The Monster Bed is a children's book written by Jeanne Willis and illustrated by Susan Varley. The book originally went to press in 1986.
Dennis, a young monster, becomes afraid to go to bed at night, fearing that humans will crawl under his bed while he sleeps and attack him. To solve this problem, he decides to sleep under his bed. Unfortunately, a boy playing hooky happens into Dennis' cave, and Hilarity Ensues...
This book includes examples of the following tropes:
- Don't Go Into the Woods: The narrator warns the reader against the Withering Wood, claiming that an assortment of fearsome creatures live there (gnomes, trolls, fairies, pixies, and Dennis and his mother).
- Faeries Don't Believe in Humans, Either: When her son panics about the possibility of humans crawling under his bed, Dennis' mother tells him that humans are fictional creatures. At the end, the narrator tells the reader to avoid the Withering Wood, or they might meet Dennis' mother, who would tell them they don't exist.
- Horrifying the Horror: Played for Laughs. Dennis protests going to bed one night, telling his mother he's afraid that humans will get him while he's asleep. Later, a young boy wanders into Dennis' cave. He checks under Dennis' bed before he goes to sleep on it and gives them both a scare.
- Irony: Dennis decides to sleep under his bed, thinking that any nearby humans won't look underneath it. The reader knows that humans fear monsters under the bed, and a human would therefore definitely look there.
- Man Bites Man: Sort of. Dennis bites his mother's muzzle while clinging to her with his tail while she's trying to put him to bed. He lets go upon request and asks for further reassurance that the humans won't get him.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Despite being a monster, Dennis tries to behave himself, so when he bellows his refusal to go to bed, it's a major sign of how terrifying he finds the humans in his storybooks.
- Shout-Out: One of Dennis' stuffed toys looks like something from Where the Wild Things Are.
- Things That Go "Bump" in the Night: Dennis, a monster, begins sleeping under his bed in the hopes of avoiding any humans who come by. Unfortunately, he doesn't know that humans expect monsters under beds.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: The boy who happens upon Dennis' cave doesn't seem to find it strange to discover a bedstead, complete with mattress, sitting in a cavern in the middle of the woods.
