"Come now, were you truly expecting someone else?"
Here, enshrined forever in their lonely gloom, are the creatures of nightmare: ghoul, bogeyman, witch, werewolf, ogre and their ilk.
—The insert blurb
Nightmares: Poems to Trouble Your Sleep is a monster-themed poetry collection for children. Originally published in June of 1976, it was written by Jack Prelutsky and illustrated by Arnold Lobel.
Contained within the pages of Nightmares: Poems to Trouble Your Sleep are twelve poems, which in order are "The Haunted House", "The Will o' the Wisp", "The Bogeyman", "The Vampire", "The Dragon of Death", "The Troll", "The Witch", "The Ogre", "The Werewolf", "The Wizard", "The Ghoul", and "The Dance of the Thirteen Skeletons". The poems vary in rhyme scheme and length, with most poems fitting a single page. "The Haunted House", "The Vampire", and "The Wizard" are each two pages while "The Dance of the Thirteen Skeletons" takes up three pages. Each page of text is accompanied by a monochrome illustration on the neighboring page, so the longer poems also have more than one illustration.
In 1980, Prelutsky and Lobel got together again to produce a sequel to Nightmares: Poems to Trouble Your Sleep titled The Headless Horseman Rides Tonight: More Poems to Trouble Your Sleep. In 1988, Caedmon Audio combined the two collections into one audiobook adaptation on cassette titled Nightmares and the Headless Horseman Rides Tonight: Poems to Trouble Your Sleep. The A-Side contains the Nightmares poems and the B-side the Headless Horseman poems. The narration is by Jack Prelutsky himself, the sound by Don Heckman, and Daniel Wolfert edited it to the final product.
Both "The Dance of the Thirteen Skeletons" and "The Bogeyman" were separately published in anthologies. The former was incorporated into Spirits, Spooks and Other Sinister Creatures in 1984 and the latter occupies a page in Bruce Coville's Book of... Monsters from 1993.
Nightmares: Poems to Trouble Your Sleep provides examples of the following tropes:
- 13 Is Unlucky: "The Dance of the Thirteen Skeletons" is the only poem in the collection to concern itself with a number. In it, thirteen skeleton come out at night to dance.
- Alien Blood: As per "The Troll", troll blood is "black and boiling hot."
- Bewitched Amphibians: During "The Wizard", the wizard forces a wandering bullfrog through a series of transformations such as a pair of mice and a single chalk before returning the critter to normal and either teleporting it away or erasing it from existence. After this display of magical might, the poem warns that if the reader encounters "a toad or a lizard," that might not actually be the entity's true form and rather a form brought about by the wizard's doings.
- Bludgeoned to Death: Day in and day out, the ogre in "The Ogre" patiently waits until victims enter his cavern. If he hears footsteps near, he takes his cudgel and swings with might down and down again upon his hapless victim. It's implied that the bludgeonings are recreation for him and serve no more essential purpose.
- Bookends: On the front cover, a well-dressed skeleton holds eight red roses before a window frame. One of the roses he holds separately as if he's either giving it to the reader or just received. On the back cover, the skeleton is no longer there and a single red rose remains where he stood in the window frame.
- Breath Weapon: The dragon in "The Dragon of Death" can breath fire from all seven of its heads. It indiscriminately torches anyone who nears his stash of treasure down to ashes.
- Creepy Cave: The ogre in "The Ogre" lives in a cavern where no light reaches. The place is covered in slime and cold, but it is home to him and a deathtrap to everyone else who enters. Meanwhile, the troll in "The Troll" lives in a dingy hole, which is as much as a mini-cave. Like the ogre, the troll lies in wait for foolish victims, but he sometimes drag them in while the ogre only ever waits patiently.
- Creepy Cemetery: Both the vampire and the thirteen skeletons of "The Vampire" and "The Dance of the Thirteen Skeletons" spend the daytime asleep in their tombs and graves in the cemetery. At night, they come out; the vampire to feed and the skeletons to dance.
- Cyclops: The giant ogre in "The Ogre" only has one eye. Since he lives in complete darkness, the amount of eyes he has matters not to his habits. It's unclear if all ogres only have one eye or if he's a special case.
- The Dead Can Dance: From midnight to one o'clock, the skeletons in "The Dance of the Thirteen Skeletons" rise up from their graves to dance together in the moonlight.
- Death of a Child: Most poems merely warn the young reader of what frightful fate will befall them if ever they'd get near or trust a monster. "The Ghoul" and "The Ogre", however, explicitly describe the way either of them murder and mangle their previous victims, all of whom little girls and boys.
- Don't Go in the Woods: The setting of both "The Will o' the Wisp" and "The Dragon of Death" is a forest. In "The Dragon of Death", the forest is the domain of a dragon guarding its treasure and anyone he finds wandering near he burns down to ashes. In "The Will o' the Wisp", the forest is implied to be relatively safe by day, but by night the wills o' the wisp are out and about in search of desperate victims to lure to their doom.
- Dragon Hoard: The ancient dragon in "The Dragon of Death" guards a treasure of infinite worth in a forest. It torches to death anyone who stumbles upon the treasure, caring not to determine whether the interloper is truly a potential thief or just lost.
- Enter Stage Window: The vampire in "The Vampire" gets to his victim for the night by entering through her bedroom window, which she hadn't locked.
- Flying Broomstick: The witch in "The Witch" has a flying broomstick as her primary mode of transportation. She likes to fly around and cast spells in what's essentially a hit-and-run tactic.
- Forced Transformation: A bullfrog that happens to wander into the wizard's tower in "The Wizard" is dragged through a rapid chain of transformations by the wizard. The latter uses different means to cast his spells each time and his motive is either cruelty or a test of his magic abilities. In order, the bullfrog is changed into a flea, a pair of mice, a cockatoo, half a cockatoo, a chalk, a silver bell, and a fire. Thereafter, the wizard gives the creature back his original form but also magically teleports the bullfrog outside or out of existence.
- For Doom the Bell Tolls: The skeletons in "The Dance of the Thirteen Skeletons" awaken from death's slumber at the tolling of midnight by the bell of a distant church. They get up to dance to their hearts' content and return to their coffins when next the bell tolls one o'clock.
- For the Evulz: "The Haunted House", "The Will o' the Wisp", "The Witch", "The Ogre", and "The Wizard" each describe a monster that does harm for no gain or purpose other than entertainment or compulsion.
- Haunted House: The subject of "The Haunted House" is a haunted house. It stands on a hilltop and is chock-full of phantoms, specters, filmy visions, tortured spirits, shadows from a dim hereafter, shades of evanescent matter, revenants, a single headless ghost, shapeless rates, and diabolic horrors. The lot of them are waiting for a living being to haunt, so the reader is advised to stay away.
- Horror Hunger: The vampire, the werewolf, and the ghoul of respectively "The Vampire", "The Werewolf", and "The Ghoul" each exist for nothing else than to sate their hunger or quench their thirst, though the werewolf at least might only suffer this incessant need to feed when he is transformed. The vampire can still his thirst for one day by draining one human of their blood, but he is assured to awaken the next night with once more only blood on his mind. The ghoul, meanwhile, would constantly be eating if to eat he didn't first need to hunt. He makes it easier for himself by going after entire groups of defenseless children.
- Losing Your Head: In the haunted house in "The Haunted House", there's one ghost that's lost their head. They're desperately looking for it while the other spirits make fun of the headless ghost's distress.
- Lunacy: When the moon is full, the werewolf comes out to hunt. In "The Werewolf", he prowls the street of a city in search of a meal, which he is likely to obtain. Elsewhere, the skeletons in "The Dance of the Thirteen Skeletons" dance under the moonlight that shimmers off their bare bones.
- Mage Species: It is likely that the wizard and the witch in respectively "The Wizard" and "The Witch" are what they are by species rather than occupation. Mostly because every other creature in the poetry collection is what they are by either birth or death. The both of them are elderly figures who cause misery just for fun. The wizard has a collection of magical objects and books he uses to cast his spells, while the witch appears to do magic more by heart. The only magical object she is confirmed to possess is a flying broomstick.
- Mage Tower: The wizard in "The Wizard" lives in an imposing tower of cold and gray stone.
- Magic Cauldron: In "The Wizard", one of the magic-assisting objects in the wizard's possession is a cauldron. There's a brew bubbling in it that changes the pair of mice, which originally were one bullfrog, into one cockatoo.
- Magical Gesture: The wizard in "The Wizard" knows several spells that require him to wave "arcane commands" with his fingers and to gesture with an "ancient knack".
- Magic Wand: In "The Wizard", the wizard has a sizable collection of magical objects, among which multiple wands. For the first round of forcing a bullfrog through several transformations, the wizard uses one of the wands, but he doesn't need it for the subsequent spells.
- Multiple Head Case: The dragon in "The Dragon of Death" has seven great heads flowing from seven necks that start off as one. Each head contains teeth "far sharper than daggers" and able to tear the "hardest metal to shreds," but the far greater problem for anyone getting near its treasure is that each head can breathe fire.
- Multiple-Tailed Beast: The dragon in "The Dragon of Death" has seven great tails. If the creature thrashes them, the impact is such that even the mountain tops tremble.
- Mysterious Stranger: The skeleton dressed in a thick coat and a top hat on the cover is not introduced, unlike his successor the Headless Horseman who is both on the cover of The Headless Horseman Rides Tonight: More Poems to Trouble Your Sleep and the subject of its longest poem. Logically, the skeleton is related to the skeletons of "The Dance of the Thirteen Skeletons", but nothing is clarified.
- Our Dragons Are Different: As ostensibly many dragons do, the one in "The Dragon of Death" guards a magnificent treasure that may or may not be as ancient as the dragon itself. The treasure lies in a forest and therefore the dragon murders anyone who walks among its trees. The dragon is huge and bestowed with seven heads and seven tails. The thrashing of the tails makes mountain tops tremble while the maws of the seven heads each are filled with teeth "sharper than daggers", which is still nothing compared to each head's ability to breathe fire.
- Our Ghouls Are Creepier: Ghouls are hominivores and the one in "The Ghoul" has a particular preference for the flesh of human children. He lurks around schools until recess or when school's out and grabs as many children as he can before heading to a quiet spot to mangle and rip their bodies apart for consumption. The moment there's nothing left to chew, he hurries to another school for his next meal.
- Our Ogres Are Different: If the ogre in "The Ogre" is anything to go by, ogres are hominivores of amazing strength that live in deep dark caverns which damp and cold climate suits them. The eponymous ogre, and supposedly other ogres, only has one eye, which in the deep dark does little to hinder him.
- Our Trolls Are Different: The troll in "The Troll" lives inside a hole in the ground, which seems to be common to the species. From there, they lie in wait for human passers-by to capture and eat them cooked and crushed but whole. A curious trait is that troll blood is black and boils inside their veins.
- Our Vampires Are Different: Vampires live for nothing but to quench their thirst for blood. They silently rise from their tombs at night in search of victims to drain. The one in "The Vampire" manages to nab himself a full drink from a woman who left her window open, but as always, it'll only assure his rest for one day.
- Our Werewolves Are Different: When the moon is full, werewolves come out in search of a victim to devour. The one in "The Werewolf" has made a city its hunting ground and stalks its streets with "stealth and cunning."
- Repeated for Emphasis: In "The Haunted House", the house, which the accompanying illustration confirms is a house, is called a "castle of despair" in the second line and in the last line. The reoccurrence in the last line comes after a long list of all the ghostly residents and their day-to-day doings and the additional context reinforces the appellation's appropriateness.
- Robe and Wizard Hat: Both the wizard and the witch in respectively "The Wizard" and "The Witch" are elderly figures donning a robe and a pointy hat. The wizard's cloak is covered in grime, apparently by his own choice, and silver-colored necromantic signs adorn his upright hat. The witch wears a dreary all-black outfit and her hat appears to be floppy.
- Sequential Art: The poems spread out over two or three pages, which are "The Haunted House", "The Vampire", "The Wizard", and the "The Dance of the Thirteen Skeletons", have as many illustrations. Just like the poems progress narratively, so do the illustrations.
- The Sleepless: According to "The Wizard", the elderly and powerful wizard needs no sleep.
- Snow Means Death: At least during the period described in "The Dance of the Thirteen Skeletons", the dance of the dead coincides with the chill of winter. Fresh snow hides the skeletons' footprints in the fresh snow.
- Spell Book: In "The Wizard", the wizard has a sizable collection of magical objects, among which several "supernatural tracks and tomes". After bullying a bullfrog, he consults one text on what hex next to conjure up.
- Splash of Color: All of the collection's art is black and white except the eight red roses the skeleton on the front cover is holding and the single red rose left on the back cover.
- Summon Magic: In "The Wizard", the wizard has among his many magical trinkets "charms to fetch a demon's aid."
- Things That Go "Bump" in the Night: The bogeyman in "The Bogeyman" is a creature that lurks in the shadows of an unspecified perilous place. No one who has ever entered his domain has returned from it, having fallen victim to his "steely sharp claws", "slavering jaws", and his bone-crumpling "bogey embrace". But still people come and he waits patiently for his next victim.
- The Tragic Rose: Welcoming the reader on the front cover is a skeleton holding eight red roses, one of which he holds separately as if he's either giving it to the reader or just received it. On the back cover, the skeleton is no longer there and a single red rose remains where he stood.
- Vampires Sleep in Coffins: The skeletons in "The Dance of the Thirteen Skeletons" sleep in their coffins during the day and wake up at midnight to dance.
- Vile Vulture: The sadistic wizard of "The Wizard" is merciless to invaders of his tower even if those are just animals. He does appear to leave the vultures that rest on the roof alone, though.
- When the Clock Strikes Twelve: The skeletons in "The Dance of the Thirteen Skeletons" lie still in the graves as the dead are wont to do until the bell of a distant church announces the midnight hour. At that singular sound, they get up to dance until that same bell tolls one o'clock.
- Wicked Witch: In "The Witch", the witch is a "queen of doom" and a "cackling crone". As evil as she is ugly, she goes out into the night for no greater purpose than casting cruel curses on whomever she happens to come upon.
- Will-o'-the-Wisp: In "Will o' the Wisp", wills o' the wisp are entrancing dancing flames that offer a drop of hope to anyone lost in the desolate forest during the night. But rather than a guide to safety, wills o' the wisp are lures into inescapable danger. It is therefore advised never to follow them.
- Would Hurt a Child: All poems are meant for children to read, so all threats and warnings in them are for children to mind. The poems and illustrations that explicitly feature children as the victims of the monsters are "Will o' the Wisp", "The Bogeyman", "The Troll", "The Ogre", and "The Ghoul".
