Bad Dream:

" Daddy, I had a bad dream."

You blink your eyes and pull up on your elbows. Your clock glows red in the darkness ----- it is 3:32 AM.

" Do you want to climb into bed and tell me about it?"

" No, Daddy."

The oddness of the situation wakes you up more fully. You an barely make out your daughter's pale form in the darkness of your room.

" Why not, sweetie?"

" Because in my dream, when I told you about the dream, the thing wearing Mommy's skin sat up."

For a moment, you feel paralyzed; you cannot take your eyes off of your daughter. The covers behind you begin to shift.

Him/ Under the Bed:

Unavailable

In The Kitchen:

A young girl is playing in her bedroom when she hears her mother call her from the kitchen, so she runs downstairs to meet her mother.

As she's running through the hallway, the door to the cupboard under the stairs open, and a hand reaches out and pulls her in. It's her mother. She whispers to her child, " Don't go into the kitchen. I heard it too."

Upstairs:

When I was a child I lived in a rented teo-floor house. Both my parents worked so I was often alone when I came home from school.

One early evening when I came home the house was still dark.

I called out, " Mum?" and heard a voice say " Yeeeeees?" from upstairs.

I called my mum again, and again got the same " Yeeeeees?" reply.

I felt she was calling back at me and climbed up the stairs.

When I reached the first floor I called her once more and the voice " Yeeeeees?" came from the furthest room.

I felt both uneasy, but also felt a strong urge to see my mother, and started to walk towards the room.

But just as I was about to open the door into the room I heard the front door downstairs open and my mother come in, carrying a lot of sopping bags.

" Sweetie, are you home?" my mother called in a cheery voice.

Hearing her voice made me feel instantly better and I turned back to go downstairs at once... but not before I had a quick glance towards the room.

While I watched from the top of the stairs, the door to the room slowly opened a crack.

For a brief moment, I saw something strange in there. A pale face, staring at me.