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Suffer The Little Children
Miss Sidley, an experienced, no-nonsense teacher starts to lose her bearings when she suspects one of her students, Robert, is not quite human. In a momentary reflection in her eyeglasses she thinks she may have seen Robert changing into a monster. She soon discovers that not only does Robert change, but he may not be the only one of his kind. Sidley must get rid of them before it's too late.
259 pages, Audiobook
First published January 1, 1972
3 people are currently reading
328 people want to read
About the author
Stephen King
2,391 books889k followersStephen Edwin King was born the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his father left them when Stephen was two, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family was at the time, and in Stratford, Connecticut. When Stephen was eleven, his mother brought her children back to Durham, Maine, for good. Her parents, Guy and Nellie Pillsbury, had become incapacitated with old age, and Ruth King was persuaded by her sisters to take over the physical care of them. Other family members provided a small house in Durham and financial support. After Stephen's grandparents passed away, Mrs. King found work in the kitchens of Pineland, a nearby residential facility for the mentally challenged.
Stephen attended the grammar school in Durham and Lisbon Falls High School, graduating in 1966. From his sophomore year at the University of Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, THE MAINE CAMPUS. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, arriving at his stance from a conservative view that the war in Vietnam was unconstitutional. He graduated in 1970, with a B.A. in English and qualified to teach on the high school level. A draft board examination immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums.
He met Tabitha Spruce in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University, where they both worked as students; they married in January of 1971. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men's magazines.
Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men's magazines. Many were gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.
In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching English at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels.
Stephen attended the grammar school in Durham and Lisbon Falls High School, graduating in 1966. From his sophomore year at the University of Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, THE MAINE CAMPUS. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, arriving at his stance from a conservative view that the war in Vietnam was unconstitutional. He graduated in 1970, with a B.A. in English and qualified to teach on the high school level. A draft board examination immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums.
He met Tabitha Spruce in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University, where they both worked as students; they married in January of 1971. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men's magazines.
Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men's magazines. Many were gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.
In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching English at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
October 19, 2022
لا انصح المدرسين بقرائتها مطلقا
مع انهم اكثر من سيفهمها
كينج؛اه يا كينج؛ كم كنت عنيفا باترا مع ميس سيدلي و تلاميذها.. كل سنة و انت طيب
كانت تتباهى بأن قدراتها في التدريس بتتلخص"في إنها بتدي التلاميذ ظهرها في ثقة تامة
" إنهم منتبهين
*رغم انهم مخبيين حقيقتهم ورا أقنعة*
لكنها أدركت إن الي شافته في نضارتها على وش
روبرت تسلل لروحها وبدا ينهش فيها
العنوان ماخوذ من انجيل متى
لن ننسي ابدا ان كينج بدا حياته كمدرس لغة انجليزية"😉ا
اخر قصة من مجموعة ليلة الكينج ترجمة شيرين هنائي
مع انهم اكثر من سيفهمها
كينج؛اه يا كينج؛ كم كنت عنيفا باترا مع ميس سيدلي و تلاميذها.. كل سنة و انت طيب
كانت تتباهى بأن قدراتها في التدريس بتتلخص"في إنها بتدي التلاميذ ظهرها في ثقة تامة
" إنهم منتبهين
*رغم انهم مخبيين حقيقتهم ورا أقنعة*
لكنها أدركت إن الي شافته في نضارتها على وش
روبرت تسلل لروحها وبدا ينهش فيها
العنوان ماخوذ من انجيل متى
لن ننسي ابدا ان كينج بدا حياته كمدرس لغة انجليزية"😉ا
اخر قصة من مجموعة ليلة الكينج ترجمة شيرين هنائي
July 12, 2022
Story 3 stars**
Audio 4 stars**
Narrator Whoopi Goldberg
Audio 4 stars**
Narrator Whoopi Goldberg
March 26, 2025
Miss Sidley, third grade teacher, is convinced that some of the students in her classroom are shape shifting monsters. And when one of the students, Robert, transforms in front of her and tells her "There are many of us" she realizes it's time to take action...
This was super creepy and told in classic King fashion, but it was way too short. Hoping this gets added to the list of SK short stories that gets turned into a full movie one day. Definitely worth the quick read!
This was super creepy and told in classic King fashion, but it was way too short. Hoping this gets added to the list of SK short stories that gets turned into a full movie one day. Definitely worth the quick read!
July 5, 2022
This whole story had me questioning what was real and what was fake the entire way through. I’ll forever be checking reflections for any sign of change.
July 20, 2020
As a teacher...wow! It was messed up!
January 21, 2022
oh no, i have made a terrible mistake
November 22, 2025
Too short of a story for me to be impressed. 🤷🏽♀️
September 17, 2021
Me gustó ver el lado oscuro de las simpáticas criaturas.
April 13, 2023
I loved the flow of the story but I needed just a little bit more. The vagueness didn’t feel purposeful. The missing details felt overlooked.
January 13, 2026
I’m just a big fan of Steven King I guess… did I understand the final twist? No. Was it interesting? For sure. As always you can’t get who is innocent or not 🤓
July 19, 2023
3.75*
From Nightmares & Dreamscapes
From Nightmares & Dreamscapes
September 28, 2021
Club de lectura Lectores Insurgentes (setiembre 2021)
July 24, 2021
A Solid 3.5 star read! One of my favorite stories from Nightmares and Dreamscapes. A messed up story about a teacher Ms. Sidley, that let the job and the little devils, (I mean children) get to her head.
June 19, 2021
I absolutely loved reading this short story of a strict disciplinarian teacher's decent into madness. Captivating as ever, simple yet terrifying.
January 15, 2022
difficult to know what is the truth of this story. Are there monsters or is it just in her head.
May 5, 2025
It felt uncomfortably familiar. That creeping fear that something’s off, that people (even little kids) are hiding something you can’t quite name. Miss Sidley doesn’t “snap” in a dramatic horror-movie way. She just… slips. And the scariest part is, we’re never really told if she was right or wrong.
It reminded me of those old Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction episodes those uncanny stories where you’d want it to be fiction, only to hear, “this one actually happened.” This story has that same vibe. That same pause at the end where you think, “Wait—what if…?”
And the Children of the Corn vibes are all over it—innocent faces hiding something alien. But where that story feels more mythic and cultish, this one feels personal. Like it could be your classroom. Your students. Your unraveling.
Miss Sidley isn’t just afraid of her students changing—she’s afraid of the world changing without her. She clings to structure, to control, and when that slips, she thinks violence is the only language left.
That Nietzsche quote came to mind:
“He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster.”
She thought she was protecting the world. But who was she really trying to save?
And then there’s the real horror: what if she wasn’t wrong?
It reminded me of those old Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction episodes those uncanny stories where you’d want it to be fiction, only to hear, “this one actually happened.” This story has that same vibe. That same pause at the end where you think, “Wait—what if…?”
And the Children of the Corn vibes are all over it—innocent faces hiding something alien. But where that story feels more mythic and cultish, this one feels personal. Like it could be your classroom. Your students. Your unraveling.
Miss Sidley isn’t just afraid of her students changing—she’s afraid of the world changing without her. She clings to structure, to control, and when that slips, she thinks violence is the only language left.
That Nietzsche quote came to mind:
“He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster.”
She thought she was protecting the world. But who was she really trying to save?
And then there’s the real horror: what if she wasn’t wrong?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 11, 2024
FULL REVIEW ON MY WEBSITE
https://thebookcornerchronicles.com/2...
The whole plot is wow. Because if you take the concept of school teachers and school students and write a horror story to it, a lot of insane things can happen.
This story may make some of you wonder if your teacher from school life you had wanted at some point kill you. At least it make me a little bit wonder about that.
The ending will definitely make your jaw drop. Because it makes this story even more twisted than it already was from the beginning. But for some of you the ending might seem as too much and too fast going. But again it is a personal think which people will disagree on as every other book in the world.
https://thebookcornerchronicles.com/2...
The whole plot is wow. Because if you take the concept of school teachers and school students and write a horror story to it, a lot of insane things can happen.
This story may make some of you wonder if your teacher from school life you had wanted at some point kill you. At least it make me a little bit wonder about that.
The ending will definitely make your jaw drop. Because it makes this story even more twisted than it already was from the beginning. But for some of you the ending might seem as too much and too fast going. But again it is a personal think which people will disagree on as every other book in the world.
October 8, 2025
Wow, a short but genuinely unnerving story from the Nightmares and Dreamscapes anthology.
It’s about a strict elementary school teacher named Miss Sidley having a sudden psychotic break where she begins to believe that all of the children in her class have been replaced by demonic alien shapeshifters. Their skin ripples in strange ways. They taunt her and torment her, hiding their true nefarious identities behind innocent masks and driving her closer and closer to the edge of insanity. When she finally snaps, something terrible happens.
A disturbing ending to a simple yet dark story. Whether the kids were actually monsters or not and whether Miss Sidley was actually crazy or not is left open for interpretation, which just makes the haunting ending all that more disturbing.
It’s about a strict elementary school teacher named Miss Sidley having a sudden psychotic break where she begins to believe that all of the children in her class have been replaced by demonic alien shapeshifters. Their skin ripples in strange ways. They taunt her and torment her, hiding their true nefarious identities behind innocent masks and driving her closer and closer to the edge of insanity. When she finally snaps, something terrible happens.
A disturbing ending to a simple yet dark story. Whether the kids were actually monsters or not and whether Miss Sidley was actually crazy or not is left open for interpretation, which just makes the haunting ending all that more disturbing.
February 26, 2023
a reread, i haven’t read this story in a long while, probably 10 years. it’s still as daunting and unsettling as i remember.
my older brother used to read me this story as a bedtime story when i was probably like 7-10 years old. i remember having horrible nightmares about it. but i still loved it and loved him reading it to me.
i reread it to my boyfriend today and was so very glad it was just how i remembered, well maybe only less terrifying now that i’m not a child anymore lol.
my older brother used to read me this story as a bedtime story when i was probably like 7-10 years old. i remember having horrible nightmares about it. but i still loved it and loved him reading it to me.
i reread it to my boyfriend today and was so very glad it was just how i remembered, well maybe only less terrifying now that i’m not a child anymore lol.
November 26, 2020
I want to be a teacher...my jaw dropped towards the end. Holy cow! So twisted!
Slight spoiler but why did Rage get taken out of print for it's dark story but this one is still readily available? It portrays something that occurs in the other story, I suppose not as extremely, but still able to influence. So why is this excused? Because people didn't cite it for inspiration?
Slight spoiler but why did Rage get taken out of print for it's dark story but this one is still readily available? It portrays something that occurs in the other story, I suppose not as extremely, but still able to influence. So why is this excused? Because people didn't cite it for inspiration?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 25, 2023
Like all horror, this short story rests of a hook of truth--in this case, the delusions an adult authority figure can indulge to satisfy their ego when children don’t obey them the way they wish they would. This particular delusion is really effectively creepy, and the ending is truly chilling. Whoopi Goldberg reads the audio version, and does an excellent job.
March 17, 2023
I LOVED THIS STORY!
It’s the best one so far might even beat “Dolans Cadillac” I was laughing out loud and the twist left me jaw dropped. My only complaint is that it’s so short. I wanted to learn more about Miss Sidley. 5/5
It’s the best one so far might even beat “Dolans Cadillac” I was laughing out loud and the twist left me jaw dropped. My only complaint is that it’s so short. I wanted to learn more about Miss Sidley. 5/5
March 3, 2024
One of the shorter short stories by King, in Nightmares and Dreamscapes, the story pendulums between two possible takes - which makes this all the more enthralling. It may come across as strange to some, but I loved every bit of it.
June 14, 2024
This story had me in shock. I was quite surprised when she pulled out a gun and shot the kid! And the twist of it being that she was just insane made it a lot worse for her. This is one of the best stories from Nightmares and Dreamscapes.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 14, 2025
Creepy and unsettling, Suffer the Little Children is classic Stephen King - blurring the line between imagination and madness. This chilling tale follows a strict teacher by the name of Miss Sidley as she encounters more than she bargained for back at teachers college.
May 14, 2020
An dark ebook!
July 29, 2020
Quite an interesting read - i didnt expect the ending - something different and well written
November 21, 2020
Շատ լավն ա։
November 29, 2020
Whoopi is a treasure and reads King so well. Holy smokes, this story is horrifying. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwMq4...
December 15, 2020
This short story was a little more entertaining than the first two I read. But the ending was a bit too much and too fast.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews