In honor of Halloween I wanted to showcase a game that has always scared me.

In 1992 Milton Bradley published Don’t Wake Daddy. Recent enough that I remember seeing the commercials for it as a kid. I never played it, nor did I want to. Something about it always bothered me, and still does more than two decades later.

It could be the fear of the wide-eyed psycho-dad erupting out of bed with spring-loaded fury. It could be that Daddy looks like one of Santa’s elves gone postal. It could be that even while “sleeping” Daddy’s eyes are wide open and the effect is…chilling.

Then there are all the thematic and logistical questions:

Why is Daddy’s bed in the middle of the room?

Where is Mommy?

If we don’t want to wake Daddy, why are we circling him repeatedly like some twisted game of Duck, Duck, Goose?

The kids on the cover look terrified, which leads me to believe that Daddy is an abusive alcoholic sleeping one off, and the second he wakes up he goes for his belt.

What could possibly be so important in Daddy’s room to merit these nighttime shenanigans? Maybe we are robbing the old man blind and deserve to get caught?

My mind is racing and my pulse is quickening just thinking about this game. What goes bump in the night? Not Daddy’s rotten kids if they know what’s good for ’em.

Happy Halloween!