Tad Trenton is Donna and Vic's four-year-old son. Tad is a typical four-year-old, convinced there is a monster in his closet. However, the monster in Tad's closet seems to have some substance to it. The closet keeps opening on its own, and a stack of blankets that Tad's parents have removed repetitively from the closet somehow keep reappearing. Eventually Tad finds some peace in the Monster Words, a litany of words his father speaks over Tad's bed every night.