Top 10 Scariest Monsters in Children’s Stories

The 4-year-old is having nightmares again. I sometimes wonder what it is, what’s he seen during the day to freak him out quite so much, and then I take a look at his bookshelf and realize that there – inches away from his sleeping head – is a collection of carnivorous dinosaurs, scary ghosts and bloodthirsty pirates. No wonder he’s freaked out. And then there’s the monsters. Lots of monsters. “Monsters Inc” would have you believe there’s one in every kid’s closet, just waiting to come out and scare them as soon as Mom and Dad leave the room. And if you fall asleep listening to monster stories you might just dream that they’re real. They’re a pretty scary bunch – just check out our Top 10 Scariest Monsters in Children’s Stories.

10. The Only Lonely Monster

Let’s start with a fairly mild-mannered monster, but still not one you’d want to find at the end of your bed at night. The Lonely Monster, aka Architeuthis Collosso Nutopus, is a giant, octopus-like creature from the original “Octonauts” books, that appears to be trying to crush the Octopod to bits. It turns out that he’s just trying to give it a hug because he’s so lonely, but the idea is pretty scary. Imagine you, like Tweak Bunny, were asleep in bed when suddenly you feel the whole building being squeezed around you, by a creature with seemingly infinite numbers of limbs. That’s worthy of a nightmare, right?

9. Heffalump

The scariest things are those which are never fully shown – in the film “Jeepers Creepers” the baddie is terrifying, until he’s revealed to be a man in a bit feathery coat. Then it all gets a bit silly. Similarly, the heffalump in the Winnie the Pooh books is never fully encountered or explained, it’s just a shadowy presence of the edge of Pooh’s mind as he tries to go to sleep, or in his dreams once he gets there.

The heffalump is a bit like an elephant but purple with a fuzzy tail. In “House at Pooh Corner” Pooh and Piglet fall into a trap and assume it’s the heffalump trying to capture them but again, he’s never seen. An elusive baddie who is pretty creepy (until you watch the 2005 Disney movie of course, but we’re talking about the books here)

8. Big Green Monster

Another monster who turns out to be benevolent, the Big Green Monster of “Go Away Big Green Monster!” fame is a freaky looking guy, built up slowly through cut-out pages and is another example of the fear of the unknown. The monster starts as a pair of eyes in the darkness – “big yellow eyes” and then adds a nose and a gruesome set of “sharp white teeth”.

The monster is built up bit by bit until the child has to tell it to go away, at which point it disintegrates piece by piece into darkness again. That’s meant to be reassuring, but I find it kind of creepy. You mean he’s still out there, somewhere in the darkness? Ready to start emerging again? That’s sinister. And it also gives you a false sense of security thinking you can control this thing. Just me?

7. Boris

Boris, on the other hand, is not a creepy monster. But he is scary all the same. A monster who just won’t stop kissing you, no matter how much you ask him? No, wait…that IS a bit creepy. He stars in “Calm Down Boris”, an innovative book where you put your hand into a puppet at the back to make the main character talk and move. And Boris’ signature move in this case is relentless kissing, even when children exhort him to “Calm down Boris! Your kisses are too tickly!” Apparently, any resemblance to London Mayor Boris Johnson is entirely coincidental. Now there’s someone you wouldn’t want covering you in tickly kisses, is it?

6. “The Monster”

The central character in “Not Now Bernard” is such a scary monster that he doesn’t even get a name. Rather like “The First” in the last season of “Buffy”, or “The Beast” in “X-Men“, the monster in this book is just The Monster. And it’s terrifying.

One thing you can rely on children’s books for is the resolution. Everything will be OK in the end. No small child would stay eaten by a monster, would they? Well yes, in “Not Now Bernard” that’s what happens. A boy called Bernard reports that there’s a monster in the garden. His parents ignore him. The monster eats him and takes his place. The parents ignore the monster.

It’s the neglect, bordering on child abuse, that gives this book the edge of terror but also the message that there might be a monster hiding in the garden that will eat a child without hesitation. And your parents cannot save you. Petrifying, isn’t it?

5. The Wild Things

“Where the Wild Things Are” has several monsters in it, one of which is human – the hero of the story, Max, who starts the story by dressing as a wolf and running around causing destruction. Little wonder then that, when he is transported to a country full of beasts, they hail him as their King. The monsters are pretty freaky, with spiky teeth and claws, and the sombre palette of the book gives you an unnerved feeling. When it was published in 1963, it was banned by libraries maybe because of the message that throwing tantrums gets you a crown and a ticket to friendly-monsterville. It has since become a classic of children’s literature but it still scares me a little.

4. The Grinch

Most of our monsters so far have basically been friendly at heart, if a little frightening when you bump into them in a dark alley. But not The Grinch, oh no. His heart was “two sizes too small” and he basically got his kicks from spoiling other people’s fun, in a tale that may owe something to Charles Dickens. At the end of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”, he appears to be redeemed and his heart is restored to its optimal size.

But how long do these kind of character changes really last, once you’re into January? He may have be drawn in by the huge eyes of Cindy-Lou Who but when she grows up, will he just return to his old ways? Never trust anything with glowing red eyes, that’s my motto…!

3. The Gruffalo

And talking about creatures who are utterly unrepentant, here’s one who is malevolent and “bursting with laughter” about it, but has somehow become a much loved icon for preschoolers. It’s the Gruffalo.

A Gruffalo? What’s a Gruffalo? Well, a Gruffalo is a creature that stalks about the forest, looking for innocent protagonists to munch on and the only time he doesn’t eat them is when they trick him out of it. He doesn’t change his mind or have some kind off vegetarian epiphany – he just gets tricked and runs off. What are we teaching children here? That you still get to flash your “terrible teeth” on lunchboxes, birthday cakes and plasters even though you’re a merciless predator?  And don’t even get me started on that troublesome kid of his…

2. The Basilisk

Harry Potter has always been on the dark side of Children’s literature. Any series that starts with the murder of the hero’s parents through dark magic is not going to be your average “fluffy bunnies and marshmallows” kids book. So, naturally there is a fair smattering of beasts throughout the books – from centaurs to thestrals.

But I’m going to give the scariest award to the Basilisk from “Harry Potter & The Chamber of Secrets” – an oversized snake-like beastie that lurks within a secret part of the castle. As with many things from the series, it’s based on an old myth – the basilisk is said to be “King of the Serpents” which doesn’t need its sharp, pointy teeth to kill people. It can do it with a single look. A giant snake thing that kills with its eyes? Is that scary enough for you yet?

1. The Jabberwocky

Remember how I said not to trust anything with glowing red eyes? Well, I think something with “eyes of flame” should probably be missed off the “must-visit” list. Let alone something that comes “whiffling” and “burbling” through the tulgy wood, whatever that might mean. The Jabberwock is mean. We never find out its motivation, in Lewis Caroll’s classic children’s novel “Through the Looking Glass”, but we do know it’s something that needs a good killing with a vorpal blade, preferably one that goes “snick a snack”. It might be misunderstood – it might, like the Only Lonely Monster, just be looking for some company. It might even have redeemed itself if it had been faced with some Christmas cheer rather than a pointy object.

We’ll never know. But it must have been scary enough for someone to send their armed child into the woods in pursuit of it, so we can assume it wins the spot as the scariest monster ever to appear in a children’s story.