Trigger warning. The crimes stated here are real crimes comitted by real human. Actual death is involved. If you are sensitive to such things, please do not read this post.

The Bogeyman (also spelt as boogeyman) is a mythical creature which kidnaps children. It was ‘created’ to scare children so that they would behave well all the time. It is something like Santa. Be a good boy and you will get your presents, be a bad boy and you will get coals but, the Bogeyman doesn’t give you coals. He kidnaps you and murders you later. In some culture, the Bogeyman even eats children that he had kidnapped. Children believe that the Bogeyman hides under their bed, in the closet or even behind the doors although some believe that the Bogeyman doesn’t hide anywhere. If you don’t have good manners, the Bogeyman will come at night and take you away. There are many ‘types’ of Bogeyman from different cultures in the world.

Although it is called the bogey”man” but it can be of any gender. Unfortunately, there is a real case of the ‘Bogeyman murderer’ named Albert Fish. (SERIOUS TRIGGER ALERT) He is convicted of the murder of three children from 1924 to 1932. Not only does he kills them, but he also eats and rapes them. He was also suspected of killing another 5 children before he was sentenced to death by the electric chair on 16th January 1936.

He was also known as the Gray Man, the Werewolf of Wysteria, the Brooklyn Vampire and the Moon Maniac. The jurors were convinced that he was insane when X-ray of Fish’s pelvis shows dozens of pins and needles inserted into his own body to induce self-inflicted pain (something that he ‘enjoys). However, they still agreed that he needs to be executed. His last words were, “I don’t even know why I’m here”.

In Japan, their version of the Bogeyman is called The Namahage. The Namahage are men who wear ogre masks and traditional straw capes, armed with Deba Knives.

If you don’t know, Deba Knives are pointy Japanese carving knives that are used to cut fish but sometimes it is also used to cut meat.

The Namahage will go around the neighbour hood, visiting each house on New Year’s to see if there are any naughty or misbehaving children in the house. Allegedly, they will yell phrases like “Are there any crybabies around?” and if the parents are able to convince these Namahages that their children are well-behaved and don’t cry, they will move to the next house. If the children are indeed naughty or lazy, they will be ‘scolded’ (severely) which doesn’t sound that bad if you ask me.

In Spain, the Bogeyman is called El Coco which is always imagined as a ‘little hairy man’. Although ‘little hairy man’ doesn’t seem that sinister, it is actually a child kidnapper and a child ‘eater’. He watches over children by staying on roofs and it is believed he would either ‘eat’ the mischievous ones or take their soul away to a place where they will never return again. It is the complete opposite of Guardian Angels and is always compared to the Devil. Parents would sing lullabies as a way to warn their children against El Coco. The most famous ‘lullaby’ would be: Duérmete niño, duérmete ya… Que viene el coco y te comerá (Go to sleep child, go to sleep now. The coconut man will come and eat you.)

In Netherlands, the Bogeyman is called The Bolman who is a creature with claws and fangs.

If you don’t go to sleep, allegedly, he will come out from under your bed or inside your closet and take you to the basement.

Some people even consider Slender Man to be a bogeyman. Slender Man is just a fictional ‘creature’ created in a photoshop competition in 2008 but since then, many people had been talking about Slender Man and many stories (Creepypastas mostly) was written about him. It is believed that if you spot the Slender Man, he will stalk you and eventually kidnap you.

On the 31st May 2014, Payton Leutner was stabbed by two of her 12 years old friends who wanted to prove that Slender Man is real. They were playing hide and seek in the forest when Payton was pinned to the ground by one of her friends and the other stabbed her 19 times in the arms, legs and abdomen with a kitchen knife. Payton was discovered in a ditch by a cyclist who helped her (she is still alive today). It was reported that the two girls who stabbed her wanted to be ‘proxies’ of Slender Man and they believed by stabbing their friend, Slender Man would make them his ‘assistant’. This incident is officially known as the “Slender Man Stabbing”.

Some people believe that the Bogeyman is indeed Satan because many reported him as someone with no ‘physical features’ meaning they only see the ‘outline’ of his body. It is also believed that he is Satan because it instils fear in people, particularly among children to a point where they commit horrible crimes like the “Slender Man Stabbing” incident. Many religion believes that when people do bad stuff, it is because Satan influenced them because they want you to go to hell. Of course, many could argue that the Bogeyman is not real but a lot of children insists that they saw him in their closets at night. Of course, children can tell lie but why would they?

It might also be true that since so many people talk about it, we had ‘unconsciously’, created it. The human mind is powerful after all. Some people declined the theory that the Bogeyman is Satan because they say Satan will scare everyone not just children. It is true that many religion believes that Satan will influence everyone (adults included) to do ‘bad’ stuff like the actual Bogeyman Murderer. But logically, if Satan wants to influence people, it would be easier to do so when they are still young. Adults are stubborn after all.

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