The Boogeyman

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1973

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Themes

The Nature of Fear

Fear is a common theme in King’s work, appearing in most of his novels and short stories—especially the effect of fear on the human psyche. Lester’s narrative is driven by fear (his own and that of his children), and he reacts to it in several ways throughout the story. His final confrontation with the Boogeyman represents him ultimately succumbing to fear entirely.

At the beginning of Lester’s story, his greatest fear seems to be that Denny will grow up to be a “sissy.” He worries that his son will be spoiled and neurotic due to coddling and overprotection. When Denny claims to have seen a boogeyman, Lester is annoyed that someone taught his son about this frightening concept. In an attempt to toughen his children up, he employs harsh tactics, ignoring their anxieties and making them sleep without a nightlight. His urge to eliminate fear in his children suggests that Lester despises himself for his own fears. As he asserts to Dr. Harper, “If a kid doesn’t get over being afraid of the dark when he’s little, he never gets over it” (102). Lester’s narrative reveals him to be harbor many fears that have their roots in childhood.

Lester’s growing belief in the existence of a monster in the closet emphasizes the link between fear and the human imagination. As a character, the Boogeyman embodies fear of the unknown. One of the monster’s most terrifying aspects is the unspecified form that he takes. Hiding in closets, he disguises himself, leaving those who fear him to envision his hideous characteristics. The more the other characters dwell on him, the more real he becomes. Thus, Lester begins to believe that he has somehow manifested the Boogeyman, admitting to Dr. Harper, “I started to think, maybe if you think of a thing long enough, and believe in it, it gets real” (109). In other words, Lester begins to believe that it wasn’t just the Boogeyman that killed his first two children but fear itself. In Shirl’s case, he is convinced that her deadly convulsion was caused by fright.

Lester’s fear of the Boogeyman also hints at other unspoken anxieties. His fear of “the other” is exhibited in his slurs about people of color and his tendency to make derogatory generalizations about women, such as their liking to “tie a man down” (101). Despite his disparaging references to Rita, the text also suggests that, before their divorce, Lester fears losing his wife. Thus, when Rita leaves to care for her mother, the Boogeyman’s presence becomes more intrusive, breaking mirrors in the night and leaving muddy tracks in the house. Furthermore, Lester’s terror of the monster seems to express a fear of the darkness within himself. As the Boogeyman’s power grows stronger, Lester’s already neglectful parenting declines into pure self-interest, as he takes the nightlight for himself, sacrifices Andy to the monster, and flees the house. By Lester’s own admission, his fear leads him to an act of “complete cowardice,” confirming the worst aspects of his character.

Supernatural Versus Human Monstrosity

In “The Boogeyman,” as in many of King’s works about monsters, there is both a supernatural monster and a human one. The goal of the text is not necessarily to argue which one is worse but to explore the harm people are capable of doing to each other. Just as King argues that horror fiction allows individuals to confront their own mortality from a safe distance, the supernatural monsters accompanying his human ones allow us to examine our harmful or violent tendencies through the protective layer of the fictitious.

Lester represents human monstrosity in the story, and his actions parallel those of the Boogeyman’s. The reader’s sense of horror mounts throughout the narrative not only at the supernatural events but also as Lester’s true character emerges. His misogyny is displayed in his assertion that a wife’s place is to do what her husband tells her, and his claim that the women’s liberation movement “only makes sick people” (107). Lester also displays racism, using slurs to describe people of color and showing no compassion for children killed in the Vietnam War.

Inflicting domestic abuse on his wife and children, Lester harms his family just as the Boogeyman does. He also hurts them psychologically by dismissing their needs. His neglect of his children escalates in his account from a failure to provide them with comfort and a nightlight to his deliberate sacrifice of Andy to save his own life. Lester’s underlying monstrosity is occasionally highlighted by Dr. Harper’s observation of his mannerisms as he talks. A description of Lester “roll[ing] his eyes” and “bar[ing] his teeth in a savage grin” (110) evokes the image of a crazed wild animal. Meanwhile, references to his “rubbery, frightening grin” are suggestive of a monstrous Halloween mask (103).

Accounts of the Boogeyman in the story tap into the primal fear of the unknown. Described through piecemeal descriptions such as his claws and the “squishy noise” he makes, the supernatural monster is shrouded in mystery. To believe in him, readers must, to some extent, suspend disbelief. By contrast, Lester’s warped values and toxic masculinity represent a more mundane monstrosity that is only too credible. As Lester is just a person, it is more difficult to dismiss his behavior or separate it from the world we know. The horror of the story is rooted in the disturbing realization that the most terrifying monsters may be found among us. Through his presentation of supernatural and human monstrosity, King encourages readers to consider which is the more frightening.

Guilt as Self-Punishment

Guilt is, arguably, the driving force behind Lester’s entire story. It is what drives him to seek out Dr. Harper in the first place. However, the text’s representation of Lester’s guilt is cloaked in ambiguity. In the light of Lester’s many failings toward his family, questions are raised about precisely what he feels guilty about. Does he feel responsible for how he treated his family generally, or simply regret conjuring the Boogeyman and failing to protect them from it? The extent of the responsibility he feels remains unclear. The text also hints that Lester does not want to be absolved of his sins but would rather bear his guilt as a form of self-punishment.

One of the first things Lester says to Dr. Harper is “I can’t go to a priest because I’m not Catholic” (100). This seems to reference the Catholic practice of confession, when someone confesses their sins in hopes of absolution. Later, he tells the therapist, “I know you won’t believe me. I don’t care. It doesn’t matter. Just to tell will be enough” (101). He also claims that he wishes he could go to jail. While his reasoning for this is because you can “see into all the rooms in a jail” (101), when coupled with his admission that he feels culpable for his children’s deaths, it becomes clear that guilt played a major role in Lester’s decision to unburden himself to Dr. Harper.

Another reference to Lester’s feelings of remorse appears when he finishes telling the story of Andy’s death and admits he was a coward for fleeing the house. The police believed him when he told them Andy fell from his crib. However, he sensed that Rita knew he was lying. Recollecting his wife’s response, Lester becomes tearful, perhaps suggesting Rita’s recrimination distressed him more than his own actions.

At the end of the story, when Dr. Harper suggests further appointments, Lester resists at first. Dr. Harper suggests that Lester can relieve some of his guilt through therapy, but he must want to get rid of it first. While Lester cries, “Don’t you believe I do?,” Dr. Harper remains unconvinced. Only then does Lester agree to make another appointment. This moment is the only indication that Lester may have changed as a result of the events of the story. However, that change is immediately undercut by the appearance of the Boogeyman.

Ultimately, the story suggests that Lester may choose to carry his guilt as a form of self-punishment, believing that, in this way, he can atone for his sins. An even darker reading would suggest that he does not want to atone for his sins at all.