Ratings7
Average rating4.1
The “worthy and frightening sequel” (Stephen King) to the acclaimed and “unforgettable” (Harlan Coben) New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling novel Chasing the Boogeyman. Back in the summer of 1988, a young Richard Chizmar was catapulted into the center of a living nightmare as the serial killer Joshua Gallagher—dubbed by the media as “The Boogeyman”—stalked his tranquil Maryland town. A lot has changed in the intervening years. These days, Chizmar enjoys a certain level of celebrity and notoriety himself, being the only person that an incarcerated Josh Gallagher will speak to on or off the record. Chizmar likes to believe that he’s doing the world a public service by visiting Gallagher in prison, as there are plenty of other nameless victims out there who Gallagher might finally admit to killing and bring closure to grieving loved ones, and a dark rhythm and routine begin to take hold. But Chizmar eventually finds there’s a price to be paid for dancing with the devil, when a masked figure with all the hallmarks of Gallagher’s reign of terror from thirty years ago now leaves a horrifying calling card in front of Chizmar’s home, and it’s clear there’s a new player on the board in the ongoing game that the Boogeyman controls… A riveting, haunting sequel to the New York Times bestselling thriller Chasing the Boogeyman, this is a tale of obsession and the adulation of evil, exploring modern society’s true crime infatuation with unflinching honesty, sparing no one from the glare of the spotlight. Will those involved walk away from the story of a lifetime in order to keep their loved ones safe? Or will they once again be drawn into a killer’s web? As the story draws to its shattering conclusion, only one person holds all the answers—and he just may be the most terrifying monster of them all.
Featured Series
2 primary booksThe Boogeyman is a 2-book series with 2 primary works first released in 2021 with contributions by Richard Chizmar.
Reviews with the most likes.
This was a great sequel to chasing the Boogeyman. It had some terrifying scenes but it also made me crack up. I can't wait to read the next book in this series!
The author kindly provided me an ARC to review. Becoming the Boogeyman by Richard Chizmar, sequel to 2021's Chasing the Boogeyman, is an excellent meta-fiction horror follow-up. Again taking the format of a true crime novel, this book blends elements of Chizmar's real life with a thrilling narrative following the author-as-character's life years after the events of the first book. The Boogeyman might have been caught in the prior installment, but when similar murders start up again Richard Chizmar finds himself asking who and how once again. If you enjoyed the first book I think you'll find a lot to love in this one too. In the author's note, Chizmar acknowledges that he originally intended for Chasing the Boogeyman to stand alone, and honestly my feelings about this sequel are similar to my thoughts on Stephen Graham Jones' Don't Fear the Reaper: we don't really need it, but I'm glad we have it. In both instances we get to see the protagonist years after the initial story, and they basically do more of the same things but with a different prospective. Becoming the Boogeyman has loads of creepy and tense moments, it made me Google what a window well was (iykyk), and I certainly didn't see many events of the plot coming. Chizmar got even more ambitious in weaving this story together across multiple formats or “sources”, and I think he was largely successful. I had a lot of fun reading this one. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫