I recently read a great horror anthology called Childhood Nightmares: Under The Bed. Its not often that I come across an anthology where I like all the stories in it, but I did with this one and it was impossible to pick a favorite. After reading each story I found myself looking up information on all of the authors because I had to find out what other works they had out there.

The anthology starts off with Forgotten by Jack Wallen which is a beautifully told, creepy ghost story, about a six year old child who gets visited late at night by a ghost of a girl with a big secret. I loved the conversations between the boy and the ghost in this one. Next up is Baby Teeth by Kim Kordel which is about a young boy named Brian who has been told some scary things about the tooth fairy. What made this story fun was hearing about all the things that Brian does to avoid having the tooth fairy come to his house. I also liked how scared he gets when he realizes that he is going to get a visit whether he likes it or not.

Julianne Snow also has a story in this anthology about a girl having night terrors. Help comes in the form of a doll named Madeleine. The ending of this one was shocking and funny at the same time. There is also a great story by Nina d’ Archangela called Bent Metal that centers on a girl who is having recurring nightmares of her brother dying. The description of the girl’s emotional state in her dreams is excellent, this story alone makes this a great anthology. Nina did a superb job of making me feel sorry for the main character, it was impossible not to feel her pain.

Another great one here was Seeing Is Believing by Amber Keller. There is a monster living in Timothy’s room and it wants his flesh. No one believes him so he decides to take a picture, but every night he has to fight for his life and the creature is determined not to be seen. The suspense in this one was gut wrenching.

Kate Monroe, the editor of this anthology also has a terrifying tale in the book called Show and Tell. This one is about a boy named Thomas that finds he has a monster under his bed, but its not really a bad thing, at least not for Thomas. Now he has a pet monster and all the people that picked on him are going to pay. This story was one of the most frightening and bloody stories in the anthology and I still felt sorry for Thomas.

Some of the other things you will read about in Childhood Nightmares: Under The Bed is a ghost who makes a teddy bear come to life, a little girl who has to battle a demon to the death and a kid who has to pay the consequences when he tells tall tales. You also get stories about a cursed suitcase, a tale about a murderer called The Shade and a monster that lives in a sock drawer. If this anthology is any indication of the quality of stories that Sirens Calls has to offer, then I’m really looking forward to future anthologies from Sirens Call Publications. ( )