A Monster Calls (2011
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons
Siobhan Dowd got the idea for this tale when she was diagnosed with a terminal illness. Within the pages of A Monster Calls, Dowd tells the story of 13-year-old Conor, who is trying to come to terms with his mother’s cancer diagnosis.
The boy has been having recurring bad dreams in which he is awoken by screaming winds. One night, a monster appears outside his window as a mass of sentient branches and leaves. It makes a deal with Conor: it will share with him three stories if, at the end, Conor shares his own.
The monster comes again to his window every night at 12:07 a.m. At first, the storytelling appears harmless, but it eventually leads Conor to act out — breaking things, getting into fights at school, while he is under the possession of the monster.
But once the stories have all been told, and it’s Conor’s turn to share, he confesses his fear about his mother’s death and all the ways he’s acted out while trying to come to terms with his emotions. The monster explains that this has been its purpose all along and it comforts him. Once Conor has experienced this healing, his mother dies — at 12:07 AM.
If you enjoyed this post on scary children’s books, be sure to check out the myth of Slender Man.
