The experience of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) can be configured as a love story in which the mother has to cope with the sudden loss of her child. However, this is only one of the stories about SIDS; there are other stories to be told. These are stories that may circulate at the same time and that interact with the love story. One of these 'other' stories is the horror story of SIDS. This is a version of SIDS that is often recounted in the media and has two main facets. One of these facets is the horror story concerned with the sudden death of an apparently healthy baby; the other is a particular narrative or story that circulated and was emphasised at the turn of the new millennium, in which SIDS deaths were scrutinised, and the inference made in some quarters was that some of these deaths at least were suspicious.