the boogey-man

The boogey-man is a childhood fear that persists into early adolescence for Vern Tessio, and which the adult Gordon Lachance later recognizes as a symbol of the enduring power of childhood terrors, particularly those born from the encounter with death.

Vern's Confession and the Persistence of Childhood Fear

During the boys' hike along the railroad tracks to find the body of Ray Brower, Vern Tessio admits to his friends that he still suffers from nightmares and fears the boogey-man. He recalls how, after reading a pile of old horror comic books left by Danny Naughton, he would wake up in the middle of the night dreaming of a man hanging in a house with a green face. The fear was so vivid that he felt certain there was something under his bed, and if he dangled a hand over the side, that thing might grab him. Vern is ashamed of this fear, knowing he is "too fuckin old for the boogey-man," and he makes his friends promise not to tell anyone about his confession.

The Boogey-Man as a Symbol of Unprocessed Trauma

The adult Gordon Lachance, reflecting on the events of that summer, connects the boogey-man to the deeper, more lasting fears that emerge from real-life horror. He notes that the fear of the boogey-man is a childhood version of the "night shift"—the time when all the fears and anxieties that are suppressed during the day come to the surface. This concept is later echoed in his own experience, as he finds himself haunted by the image of Ray Brower's body and the possibility that the boy died alone and terrified in the dark. The boogey-man, in this context, becomes a metaphor for the unprocessed trauma that lingers in the subconscious, resurfacing in dreams and moments of vulnerability.

The Boogey-Man and the Adult Imagination

Gordon's adult imagination, which he has parlayed into a successful writing career, is a double-edged sword. He acknowledges that while his imagination allows him to create stories and earn a living, it also turns on him, showing him things he would rather not see. This is the adult version of the boogey-man: the ability to vividly imagine the worst, to see the corpse of Ray Brower in his mind's eye, and to feel the terror of a child lost in the woods. The boogey-man is no longer a monster under the bed, but the knowledge of mortality and the fear of what lies in the dark corners of the mind.

The Boogey-Man and the Rite of Passage

The journey to find Ray Brower's body is a rite of passage for the four boys, a "magic corridor" where the change happens. The boogey-man represents the threshold between childhood and adulthood, the fear that must be confronted in order to grow. Vern's confession reveals that even as they approach the dead body, they are still children, afraid of the dark and the monsters that might lurk there. The encounter with the corpse, and the subsequent confrontation with Ace Merrill's gang, forces them to confront a different kind of boogey-man: the real-world violence and cruelty that exists beyond the safety of their treehouse. The boogey-man, in this sense, is not just a monster, but the fear of the unknown, the fear of death, and the fear of what they might become.