Hazel travels to her Aunt's country house for a holiday. Her Aunt is angry and rude, so Hazel expects her stay to be a nightmare - little does she expect, though, that there are actual nightmares living in the garden. These creatures - scary amalgams of different animals such as gorillas and leopards - haunt her Aunt every night. And soon, Hazel is drawn into their world of creating and rehearsing these nightmares ...With her new social circle consisting of gorillas crossed with leopards, pythons crossed with porcupines, and wooden-headed dogs, Hazel is thrown into a funny, scary world and learns a useful lesson about friendship along the way.