‘The Boogeyman’ Isn’t an Adaptation of Stephen King’s Story, It’s a Sequel

With Rob Savage’s The Boogeyman now streaming on Hulu, horror fiends — either watching for the first time or re-watching after the theatrical release — may have noticed that the film is not too faithful to the beloved Stephen King short story it is based on. For starters, King’s protagonist, Lester Billings, only shows up for a few minutes, played by the always formidable David Mastmalchian. Instead, the movie follows two new characters, Sawyer (Vivien Lyra Blair) and Sadie (Sophie Thatcher), sisters who become targets for the titular monster. That’s because Savage’s The Boogeyman is not a direct adaptation of King’s short story. It’s actually a sequel.

The Boogeyman (2023)

Still reeling from the tragic death of their mother, a teenage girl and her younger sister find themselves plagued by a sadistic presence in their house and struggle to get their grieving father to pay attention before it’s too late.

Release Date

June 2, 2023

Runtime

99 mins

Studio

20th Century Studios

What’s the Story of Stephen King’s ‘The Boogeyman’?

The Boogeyman was first published in 1973 in an edition of the magazine Cavalier. However, the short story became internationally recognized after 1978, when The Boogeyman was included in King’s 1978 collection, Night Shift. The story occurs in a psychiatrist’s office, where Dr. Harper listens to the farfetched tale of a distressed man named Lester Billings. Lester fathered three children in the years preceding his unnerving therapy session, all dying under mysterious circumstances. The Boogeyman is almost entirely told through Lester’s eyes as the man goes to see Dr. Harper while hoping to get rid of some of the guilt he carries for the death of his children. At first, Dr. Harper and the reader might think Lester suffers from delusions and might be trying to hide the pain he feels by fabricating a tall tale about a supernatural creature hiding inside closets. However, as we turn the pages, we slowly start to believe in the existence of the Boogeyman, as Lester’s tragedies are too numerous for us to blame coincidence alone. And at the end of the short story, we learn that Dr. Harper is, in fact, the Boogeyman in disguise, tormenting his next victim before claiming Lester’s life.

What makes The Boogeyman so terrifying is how Lester’s story turns mundane things into signs there’s a dark force preying on fragile humans. For example, we’ve all entered a room and found a closet door open, wondering if we had forgotten to close it earlier. Whether we believe in ghosts or not, many can say they’ve felt a ghostly (or maybe just eerie) presence by their side in a dark room. Lester’s tale turns these things into undeniable evidence that the Boogeyman is real, which is why King’s short story has such a lasting effect. After reading it, don’t be surprised if you start reacting to the natural sounds a house makes as if the shadow beast were stalking you next. As great as King’s The Boogeyman might be, making a feature-length film with two men talking in a psychiatrist’s office would be impossible. That’s why Savage’s movie turns Lester’s story into the introduction for a sequel.

Rob Savage’s ‘The Boogeyman’ Expands on King’s Short Story

In Savage’s movie adaptation of The Boogeyman, Lester’s therapy session happens just like in King’s original story, with the man sharing his dark story with Dr. Harper (Chris Messina). However, in the movie, Dr. Harper is not the Boogeyman in disguise but a psychiatrist who inadvertently invites the dark presence inside his home. This change allows The Boogeyman to shift the focus to Dr. Harper’s daughters, Sadie and Sawyer, who become the next meal on the creature’s menu. While purists might dislike the changes made to the story by scriptwriters Scott Beck, Bryan Woods, and Mark Heyman, they were necessary for the movie’s success. That’s because, due to this change, The Boogeyman can be free to take the story into new and exciting places, turning King’s creature into a monster that could come back for multiple sequels to torment new families. While The Boogeyman expands on King’s short story, the movie still echoes’ the writer’s concerns about parental negligence.

In King’s short story, Lester feels guilty because he knows that ignoring his children’s fears eventually led them to become victims of the Boogeyman. While telling his story to Dr. Harper, Lester is constantly making disturbing remarks about how he insisted on leaving his children crying alone in their bedroom, as he feared they would grow soft if he ever tried to comfort them. And when the children start to talk about the Boogeyman, Lester ignores their claims. Lester wanted to raise strong children who’ll fend for themselves and, in doing so, failed to support them when they needed him most.

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Likewise, in Savage’s movie, the Boogeyman represents parental negligence, as the creature chooses his victims based on how much their parents ignore their needs. In the film, Lester even tells Dr. Harper how the beast went after his two eldest children because he and his wife Rita were not paying enough attention to them. That’s exactly why the Harpers become the Boogeyman’s next target, as Dr. Harper has been avoiding spending time with his daughters since their mother died in a fatal accident. And by ignoring his daughters’ emotional needs, Dr. Harper makes his family vulnerable to the Boogeyman.

‘The Boogeyman’ Loses the Impact of King’s Short Story

While it’s easy to understand why the movie is a sequel to King’s story instead of a direct adaptation, some things get lost in translation. Above everything else, the film is not nearly as scary as the short story. King’s original story is frightening because the Boogeyman is only suggested instead of being present the whole time. Because of that, we can quickly put ourselves into Lester’s shoes and imagine that the weird noises we hear in our homes prove something evil lurks in the shadows. On the other hand, the movie transforms the Boogeyman into a real creature people can see and touch, losing some of King’s short story impact.

While Savage’s The Boogeyman is not as scary as King’s short story, the movie is still a solid horror flick. And by acting as a sequel instead of a direct adaptation, The Boogeyman opens up the possibility for Savage, or other filmmakers, to keep exploring the Boogeyman mythos in other movies. Finally, since The Boogeyman is not a direct adaptation, it serves as a clever complementary tale to enjoy together with King’s original short story.

The Boogeyman is now available to stream on Hulu in the U.S.

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