What is the Boogeyman monster? Stephen King has been responsible for bringing us some of the best fictional villains over the decades, including clowns, rabid dogs, and axe-wielding fathers.
But The Boogeyman marks a new breed of Stephen King movie villains, one which comes from his short story rather than his extended works. And the new horror movie serves to make this legend the star of the show.
But whether you’ve seen the movie and need a refresher, or you just want to know what you’re in for, we’ve gone ahead and compiled everything you need to know about the Boogeyman monster. Spoilers ahead for The Boogeyman ending.
What is the Boogeyman monster?
In both the movie and the Stephen King short story, the Boogeyman is a monster that lives in the closet and ventures out to murder children.
In the short story, Lester Billings explains to Dr Harper that the Boogeyman is responsible for murdering his three young children, all of which cried out, “Boogeyman!” before meeting their untimely end.
The Boogeyman survives in the dark, and seems to inhabit the bedroom closets most of all, teasing its victims by terrorizing them and causing extreme fear.
In the story, the Boogeyman is also a shapeshifter, and reveals itself to Lester Billings in the end after disguising itself as Dr Harper.
In the new movie, the Boogeyman has the same modus operandi, hiding out in the Harper’s house and only venturing out when there is little to no light. The Boogeyman is particularly drawn to the Harper family because of their recent loss, meaning they are especially emotionally exposed.
It appears in the form of a tall, lanky creature with multiple arms. It’s able to crawl up the walls and move at extreme speeds. It has small eyes and a large mouth, which also opens to reveal another face inside its own jaws.
How do you kill the Boogeyman?
In the movie, the Harper family kill the Boogeyman by covering it in gasoline and setting it on fire.
Since the Boogeyman has an aversion to light, this seems like the most surefire way to take it down.
When the Boogeyman meets its end, it releases a horrific sound that seems as if it may be the wails of those it has previously killed. But with all this, we still don’t know if the Boogeyman is really dead, since the final scene seems to hint that Sadie might have another encounter after spying an open closet door.
See what we thought of the monster movie in our The Boogeyman review, and check out how to watch the new Stephen King movie. We’ve also got to sit down with one of the stars, Chris Messina, to talk about what scares him.
In the meantime, we’ve also got lists of the best ghost movies and best monster movies you can watch now, as well as a list of the best movies of all time.