I Ain't Afraid of No Ghosts

Here's my issue du jour: My oldest child, age 8, is terrified of the dark and ruining my sleep. We've had sleep issues on and off with Ava since she was 4. Nothing horrible - just waking up and being scared, or wanting someone to be with her until she falls asleep. We nipped all that in the bud a year or two ago. But in the last couple of months, it's all come full-circle. And it sucks. Like, really sucks.

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Here are the issues:
-She doesn't want to go into her room alone at night, even if it's just to get ready for bed
-She is scared once we say good night.
-She wakes in the night from a "bad dream" and wants me to sleep in her bottom bunk.
-She wants every damn light in her room on, including the closet, which she is certain is home to monsters.

Y'all, this is beyond ridiculous. I know kids have irrational fears. I respect that. But we live in a small house, so even when she's alone in her room, we're no more than 15 steps away from her. And our bedroom is directly across the hall from hers.

I'm not sure what's driving this fear. Maybe it's all those Friday the 13th movies she's been watching, or the Stephen King novels she's reading. She says it started with some monster from Scooby Doo.

Come on. We all know that the Scooby Doo villian is really Old Man Winters from down the street, right?

It's only getting worse. She's now back to wanting someone in her room while she's falling asleep. So, the hammer is about to be laid down on Miss Ava. It might be really ugly for a few nights. But when you start messing with my precious evening TV hours, I don't play nice. And I can be a lot scarier than any Scooby Doo monster. For realz.