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This villain was proposed but was rejected by the community for not being heinous enough or lacks what is necessary to be a Pure Evil villain. Therefore, this villain shall be added to our "Never Again List", where proposed villains rejected by the community shall be placed to prevent future proposals of the same evil-doer. They can be proposed again (with the permission of an administrator) if new elements appear in their series that can change their status as non-PE villains.

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Dr Harper: Who killed the children?
Lester: The Boogeyman, the Boogeyman killed them all. Just came out of the closet and killed them. He twisted around and grinned. You think I'm crazy, all right. It's written all over you. But I don't care. All I want to do is tell you and then get lost.
~ Lester talking about the Boogeyman to his doctor.

The Boogeyman is the titular main antagonist of the short story of the same name, written by Stephen King, first published in the March 1973 issue of the magazine Cavalier, and later collected in King's 1978 collection Night Shift.

It is a horrific monster that sadistically tortures and kills children, it aims next to the protagonist Lester and his family. For its film counterpart, see here.

Appearance[]

There are no precise descriptions in the story about the physical aspect of the Boogeyman. On the first occasion in which Lester Billings, the protagonist of the story, manages to catch a glimpse of him, he is described as a creature with a head similar to that of a scarecrow, with sloping shoulders and hands armed with sharp claws. It gives off a disgusting smell, similar to that of putrefied meat, and is assumed to be alive in damp places since, when it moves, it emits clammy noises and leaves a trail of damp dirt when it moves. Lester Billings speculates that it could also move into the sewers.

Personality[]

Equally vague is the personality of this creature: the Boogeyman takes aim at Lester Billings and his family for no apparent reason, hiding in their home, in the closet of the children's bedroom, killing the eldest son Danny, the second-born daughter Shirl and even going chasing Billings and his family after their move, finding them after a year and killing their third-born son Andy. Demonstrates traits of strong sadism, mainly drawing pleasure from the terror he instills in his victims: this is demonstrated in the passages of the story in which he makes Shirl convulsions for fear, or when, taking advantage of the absence of Rita, the wife of Billings (moved away from home to assist the sick mother) to venture out of the closet and walk around the house making sure to wake Billings and make him go out of horror by making him hear the sounds of his movement. Usually, he prefers to wait before proceeding with the killings, having fun terrorizing his victims several times for several nights and then attacking and killing them.

Biography[]

As mentioned earlier, the Boogeyman targets Lester Billings, his wife Rita, and their children Danny and Shirl. Nothing is known about the Boogeyman: where it comes from, what it is exactly, and why it takes action against Billings. His first victim is Danny, the couple's firstborn son, who is persecuted for a few nights and then killed (it is not explained how he kills him, but the child is found in his cradle in a lake of blood). Then he kills the second daughter, Shirl, frightening her until she gets a brain convulsion during which the girl suffocates with her own tongue (shortly before his death, Lester sees the creature move in the dark of the room, near the closet).

Then when Lester and Rita have a third child, Andy, and move to another city to rebuild their lives after the bereavements suffered, the Boogeyman decides to look for them, succeeding, after a year-long hunt, in finding them and restores himself in their closet. Then when Rita leaves home to assist the sick mother, the Boogeyman begins to act more boldly and sadistically, leaving the closet and wandering around the house, making enough noise to wake Lester up and terrorize him. Then when the man, scared to death, decides to move Andy - who until then had slept in his parents' room - to another room, the creature goes to his room, first terrifying him and then grabbing him and shaking him enough strong enough to break the neck bone, under Lester's terrified and impotent eyes.

Some time after these events, the Boogeyman has not yet given up persecuting Lester. Then he disguises himself as a man, taking on the appearance of Dr. Harper, a psychologist to whom Lester, divorced from Rita and now completely mad with grief and terror, asked for advice (it is not clear if the Boogeyman killed Dr. Harper and replaced him or if Dr. Harper never existed and is simply a fictitious identity created by the Boogeyman). At the end of Lester's delusional account of the whole affair, the Boogeyman reveals himself to Lester for who he really is, sadistically showing him the human mask he wore all the time of the interview. Whether he killed Lester or not is not specified.

Trivia[]

  • The Boogeyman's pleasure in instilling fear in his victims before killing them recalls Pennywise/IT's similar pleasure in terrorizing his prey. It is not known, however, whether the modus operandi of the two monsters are somehow connected.

Navigation[]

           Kingster KingVillain

Novels/Novellas
Carrie: Carrie White | Mortimer Snerds (Chris Hargensen, Donna and Mary Lila Grace Thibodeau, Helen Shyres, Heather Shyres & Tina Blake) | Margaret White | Billy Nolan | Ralph White | Rachel Lang | New Bates Football Players (Mark Bing | Coach Walsh | Brad Winters | Eric Stark | Lou Stark | Tracy Campbell | Chuck Potter | Monica Jones | Jay)

Salem's Lot: Kurt Barlow | Richard Straker | Marsten House
The Shining: Overlook Hotel | Jack Torrance | Hotel Caretaker | Grady Sisters | Lorraine Massey
Children of the Corn: Children of the Corn (Isaac Chroner & Malachai Boardman) | He Who Walks Behind the Rows
Rage: Charlie Decker | Mr. Decker
The Stand: Randall Flagg | Barry Dorgan | Bobby Terry | Harold Lauder | Julie Lawry | Lloyd Henreid | Nadine Cross | The Kid | The Rat Man | Trashcan Man | Whitney Horgan
The Long Walk: The Major | Gary Barkovitch
The Dead Zone: Greg Stillson | Frank Dodd
The Mist: The Mist | Mrs. Carmody | Adrian Garff
Firestarter: Captain Hollister | Doctor Herman Pynchot | John Rainbird
Roadwork: Barton George Dawes | Sal Magliore
Cujo: Cujo | Joe Camber | Stephen Kemp
The Running Man: Damon Killian | United States of America
Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption: Samuel Norton | Byron Hadley | Sisters (Bogs Diamond) | Elmo Blatch
Apt Pupil: Kurt Dussander | Todd Bowden
The Body: The Cobras (John "Ace" Merrill, Richard "Eyeball" Chambers, Billy Tessio, Charlie Hogan, Vince Desjardins, Jack Mudgett & Norman "Fuzzy" Bracowicz)
Christine: Arnie Cunningham | Christine | Repperton Gang | Roland D. LeBay
Pet Sematary: Wendigo | Church | Gage Creed | Rachel Creed | Timmy Baterman
Cycle of the Werewolf: Lester Lowe
The Tailsman: Morgan Sloat
Thinner: Billy Halleck | Tadzu Lempke | Cary Rossington | Duncan Hopley | Gabe Romani | Gina Lempke | Richie Ginelli
Dolan's Cadillac: Jimmy Dolan
It: It/Pennywise | Leroy Hanlon | Bowers Gang (Belch Huggins, Henry Bowers, Marcia Fadden, Patrick Hockstetter, Peter Gordon & Vic Criss) | Alvin Marsh | Butch Bowers | Richard Macklin | Tom Rogan | Christopher Unwin | Webby Garton
Misery: Annie Wilkes
The Tommyknockers: Tommyknockers | Nancy Voss
The Dark Half: George Stark
Secret Window, Secret Garden: John Shooter
The Langoliers: Craig Toomey | Langoliers | Roger Toomey
Needful Things: Leland Gaunt | John "Ace" Merrill | Danforth Keeton III | Brian Rusk | Wilma Jerzyck | Nettie Cobb | Hugh Preist | Father Brigham (Father Meehan) | Reverend Rose
Gerald's Game: Gerald Burlingame | Moonlight Man | Tom Mahout
Dolores Claiborne: Joe St. George
Insomnia: Atropos | Crimson King
Rose Madder: Norman Daniels
The Green Mile: William Wharton | Percy Wetmore
Desperation: Tak | Sheriff Collie Entragian
The Regulators: Tak
Bag of Bones: Max Devore | Sara Tidwell | Roggete Whitmore
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon: God of the Lost
Dreamcatcher: Byrus | Mr. Gray
Black House: Charles Burnside | The Crow Gorg | Mr. Munshun
From a Buick 8: The Buick
Cell: Phone Crazies | Raggedy Man
Lisey's Story: Andrew Landon | Jim Dooley | Long Boy
The Gingerbread Girl: Jim Pickering
Duma Key: Perse | Undead Victims
Under the Dome: Jim Rennie | Junior Rennie | Phil Bushey | Leatherheads
1922: Wilfred James | Henry James | Shannon Cotterie
Big Driver: Lester Norville | Ramona Norville
A Good Marriage: Robert Bob Anderson
11/22/63: Lee Harvey Oswald | Frank Dunning
In The Tall Grass: Ross Humboldt | Cal Demuth
Doctor Sleep: The True Knot (Rose the Hat, Crow Daddy, Grandpa Flick, Barry the Chink & Snakebite Andi) | Andy Hallorann
Bill Hodges Trilogy: Brady Hartsfield | Morris Bellamy
Gwendy's Button Box: Richard Farris
The Outsider: The Outsider
Fairy Tale: Gogmagog | Elden | Petra | Kellin | Hana | Red Molly | Peterkin | Christopher Polley

Short Stories
Cain Rose Up: Curt Garrish
The Mangler: Bill Gartley | The Mangler
The Boogeyman: The Boogeyman
Trucks: Westway Refrigerated Truck | Bulldozer
The Ledge: Cressner
Jerusalem's Lot: Philip Boone | James Boon | The Worm
Quitter's Inc.: Mr. Donatti | Quitters Inc.
The Crate: Crate Beast
Crouch End: The Children | The Goat with a Thousand Young
The Monkey: The Monkey
The Raft: Lake Blob
Word Processor of the Gods: Richard Hagstrom | Roger Hagstrom
Gramma: Gramma Bruckner
The Night Flier: Dwight Renfield
Low Men in Yellow Coats: Harry Doolin
Blind Willie: Raymond Fiegler
Why We're In Vietnam: Ronnie Malenfant
Lunch at the Gotham Café: Guy

Films
The Shining: Overlook Hotel (Lloyd, Lorraine Massey & Hotel Caretaker) | Jack Torrance
Creepshow: Creepshow Creep | Crate Beast | Nathan Grantham | Richard Vickers | Upson Pratt | Wilma Northrup
Cat's Eye: Cressner | Mr. Donatti | Quitters Inc. | Troll
Maximum Overdrive: Bubba Hendershot | Camp Loman | Happy Toyz Truck | Ice Cream Truck | M274 Mule | Vending Machine
A Return to Salem's Lot: Judge Axle
Creepshow 2: Creepshow Creep | Creepshow Bullies | Lake Blob | Sam Whitemoon | The HitchHiker
Sleepwalkers: Charles Brady | Mary Brady | Sleepwalkers
Pet Sematary 2: Gus Gilbert | Renee Hallow | Clyde Parker | Zowie
The Mangler Trilogy: Bill Gartley | The Mangler | Lin Sue | The Mangler Virus
The Rage: Carrie 2: Rachel Lang | Mark Bing
Creepshow 3: Creepshow Creep | Rachel
The Dark Tower: Randall Flagg
It: Part One: It/Pennywise | Bowers Gang (Henry Bowers, Vic Criss | Belch Huggins & Patrick Hockstetter)
Pet Sematary (2019): Ellie Creed
It: Part Two: It | Henry Bowers | Tom Rogan
Doctor Sleep: The True Knot (Rose the Hat, Crow Daddy, Grandpa Flick, Barry the Chink & Snakebite Andi) | Overlook Hotel (Jack Torrance, Hotel Caretaker & Lorraine Massey)
The Boogeyman: Boogeyman
Salem's Lot: Kurt Barlow (Richard Straker, Mike Ryerson & Danny Glick)

TV Series
The Stand: Randall Flagg | Harold Lauder | Julie Lawry | Nadine Cross | The Rat Woman | Trashcan Man
The Shining: Overlook Hotel | Jack Torrance | Hotel Caretaker | Lorraine Massey
Storm of the Century: André Linoge
Rose Red: Professor Joyce Reardon | Ellen Rimbauer
Under the Dome: Big Jim Rennie | Junior Rennie | Phil Bushey | The Kinship (Christine Price & Dawn Sinclair-Barbara)
The Outsider: The Outsider

Other
The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer: Ellen Rimbauer

See Also
The Dark Tower Villains

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