambiguous–probably because the narrator is such a shit. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monsters-in-the-closet-fiction-that-supposes-theyre-real/239779/20 "2004-04-13T23:59:42Z")
> [@JThunder](#): > > There were two episodes of _The Real Ghostbusters_ which dealt with them capturing and imprisoning the Boogeyman. Brilliant stuff. All these years later, those episodes still haunt me. That Boogeyman was, by far, the scariest thing I had ever seen. I’d love to get my hand on a copy of those episodes… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monsters-in-the-closet-fiction-that-supposes-theyre-real/239779.md?page=2)