Traumafession:: Grayson K. on There's a Nightmare In My Closet

Hello again!

For a few years now I would on and off again recall a picture book that really scared me as a child. It was about a pink and purple spotted cartoon creature that was rather silly looking and it lived in a little boys closet. I must have been pretty young when I had this book, probably 5 or under, because I could barely remember any details about it… I do, however, strongly remember it scaring the shit out of me. Just like any thing else that frightened me around that age, it was really interesting to look at the book during the day when my parents were around, but as soon as it was bedtime and I was on my own I would sincerely regret that books publication.

Well, just today while cleaning my bathroom–out of nowhere, it hit me. The name of the book was "There's A Nightmare In My Closet." A nightmare indeed! A quick "Look Inside!" on Amazon.com reveals that this "nightmare" was no silly cartoon creature as I had remembered it. No, what we have here is a monstrous atrocity that could only be described as deformed Maurice Sendak character spawned from a bad acid trip. The purple and pink spots (normally fun and playful on a children's character) only added to the grotesqueness, as if it would not only devour you whole but possibly give you some sort of plague as well. The Edward Gorey style hatch-mark shading added to the ominousness of an otherwise playful boys bedroom turned demon lair. I could completely relate to those paranoid fear-crazed eyes of the young boy under the covers with his pop-gun at the ready… except I had no pop-gun. I was on my own.

PS: Please visit my website for a collection of creepy and strange things from all over! — AnarchistColoringBook.com

Grayson K.