A childhood belief about monsters

I used to believe that monsters could take you at night and bury you alive while you were sleeping. The only way to keep them from doing that was to sleep all sprawled out, because when they came to take you, you'd be frozen in whatever position they found you in. If they couldn't fit you into a coffin, they'd leave you alone. Needless to say, I slept in some pretty odd positions in my youth.