Now I lay me down to sleep and if I die--- 24 scary children stories

[packman]

The stories and books we consume as children can stick with us our
entire lives. Sometimes it’s because they successfully impart important lessons, but often times it’s because they scared the wits out of our childhood selves. ..

You (readers) told us(AtlasObsura) about classic fairy tales that left you feeling uneasy. There were folktales, too, such as the monster-under-the-bed known as “Soap Sally,” who turns kids’ fingers into soap. And many of you wrote to us about specific books that gave you nightmares, such as the eerie favorite The Water-Babies. All kid-friendly, all horrifying.

“The Girl Who Trod on the Loaf”
“Soap Sally”
"Bony-Legs"
"The Tale of Samuel Whiskers"
“Rubber Bum”
“The Bunyip”

When I was young , it was the Boogeyman who would come and punish children and take them away - or the gypsies.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/scary-childrens-stories

[Control-Z]

1. Yup. Now I lay me down - if I die before I wake...

turned me into an insomniac at the age of 7 after my mother died.

The prayer became a superstitious ritual that would keep me alive only if I said the
prayer exactly right, remembering to "God bless" everyone in my family by name to end the prayer - then adding the name of everyone I loved, then everyone I knew, then everyone I met or had heard of. My "god bless" list grew over time until it would take me hours to name everyone on the list, often starting over to add someone I forgot or to correct the order of everyone named. I was sure I would die if I didn't get it exactly right before I fell asleep. If my father came into my room and caught me awake he would beat me for refusing to sleep.