SPIRIT TALES AND MAGIC
Our host; Dr.G had his first paranormal experience at only eight years old. With over five decades of storytelling, magic and paranormal story collection he is an award winning story teller on a mission to revive firelight and the telling of stories!
SPIRIT TALES AND MAGIC
Into the Shadows of the Boogeyman
Ever wonder what lurks in the shadows of childhood fears? Join me on a fascinating journey through the world of the boogeyman, where myth meets reality and stories are as chilling as they are captivating. From the familiar tales of the Slavic water spirit to the eerie Mexican ghostly woman in white, we unravel how the boogeyman has transcended cultures, serving as a timeless guardian of childhood obedience—or perhaps, a figment of imagination gone wild. Together, we're welcoming our new friend Dale from the Hamptons as we unpack the roots of these haunting legends, rooted deep in Middle English history where "bug" or "bog" meant a terrifying specter. This episode promises to keep you at the edge of your seat, as I share personal stories that echo the universal shivers felt by children everywhere.
Venture back into the haunting memories of my own past at Woodrow 2, a house with a basement rumored to be the boogeyman's lair. As you listen, you'll be encouraged to gather around with friends, swapping ghost stories that keep the spooky tradition alive. Whether you're a skeptic or a believer, these tales might just make you check under your bed tonight. So, get comfortable—or perhaps, a little uncomfortable—as we keep the spirit of the boogeyman alive, one chilling story at a time. Tune in, and let's explore the unseen together.
Good early morning to you everybody. It's Dr G Spirit Tales and Magic, where we always say there is indeed a world unseen, a world that exists all around us all the time and every now and again, for whatever the reason, we catch a glimpse of it and the dead get in. I don't always open the show that way, but it's October. We have a new listener in the Hamptons. He says that I'd prefer you called me Dale. He does state his real name in here. Can you call me Dale? That's my nickname.
Speaker 1:So I was just curious, doc, with the upbringing that you had, did you hear a lot about the boogeyman when you were a kid? I sure did. I've traveled the world and the country from coast to coast. I've seen and done many things. I was lucky enough to have an Ivy League education and although I was not one myself, some of my brothers were skulls and we would sit around and tell stories and, wouldn't you know it? Most of them have heard about the boogeyman. I used to grow up thinking that every child must have known who it was, and so far in my travels there haven't been too many people disappointed. So how about you, doc? Are you a boogeyman kid?
Speaker 1:Well, I guess I would say that boogeyman or any variety of fictional and, most of the time, folkloric monsters, if you will. They're described in stories designed to frighten children. Tales of the boogeyman and various analogs have been used for centuries all across the world to influence children to behave as their parents command and to exercise caution in dangerous situations or dangerous areas, terms also sometimes used more generally to describe really any fearsome or even dreaded things. The word boogeyman, I believe, is used to describe a monster. In English. It comes from Middle English, bug or bog, so that's B-U-G-G-E or B-O-G-G-E, which means a frightening specter. Boogeyman itself is known from the 15th century, though the Boogeyman stories are almost certainly much, much older than that. Because of the nature of the tales and the often indistinct or changing nature of the monster an indistinct or changing nature of the monster it's pretty much impossible to trace the character to a single origin in any culture, much less if we start looking globally, because he is literally everywhere.
Speaker 1:It's generally thought that the boogeyman was invented to serve as a. The boogeyman was invented to serve as a caution or a deterrent for children, by warning children that a boogeyman will capture them if they stray into the dark woods, for instance, parents might be better to ensure that children are cautious about where they go and when, when. In this way, the boogeyman may serve as kind of a shorthand, if you will, for the various dangers to things like lone children in the woods, instead of explaining that they may fall into a ravine or be attacked by an animal or touch something poisonous, and so on and so on. There are plenty of legitimate things that can injure a lone child in a place he's not supposed to be or she's not supposed to be. A parent can more easily say if you go in there at night, the boogeyman will get you. I guess the boogeyman also represents a supernatural presence, if you will, that can do things that a parent can't do. It can go places that a parent can't go.
Speaker 1:Children know what punishments their parents are capable of assigning, but a boogeyman is capabilities and motivations. They're unknowable. That makes them even more terrifying. Sometimes children develop a concept of the boogeyman on their own. I can't remember the first time I heard about the boogeyman, but when children begin to try to make sense of the world around them, they often experience fear. They experience uncertainty and anxiety, even a sense of dread, especially when you're alone in the dark. This can lead children to imagine unseen terrors lurking in the shadows under the bed or in the closet are in the closet. However, because the boogeyman is a distinct entity, there's often a possibility of overcoming or defeating the monster. The parents of small children may employ monster spray or put on a nightlight to keep the boogeyman away.
Speaker 1:There are tons of cultural variations of the boogeyman away. There are tons of cultural variations of the boogeyman. There's a water spirit in Slavic folklore who entices humans to the banks of rivers and lakes. Some cultures, the boogeyman is an amorphous, shapeless kind of described as a dark figure or something seen out of the corner of your eye. It may even be said to change its shape into anything it chooses or any number of terrible things. It may have claws or nails to scratch against doors or window panes. Have claws or nails to scratch against doors or window panes. It might have glowing eyes that peer at you from the darkness. It might have horns, like an animal. In some other cultures the boogeyman may have a more specific appearance or a recognizable role, or even belong to another species. Sometimes it's been a witch or a goblin or a ghost. Some people give him an animal characteristic. There's a Mexican boogeyman who's the ghost of a woman who wears a white dress. The Vodnik, I believe, of the Czech Republic, is a water spirit who can assume many different forms. They lure the humans to the banks of rivers and lakes. I believe it's the Yoramaya, who in Australia looks like a frog with bright red fur. It's a cuddle, I believe, in the Femish countryside in Belgium, which is a large, dog-like demon that has a beak scales fur and sharp claws. It's a demon-like troll creature with red skin and Japanese folklore Boogeyman stories usually involve punishment or capture or maybe even assault of a disobedient child.
Speaker 1:I believe in Spain he's hombre del saco, the sack man. He spirits children, bad children or misbehaved children away in a sack, either to sell them or eat them away in a sack, either to sell them or eat them. Brazilian lullaby warns children that if they do not go to sleep, they will be taken by a cura, a crocodile woman. Various stories and traditions involve the tale of how boogeymen can be subverted or outsmarted, or maybe even conquered. The Kappa of Japan hold power in water-filled depressions in their heads. Bowing to one will cause it to bow in return and spill its power. And spill its power. Leaving your shoes by the door will deter the believe it's the jumbie of the Caribbean region. It'll try and spend the night getting the shoes onto its backwards feet.
Speaker 1:Portrayal of the boogeyman in Western pulp culture. You've got to mention Michael Myers in Halloween, psychotic killer in the film Halloween, which I believe came out in 2018. It's a pervasive fear of the unknown Spector that led to a variety of depictions of boogeymen in popular media, arguably any number of the supernatural horror movie icons. Let's see who we have Jason Voorhees, freddy Krueger of Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street, respectively the boogeymen of sorts. Michael Myers, the slasher from the Halloween series of films, is often invoked in Boogeyman discussions, as the original film in I believe it was 1978, mentions the Boogeyman several times. Then there's Oogie Boogie, the villain in the animated film the Nightmare Before Christmas.
Speaker 1:I believe that one was in 93. It's more of a literal boogeyman, or boogie man, as he styles himself given his penchant for dance and music, who appears as both a corporal and spectral figure and is comprised or composed of bugs and worms. And a more modern boogeyman could even be the Slender man, the tall, featureless humanoid who wears a suit, tales of whom originated on the Internet in the early 2000s you can spend a lot of time researching the boogeyman and variations of the boogeyman. But what I do find interesting is we've had a lot of requests. I digress for just a moment. You knew I would. One of our most listened to stories is the man, the girl and the tiger. I'm going to have that repeated, probably tomorrow, on the podcast. But one of the apparitions in that story does resemble the Slender man. Even though we all know the Slender man was made up, he's a fake. They had to come out of it and say, yeah, we made it up, it's an internet thing. It wasn't true, but he still haunts a lot of people.
Speaker 1:I met a family Back in the 80s. They lived in pretty much a ghost town. It was a railroad town. The property had been handed down for centuries, from granddad to dad to all the way down the line. Hundreds of years of. There were about six people that remained in the town. They'd go down into society every 30 days or so for supplies. Earl was their boogeyman. Earl was a bum, as they say, who had been killed when trying to jump a train. And, as the story goes, if you play around the railroad tracks at night, earl will come and take you. You will spend an eternity trying to jump trains with Earl or he'llgeyman.
Speaker 1:All of my relatives when I was young talked about the boogeyman. My first boogeyman incident was in what we refer to as Woodrow 2. I mean, I had heard of him before, but he never had a place to live like the basement of that house. So what's your boogeyman story? Did your folks, or the people that raised you, or the people you associate with, did they call it the boogeyman or did they have some other name for it? We'd love to hear about that. Some other name for it? We'd love to hear about that. And hey, when you're out there, get some friends, get yourself around a fire or a great place to be, tell some ghost stories. It's good for you. Oh and by the way, if you don't, the boogeyman's going to be under your bed. Good night from the airport.
