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| "The Boogeyman" | |
|---|---|
| Short story by Stephen King | |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Horror, short story |
| Publication | |
| Published in | Night Shift |
| Publisher | Doubleday |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Publication date | 1978 |
"The Boogeyman" is a short story by Stephen King, first published in the March 1973 issue of the magazine Cavalier and later included in King's 1978 collection, Night Shift .
The story takes place in the office of Dr. Harper, a psychiatrist, where a man named Lester Billings talks to the doctor about the "murders" of his three young children, describing the events of the past several years. His first two children died mysteriously of apparently unrelated causes (diagnosed as crib death and convulsions, respectively) when left alone in their bedrooms. The only commonalities were that the children cried "boogeyman!" before being left alone, and the closet door being ajar after discovering their corpses, even though Lester is certain the door was shut.
Approximately a year after their second child's death, Lester's wife, Rita, became pregnant with their son Andy and subsequently moved to a different neighborhood, far from the old one. A year passes without incident, with Andy sleeping in the master bedroom with Lester and Rita. Lester believes that the monster eventually tracked his family down, intruding in the house and slithering around at night. Not long after, Rita leaves to take care of her ill mother, leaving Lester and Andy alone.
Feeling the malevolent presence growing bolder in his wife's absence, Lester began to panic and decided to move Andy to a separate bedroom, knowing that the monster would go for him. That night, Andy cried "boogeyman!" while being put to bed and, an hour later, was attacked and killed by the boogeyman. Lester, upon seeing the creature throttling Andy, fled to a local 24-hour diner. He later returned home at dawn, called the police, and discovered Andy's corpse on the floor with the closet door ajar. Lester convinced the police that Andy had attempted to climb out of his crib during the night and broken his neck.
As Lester finishes his story and starts to leave, Dr. Harper recommends making future appointments with the nurse. Finding the nurse absent, Lester returns to Harper's office and finds it empty, with the closet door ajar. The boogeyman emerges from the closet, casting off its disguise of Dr. Harper.
The story was adapted into a short film by Jeff C. Schiro in 1982. [1]
A feature film of the same name was released on June 2, 2023, by 20th Century Studios. [2] Written by Scott Beck, Bryan Woods, and Mark Heyman, and directed by Rob Savage, it stars Sophie Thatcher, Chris Messina, [3] David Dastmalchian, Marin Ireland, Vivien Lyra Blair, and Madison Hu. [4]
Different Seasons (1982) is a collection of four Stephen King novellas with a more dramatic bent, rather than the horror fiction for which King is famous. The four novellas are tied together via subtitles that relate to each of the four seasons. The collection is notable for having three out of its four novellas turned into Hollywood films, one of which, The Shawshank Redemption, was nominated for the 1994 Academy Award for Best Picture, and another of which, Stand by Me, was nominated for the 1986 Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Night Shift is Stephen King's first collection of short stories, first published in 1978. In 1980, Night Shift won the Balrog Award for Best Collection, and in 1979 it was nominated as best collection for the Locus Award and the World Fantasy Award.
A bedroom or bedchamber is a room situated within a residential or accommodation unit characterised by its usage for sleeping. A typical western bedroom contains as bedroom furniture one or two beds, a clothes closet, and bedside table and dressing table, both of which usually contain drawers. Except in bungalows, ranch style homes, ground floor apartments, or one-storey motels, bedrooms are usually on one of the floors of a dwelling that is above ground level. Beds range from a crib for an infant; a single or twin bed for a toddler, child, teenager or single adult; to bigger sizes like a full, double, queen, king or California king). Beds and bedrooms are often devised to create barriers to insects and vermin, especially mosquitoes, and to dampen or contain light or noise to aid sleep and privacy.
Boogeyman is a 2005 supernatural horror film directed by Stephen Kay and starring Barry Watson, Emily Deschanel, Skye McCole Bartusiak, Tory Mussett, Charles Mesure, and Lucy Lawless. Written by Eric Kripke, Juliet Snowden, and Stiles White, from a story by Kripke, the film is a new take on the classic "boogeyman", or monster in the closet, who is the eponymous antagonist of the film. The plot concerns a young man, Tim Jensen, who must confront the childhood terror that has affected his life.
The Dollar Baby was an arrangement in which American author Stephen King would grant permission to students and aspiring filmmakers or theater producers to adapt one of his short stories for $1. King retains the rights to his work, but as he began to experience commercial success, he decided to use the Dollar Baby to help the next generation of creatives. The term may be used to refer to both the adaptation itself and the person adapting it; for example, "The Sun Dog" was made as a Dollar Baby and filmmaker Matt Flesher became a Dollar Baby upon adapting it.
The Night Flier is a 1997 American horror film based on the 1988 short story of the same name by Stephen King. Directed and co-written by Mark Pavia, the film stars Miguel Ferrer as Richard Dees, a tabloid reporter who, while investigating a series of murders committed in airfields, begins to suspect that the killer may be a vampire.
Firestarter is a 1984 American science fiction thriller horror film based on Stephen King's 1980 novel of the same name. The plot concerns a girl who develops pyrokinesis and the secret government agency known as The Shop which seeks to control her. The film was directed by Mark L. Lester, and stars David Keith, Drew Barrymore, Martin Sheen and George C. Scott. Firestarter was shot in and around Wilmington, Chimney Rock, and Lake Lure, North Carolina.
Among the Sleep is a first-person survival horror action-adventure video game developed by Norwegian developer Krillbite Studio for Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It was released on 29 May 2014 in North America for the PC. The PlayStation 4 version was released on 10 December 2015 while the Xbox One version was released on 3 June 2016. A definitive remaster titled Among The Sleep: Enhanced Edition was released for Windows on 2 November 2017, and later released for PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch on 29 May 2019.
David Dastmalchian is an American actor, writer, and producer. He has had supporting roles in a number of superhero franchises: he portrayed Thomas Schiff in The Dark Knight (2008), Kurt and Veb in the Ant-Man franchise, Abra Kadabra in the CW's The Flash, and Polka-Dot Man in The Suicide Squad (2021).
Andrés Walter Muschietti is an Argentinian-American film director and screenwriter who had his breakthrough with the 2013 film Mama. He gained further recognition for directing both films in the It film series, the 2017 film adaptation of the Stephen King novel and its 2019 sequel, It Chapter Two. In 2023, he directed the DC Extended Universe film The Flash.
Mark Heyman is an American screenwriter and film producer who is best known for co-writing Black Swan (2010), The Skeleton Twins (2014), and The Boogeyman (2023). He also created the television series Strange Angel which aired on Paramount+ for two seasons.
Lights Out is a 2013 Swedish supernatural horror short film directed, written, produced, shot, and scored by David F. Sandberg and starring Sandberg's wife Lotta Losten. The film was released online on 30 December 2013 on both Vimeo and YouTube. The short film was the basis of an eponymous 2016 film adaptation, also directed by Sandberg.
Madison Hu is an American actress. She is known for playing the role of Frankie Wong on the Disney Channel series Bizaardvark, and for her previous recurring role as Marci on another Disney Channel series, Best Friends Whenever. More recently she played Grace, a recurring role in the American action comedy drama series The Brothers Sun, which premiered in January 2024.
Sophie Bathsheba Thatcher is an American actress and musician. She is best known for starring as young Natalie Scatorccio in Showtime's psychological drama series Yellowjackets (2021–present), and for her appearance as Drash in The Book of Boba Fett (2022).
Firestarter is a 2022 American science fiction horror film directed by Keith Thomas, from a screenplay by Scott Teems, based on Stephen King's novel of the same name, and a remake of the 1984 film of the same name. The film stars Zac Efron, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Sydney Lemmon, Kurtwood Smith, John Beasley, Michael Greyeyes, and Gloria Reuben. It is produced by Jason Blum and Akiva Goldsman under their Blumhouse Productions and Weed Road Pictures banners, respectively, alongside BoulderLight Pictures and Night Platform.
Mr. Harrigan's Phone is a 2022 American horror drama film written and directed by John Lee Hancock. It is based on the novella of the same name by Stephen King from the collection If It Bleeds. The film stars Donald Sutherland, Jaeden Martell, Joe Tippett, and Kirby Howell-Baptiste. It follows Craig who has a strong friendship with retired businessman John Harrigan; both get their first iPhones after the former wins a lottery. Despite the latter's death, a supernatural connection persists between them through their phones, one of which is buried alongside Harrigan.
The Boogeyman is a 2023 American supernatural horror film directed by Rob Savage from a screenplay by Scott Beck, Bryan Woods, and Mark Heyman, and a screen story by Beck and Woods. Based on the 1973 short story of the same name by Stephen King, the film follows a family that becomes haunted by the Boogeyman after a troubled man visits and inadvertently brings the creature to them. The ensemble cast includes Sophie Thatcher, Chris Messina, Vivien Lyra Blair, and David Dastmalchian.
Vivien Lyra Blair is an American child actress. She made her debut in Band Aid (2017) and rose to prominence for her role as Girl in Bird Box (2018). Blair garnered further recognition for her appearances in video game Telling Lies (2019) and superhero film We Can Be Heroes (2020). In 2022, she received critical praise for her portrayal of Leia Organa in the streaming series Obi-Wan Kenobi. She later had a supporting role in the horror film The Boogeyman (2023).
Rob Savage is an English filmmaker. Initially gaining attention at the age of 19 when he wrote, directed, produced and edited the low-budget romantic drama film Strings (2012), he later became more widely known for his work in horror films and has since co-written and directed Host (2020), co-written and directed Dashcam (2021), and directed The Boogeyman (2023).
