1/6
The Boogeyman is a horror staple, possibly because of the character's unnatural ability to feel so *real.* His origins seem to predate the written word, and is seen consistently across many cultures and in folklore. But what exactly makes him so frightening? Even to grown adults?
Stephen King's short story "The Boogeyman" provides part of the answer. The protagonist, Lester Billings, is rather unlikable. Throughout the course of the story, many readers feel a growing sense of distaste at his thoughts and actions. Still yet, the implications of parenthood are what make this story frightening:
| 'I can't go to a priest because I'm not a Catholic. I can't go to a lawyer because I haven't done
| anything to consult a lawyer about. All I did was kill my kids. One at a time. Killed them all.'
|
| Dr Harper turned on the tape recorder.
|
| Billings lay straight as a yardstick on the couch, not giving it an inch of himself. His feet protruded
| stiffly over the end. Picture of a man enduring necessary humiliation. His hands were folded corpselike
| on his chest. His face was carefully set. He looked at the plain white composition ceiling as if seeing
| scenes and pictures played out there.
|
| 'Do you mean you actually killed them, or–'
|
| 'No.' Impatient flick of the hand. 'But I was responsible. Denny in 1967. Shirl in
| 1971. And Andy this year. I want to tell you about it.'
>>17054405
2/6
Even from the first few sentences, something feels off. We come to learn that Mr. Billing's children died under unnatural circumstances. We note his growing paranoia of closets, and King's nightmarish description builds up this awful sense of dread about the whole thing. In particular, this story is the bridge between a child's fear of the unknown, and our own fears as adults. It is an adult's nightmare to see their children die. Furthermore, when we remember our own childhood, we tap into the unhinged fear that kept us in a cold sweat under our blankets. For a parent to see their child's fear, allows the parent to feel it too. In King's story, the character of the boogeyman is as effective as ever.
| 'Anyway, he died the summer after Shirl was born. I put him to bed that night and he started to cry
| right off. I heard what he said that time. He pointed right at the closet when he said it. "
| Boogeyman," the kid says. "Boogeyman, Daddy."
|
| 'I turned off the light and went into our room and asked Rita why she wanted to teach the kid a word
| like that. I was tempted to slap her around a little, but I didn't. She said she never taught him to say
| that. I called her a goddamn liar.
>>17054406
3/6
It's important to note the uncanny commonality between the descriptions and emotions of the character. In almost all appearances the boogeyman makes in folklore or creative work, he is always frightening. His appearance is usually ambiguous, even suggesting that he can transform to what scares the child the most. Other characters, while not named the boogeyman, share common traits. One popular African folk-tale, "Wiley and the Hairy Man," features a creature fitting most of the expected boogeyman abilities. The hairy man is a demonic entity, which can transform into any creature imaginable. He mostly resides in bogs and forests, and is documented to steal children away in a canvas sack. Frightening stuff. Especially if you're walking in the forest at night.
Of course, it would be a missed opportunity not to mention the viral "Slenderman" character. To briefly look into the entity, let's check out an excerpt from this short story:
| As she walked by the front door, she decided that a quick glance out of the peep hole would help calm
| her restless mind. The chill worsened with each step she took towards the door and further away from the
| safety and warmth of her blankets. She pressed her empty hand against the cold, metal door and took a deep
| breath before leading her eye to the peep hole.
|
| At first, she could only see an inky blackness and somehow seemed to swirl in itself. When she
| blinked in surprise, the void melted away. She wished it hadn’t. In it’s place, there stood what she
| could only guess was once a man. The limbs were long and inhumanly awkward, with bulky joints
| branching off into several arms, not unlike the branches of a tree. The creature was drapped in a
| black suit, somehow manking the thing more nightmarish to her. The icing on the proverbial cake,
| however, was what passed as the hellish thing’s face. It was as though her mind blurred the ghastly
| visage to spare itself further shock and horror.
>>17054408
4/6
Human-like. That's the key here. It's why many are afraid of dolls, mannequins, and creatures similar to this description. Things that are almost human, but not. The uncanny valley. If something vaguely resembles a person, it creates a hot-spot for frightening things. Let's create a scenario: you're walking down the road, heading home after a long day at your full-time job. The winter mist hazes up the street a couple dozen yards ahead. You see something moving about in it, something with arms and legs, but it's been disfigured. You can make out tendrils, long barbed hairs jutting out from its back. For now it's only silhouette, but you wouldn't want to get closer, would you?
While the description is fairly anti-septic, you can see how easily we are afraid of things almost like us. Take a normal person, remove the face, give it appendages foreign to ourselves, and you're on the right track. Now, we also don't want to forget the power of main characters, especially in fiction. A monster is only as scary as the characters are relatable to the reader. Back to our earlier point, the boogeyman has power over adults through our relationship with our children, even if it's for differing reasons. The humanoid trope is used effectively in the Resident Evil series, especially in the transformation scenes. When William Birkin injects himself with the "G-virus," he transforms into a hideous creature reminiscent of Lovecraft and H. R. Geiger:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VV1utjVPw2E
To think that such an awful thing was human only minutes ago, makes the experience disturbing, despite the PlayStation 2 graphics. Metamorphosis and mutation seem to also be key factors in what gives us fear. To drive this point further, we can look at the opening to Nicole Cushing's short story "The Orchard of Hanging Trees."
>>17054409
5/6
| It’s another cool April morning in Hell, and the hanging trees (just saplings, really) are starting
| to sprout fleshy, strangled buds that look like choking fetuses caught up in tiny, umbilical nooses.
|
| Their embryonic faces haven’t yet developed features, but I know as the days get longer their lips
| will grow into a grimace; their eyes will ooze agony. I have already been warned that their first
| cries (when they can utter them) will be those of breathless suffering. Their first words, pleas for
| help. The curses will follow shortly thereafter.
Being outside of our normal bodies is a concept that frightens. To appear grotesque, and to see something which was once physically human (and might even still have human thoughts,) is the stuff of nightmares. Who's to say the boogeyman isn't exactly this? While digging a bit deep, there's no clear documentation stating the boogeyman wasn't once a person like yourself. This idea was used in the film "Insidious," where the monsters are merely people trapped in a dark, empty space in the afterlife. As many work of fiction and film have proven, many of our "grown-up" monsters are other people. And really, this takes us back to the start. The boogeyman is ambiguous. He can be anyone, anything, and equally torments those he sees fit. C. K. Walker's viral short story "Borrasca" uses this technique. As children, we want to make things fantastical and other-worldly. While it may turn out the monsters are not real, they exist as people in the real world. Another beautiful use of this, is Jacob Streilein's animated short, "There's a Man in the Woods."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUmkf_l38fA
>>17054413
6/6
The scary truth, is that monsters are real. They might be your schoolteacher, your parents, the man down the street who's always a little to happy to shake your hand. When we grow older, we forget them. We look back and realize that our childhood fears are based on imagination. But we must watch out for them. The boogeyman. They're everywhere, and they're not afraid to show themselves. The next time you're in town, take note of those who pass you by. How many of them are boogeymen? Unfortunately, someone will find out. It might even be you.
Oh yes, and make sure the closet door is always shut. Always.
**ADDITIONAL LINKS AND FUN STUFF:
Pseudopod: "The Orchard of Hanging Trees" audiobook podcast – http://pseudopod.org/2012/04/13/pseudopod-277-the-orchard-of-hanging-trees/
Stephen King's "The Boogeyman" short story – http://www.scasd.org/cms/lib5/PA01000006/Centricity/Domain/1252/The%20Boogeyman.pdf
Henry Hall's "Hush, Hush, Hush, Here Comes the Boogeyman" song – https://archive.org/details/HushHushHushHereComesTheBogeyManByHenryHall
"The Nail" horror story about a boogeyman-eque entity - http://www.creepypasta.com/nail/
"The Boogeyman" by Vincent Cava - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLKUyWIgcpI
>>17054405
>>17054406
>>17054408
>>17054409
>>17054413
>>17054417
Very concise and well-thought out thread, OP. Bretty good. I feel dumb for not knowing that King made an actual story about the actual boogie man, but I'm definitely reading that tonight. Of course that prick doesn't just let us be scared of the guy himself, but throws all this parental responsibility crap in. What a bro, lol.
>>17055867
It's a great story. Really takes the boogeyman to a whole other level of creepy, especially with the dream sequences. Truly a bro. lol
If there's a demand for more threads like these, I have a couple ideas in mind. Suggestions are also appreciated.
>>17055963
>>17054405
Here's to you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bloByv-UGkI
Had this shit on CD back in the early 90s.
>>17055963
I'd sure read through another thread like this. Only suggestion I would have is work a bit on the flow. I'm just nitpicking here, truly, but the subjects bounced around a bit much for me personally. It was super easy to follow, but my writing lizard brain gets a bit triggered by the way some of the different creatures are sorta just plopped in there with no intro/outro.
Again, totally nitpicking. Great read.
>>17057456
Thanks for the critique! Admittedly, there were very little changes made to the first draft. It's the kind of thing where the massive amount of content struggles to contain itself in coherent thought. But, for the next thread, I'm applying a little more format. So long as there is interest, I'll keep 'em up.
Oh yeah, and I hope length doesn't bother y'all. These things get kinda extensive on the page.
>>17057777
Length doesn't bother me at all. What knocks a thread out faster than a coed at a frat party is when you just post walls and walls of text with no breaks or anything. You did fine in that regard, my friend, especially with the quotes I think it worked out quite well.
