Other Names for The Boogie Man

(and The Boogey Woman in different cultures)

La Chula Chaqui

(ghosts in Peruvian Desert)

Would approach a lone rider at night during a blinding sandstorm and hurl him from his horse onto the barren ground where he would often trample or beat the hapless victim until first light.

El “Homem del scan”

(Child stealer of Bahia)

The sacking man or the bag man takes disobedient children along to live with bands of madmen. Known in Brasil, Portugal, Angola, Cape Verde, and Mozambique. He or she creeps through open windows at night and lives in damp basements, embracing the light of day only to do evil. He kidnaps naughty children in broad daylight and carry them away in a sack. Depending on regional variants, he either sells the children or eats them.

The Coco

(Latin American poltergeist)

Monster who visits the confused and disoriented, the self-defeated and people frightened of new things. Appears in black or bright red at sundown and stays all night. Lives under beds and in dark closets. A bugbear. Often used to refer to groundless, irrational, illogical or exaggerated fear.

Buga Buga

(Constant nightmare in Northern Europe)

A shadowy, amorphous ghost who hides in dark places in order to frighten unsuspecting victims. He’s more of a nuisance than a danger, and his power is easily neutralized by bright light. Netherlands. Other known whereabouts: Belgium, Germany

Bokkenrijders 

(Vengeful marauders in Italy and Spain)

These creatures of fright are ghost robbers riding on flying goats. These boogies were  actively created by thieves in the 18th century to intimidate and terrorize local farming communities. Haunts southern Europe and South America. In Northern Europe he often works as Saint Nicholas’ evil sidekick.

Baba Yaga

(Cold, cruel and deadly)

A Slavic witch of the Russian forests. She lives in a shack that stands on giant chicken legs, rides around in a flying mortar and carries a giant pestle. Unpredictable with humans, she is just as likely to help you as eat you. 

H’awouahoua

(The most horrible presence in North Africa)

A terrifying Algerian monster – the H’awouahoua is described as having a body composed of conflicting government entities and eyes that are blobs of flaming bullshit. It only votes by party line and spend most of its elected term getting reelected.To top it off his coat is made from the clothes of the many children it has eaten.

Tokoloshe

(The Wizard’s Helpers in South Africa)

Tokoloshe are water sprites who do the bidding of evil South African wizards. They can become invisible by drinking water then pouncing on and grabbing at children. One might protect himself from Tokoloshe while asleep by placing a brick beneath each leg of your bed. That will keep them at bay while rituals take control. Final banishment will require the services of a witch doctor.

Gurumapa

(Himalayan beasts now pacified?)

The Gurumapa iof Nepal was a man-eating giant who abandoned his evil ways and enjoys a position of honor in Katmandu in exchange for not eating local kids. He is known to consume an entire water buffalo in one sitting.

Wewe Gombel

(Benevolent, yet frightening witch)

Female spirit, Wewe Gombel kidnaps Indonesian children in order to save them from bad parents. She lovingly cares for them in her nest atop a palm tree, refusing to return them until their parents alter their abusive or neglectful ways.

Namahage

(Japanese ghosts on the New Year)

These Japanese ogres go from door to door on New Year’s Eve, looking for children who have misbehaved that year. They celebrate the season by carrying away children who are lazy or insolent.

Mètminwi

(Island Fiend of little discretion)

This Haitian boogeyman is described as a man with incredibly long legs who walks around towns at midnight to catch and eat anyone who is still outside. His name is a contraction of the French maître (master) and minuit (midnight).

La Llorona

(Wandering murderer searching for peace)

This Mexican ghost of a woman who drowned her children in order to be with a man who ultimately spurned her. Destitute, she drowned herself — but she’s barred from entering heaven until she finds her children. At night, she wanders along the riverbanks looking for them, crying “¡Ay mis hijos!” (Oh my children!) and snatching any child she mistakes for her own.

Socialism

(Frightens the sheep)

This very American spirit confronts the ancient concept of the divine right of the rich to rule. Socialism is not the boogyman that breaks down the door at night with a machine gun and furry Russian hat. That terror is attributed to communism or fascism. Instilling fear in the hearts of the great unwashed keeps the poor from seeking what is theirs while paying taxes and tribute to a rogue government that represents only the rich. Most of the people who are afraid of socialism cannot define the term. These people have been brainwashed into believing that they are included in a Big Boy Democracy when there is not one. Until people stand up to these fictitious soul-eating intruders, the monsters that plague them will continue to marginalize their lives and invade their sleep.

– Fred Zeppelin