10 Awesome Horror Monsters You’ve Never Heard Of

In Before I Wake, Jessie (Kate Bosworth) and Mark (Thomas Jane) adopt an orphan called Cody (Jacob Tremblay), who has the power to will his dreams into existence. When Jessie realises Cody can use his ability to recreate her deceased son, she sees his ability as a blessing.

However, Jessie and Mark don't realise Cody has a recurring nightmare where he's tormented by a mysterious figure called the Canker Man. Because this entity embodies his subconscious fears, it lashes out at anyone Cody believes wishes him harm.

Without meaning to, Cody summons the Canker Man into being, which leads to the death of his stepfather and a school bully. When Jessie lashes out at Cody for creating the Canker Man, it intensifies his insecurities, making the nightmarish monster stronger.

Although the Canker Man's skeletal and gnarled design is creepy, the concept itself is more unsettling. The idea that an innocent child could conjure a malevolent force, not out of hate, but fear, is truly horrifying.

Although the big reveal of where the Canker Man came from could've robbed the creature of its mystique, its origin story makes it far more disturbing.