Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire
  • Mood: chipper
  • Music: Thea Gilmore, "This Town."

From A to Z in the InCryptid Alphabet: B.

B is for BOGEYMEN.

Bogeymen like dark places, like attics and basements and the back of your closet. Bogeymen are closely related to humans, but they branched off right around the time that Homo erectus was figuring out how to use rocks as weapons, and they've never looked back. Bogeymen have a great fondness for secrets. If there's something going on, odds are good that your local bogeyman knows about it, and would be happy to share what he knows...for a price. No bogeyman ever worked cheap, or failed to look for the most profitable angle.

"Bogeyman" is gender-neutral. Female bogeymen are just as dangerous as male bogeymen, and just as likely to be hiding underneath your bed.

Sleep well.
Tags: discount armageddon, incryptid
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  • 33 comments

sheistheweather

February 9 2012, 16:22:20 UTC 5 years ago Edited:  February 9 2012, 16:23:16 UTC

"Bogeyman" is gender-neutral. Female bogeymen are just as dangerous as male bogeymen, and just as likely to be hiding underneath your bed.

Neat!

Curious: do you pronounce it "boe-gee" (like bowtie) or "boo-gee" (like booky)?

seanan_mcguire

February 9 2012, 16:47:35 UTC 5 years ago

It is pronounced exactly the same as the dance.

sheistheweather

5 years ago

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serge_lj

February 9 2012, 16:55:05 UTC 5 years ago

Let's bogie!

seanan_mcguire

February 9 2012, 17:02:13 UTC 5 years ago

Hee!

jenjen4280

February 9 2012, 17:13:15 UTC 5 years ago Edited:  February 9 2012, 17:13:56 UTC

So what you're saying is that female bogeymen have come of the closet? ;)

seanan_mcguire

February 9 2012, 18:54:28 UTC 5 years ago

Bah.

fatherofdragons

February 9 2012, 17:19:19 UTC 5 years ago

If there are any bogeymen under the beds in my house, they'd better not have any allergies to dust or cat hair or they're done for! Any if they're under my bed in particular, what have they done with all the plastic tubs full of books that I keep down there?

seanan_mcguire

February 9 2012, 18:54:38 UTC 5 years ago

Heeeee.

slantiness

February 9 2012, 17:31:01 UTC 5 years ago

Like in that one disney movie! Remember that one disney movie?!

seanan_mcguire

February 9 2012, 18:55:15 UTC 5 years ago

Which one? Do you mean Little Monsters? Or are you talking about Something Under the Bed, where unloved imaginary friends become bogeymen?

klwilliams

February 9 2012, 17:50:04 UTC 5 years ago

I'm so glad I read this in the morning. The goblins under the bed were my earliest terror. No, they haven't gone away.

seanan_mcguire

February 9 2012, 18:55:25 UTC 5 years ago

Aww.

lauowolf

5 years ago

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madfilkentist

5 years ago

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lauowolf

5 years ago

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martianmooncrab

February 9 2012, 18:21:37 UTC 5 years ago

socks.... they eat socks...

seanan_mcguire

February 9 2012, 18:56:02 UTC 5 years ago

Heh.

lauowolf

5 years ago

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firynze

5 years ago

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tsgeisel

February 9 2012, 19:31:13 UTC 5 years ago

I do hope you're looking into someone to illustrate these. They'd make a great feature for the web page, and possibly even as a companion book.

seanan_mcguire

February 9 2012, 21:20:18 UTC 5 years ago

That's a fun idea, but the field guide is taking up all my graphic funds for right now.

tsgeisel

5 years ago

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celticdragonfly

February 9 2012, 23:48:54 UTC 5 years ago

Your icon is frightening me.

tsgeisel

5 years ago

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yellowblackhaze

February 9 2012, 21:17:53 UTC 5 years ago

Does the pronunciation differ depending on where you're from? See I've heard Americans pronounce it boogieman, but Australians pronounce it bowgieman.

seanan_mcguire

February 9 2012, 21:21:13 UTC 5 years ago

Actually, it depends on where the local tradition comes from. Some people spell "bogeyman" and "boogieman" differently, and say that they're two different things; folklorically speaking, they're right. I've heard, and used, both ways, but in this case, I went with the one-o spelling and the boogie pronunciation.

ohari

February 9 2012, 21:51:42 UTC 5 years ago

I fear no "BooJee WooJee*" man under my bed. It's so crowded under there he or she couldn't be big enough to eat much, and nothing that happens in the bedroom is a secret anyway.

Do you think they'd help me figure out which drawer the Kilt Hose that fit are hiding in?

I love countdowns!

*I heard a recording of a BBC interview with Elvis from the fifties (I think), the interviewer referred to the music as BooJee WooJee (boogie woogie with hard "J" instead of the ususal "g" sound, and hard initial consonants. Is there such a thing as a hard W?), so now in my head "boogie" and "bogey"** are always "BooJee WooJee" with a British accent. Feel free to use it as you see fit.

** Because I grew up spelling it Bogey and pronoucing it Boogie.***

*** This footnote has no purpose, I just wanted to have three footnotes.

seanan_mcguire

February 13 2012, 19:04:29 UTC 5 years ago

I <3 footnotes.

phoenix_singing

February 10 2012, 15:13:14 UTC 5 years ago

I'll just make my dog get out of bed first. She's big! She'll protect me! And while she's distracting them, I can leap over the chaos and run out of the room!

That'll totally work.

Right?

seanan_mcguire

February 13 2012, 19:04:42 UTC 5 years ago

Totally.

vincentursus

February 12 2012, 18:50:40 UTC 5 years ago

My bogeyman is obviously considerate enough to vacate the area when I do my weekly dusting in the closet and under my bed.

seanan_mcguire

February 13 2012, 19:04:52 UTC 5 years ago

Very thoughtful!