At bedtime a boy confronts the nightmare in his closet and finds him not so terrifying after all.

Sam is scared of everything except his monster friend, Leonardo. Kerry is afraid of everything except her monster friend, Frankenthaler. When the two kids get together and are scared of each other, the monsters leave them alone to work it out. As it turns out, the kids have a lot in common and decide to be friends.

This collection of short works is comprised of pieces that previously appeared in such publications as The New Yorker, Playboy, and McSweeney's, in a volume that includes such tales as ""The Gingerbread Girl"" and "N."

Die-cut pages through which bits of a monster are revealed are designed to help a child control nighttime fears of monsters.

In the small town of Innocence, Mississippi, days are long, nights are fragrant, and secrets are hard to keep. But, when a brutal killer starts claiming the lives of the town's most attractive women, lifelong neighbors are forced to wonder if the culprit is a stranger lurking in the bayou...or someone right next door.

With Halloween approaching, Junie B. needs to find a costume that will scare off the real witches and ghosts that she believes will be out on the holiday.

The pigeon must go to school, but frets about math, learning the alphabet, heavy backpacks, and what the teacher and other birds will think of him.

"The kingdom of Cornucopia was once the happiest in the world. It had plenty of gold, a king with the finest moustaches you could imagine, and butchers, bakers and cheesemongers whose exquisite foods made a person dance with delight when they ate them. Everything was perfect _ except for the misty Marshlands to the north, which according to legend, were home to the monstrous Ickabog..." _ jacket.

"Everyone knows that Stink is bonkers about most scientific things. But there's one exception: dangle a spider in front of him and he goes berserk! Stink is so freaked out by spiders that he can't read about them. He can't look at them. He can't think about them. And he for-sure can't touch them! Stink has arachnophobia (a fear of spiders), and he has it bad. But when a hairy backyard emergency arises, Stink is forced to face his fear--and eight beady...

After falling off the wall, Humpty Dumpty is very afraid of climbing up again, but is determined not to let fear stop him from being close to the birds.