Line #22 Literature/FungusTheBogeyman


1	[[quoteright:220:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/220px_fungusthebogeyman_0.jpg]]
2	''Fungus the Bogeyman'' is a book that is somewhere between a comic book and a regular book written by Creator/RaymondBriggs.
3
4	It is about creatures called [[ThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight Bogeymen]] (i.e. "boogeymen" in US English; "bogeys" is also UK English for the US "boogers", as in lumps of snot): humanoid creatures with green skin and large ears that live underground. Notable characteristics of Bogey people is that they are lazy and like to be slow, like the cold (and conversely hate the heat), like to be dirty and hate to be clean, and like to be wet.
5
6	Most of the book is explaining how Bogey biology and society works, but the actual plot is about a Bogeyman named Fungus going to and from his job, which is scaring humans, all the while having an existential crisis about "what it's all for".
7
8	It has been adapted twice as MiniSeries, ''Fungus the Bogeyman'' (2004) and ''Fungus the Bogeyman'' (2016) using a live action/CGI mix. The series story differs from the book to give it more plot.
9	----
10	!! ''Fungus the Bogeyman'' provides examples of
11	* AllAnimalsAreDogs: Bogeys keep skunks, which act exactly like dogs.
12	* AlphabetSong: One [[ShowWithinAShow book-within-a-book]] features a gross alphabet with things like "T is for tadpole tart".
13	* AmazingTechnicolorWildlife: Fungus's pets are a cat and a skunk and both are green.
14	* BadIsGoodAndGoodIsBad: Among other things, Bogeymen love filth, cold, and being lazy and hate cleanliness, warmth, and being industrious.
15	* BigBeautifulWoman: Fat Bogeywomen are considered attractive by their peers.
16	* BittersweetEnding: Fungus never does get any satisfactory answers to his existential questions. On the plus side, he still has his loving wife (who at least manages to calm him down), his adoring son and his damp, filthy, fly-infested home. He's a very lucky Bogey, really.
17	* CallAHumanAMeatbag: Bogeys call humans "drycleaners" or "[=DCs=]" for short, likely because we're much dryer than them and we clean ourselves and our belongings.
18	* CanonForeigner: The 2004 mini-series adaptation gives Fungus a daughter called Mucus.
19	* CatchYourDeathOfCold: Parodied. Bogeys have a superstition that if you get your feet dry, you'll catch a disease called a "hot".
20	* CreepyHairlessAnimal: Bogey pets are hairless and have moist skin like frogs.
21	* DangerousWindows: The front cover shows Fungus looming through an open window, and he peers and reaches into windows through the night. Downplayed, in that the most harm you'll get from him is a boil or a faceful of soot.
22	* DeathOfAChild: Dead animals and dead Bogey babies are frequent subjects of Bogey paintings.
23	* DelusionsOfEloquence: Bogeys are fond of profound-sounding platitudes, which they usually misquote.
24	* DoorHandleScare: Fungus' nightly routine includes turning people's doorknobs very, very slowly.
25	* EatsBabies: Played with. Bogeys don't eat human babies ''now'' but they used to.
26	* FantasticRacism: Bogeys are prejudiced against humans, making dolls similar to golliwogs to caricature them and referring to them as "drycleaners".
27	* TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou: The book ends with the message "Fear not the Bogeymen by day, but at night, watch out!".
28	* GiganticGulp: Bogeys drink slime by the gallon.
29	* GreenIsGross: The Bogey people are green and have disgusting habits like being perpetually dirty and eating flies.
30	* LaboriousLaziness: Bogey bicycles are designed specifically to be slow.
31	* LazyBum: All Bogeypeople are quite lazy and the only things they really make an effort about are keeping damp and dirty and their work.
32	* MindScrewdriver: The book asserts that the poem about the Man in the Moon makes sense if the man was a Bogeyman because he went south to avoid the heat and he burnt his mouth on cold plum porridge because Bogeys burn themselves easily.
33	* MisspellingOutLoud: One song lyric spells "bogey" as "B-O-G-I-E".
34	* MixAndMatchCritter: Bogeys are humanoid but have horns, cat-like whiskers in their ears, extendable frog-like tongues, spinal fins, scales, webbed hands and feet, and four-chambered stomachs like cattle.
35	* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch:
36	** At one point, some Bogeys are seen trying to have a rock-and-roll party even though most Bogeys like to be quiet.
37	** Apparently, some Bogey children try to clean themselves if they see it on TV.
38	* NamedAfterTheInjury: One legend the Bogey people have is a parody of the myth of Icarus, involving a Bogeyman who flew near the sun and whose skin was bleached yellow, gaining him the nickname "Icterus", which is a rare term for jaundice.
39	* NoseNuggets:
40	** The term "bogeyman" partly comes from "bogey", which is a word for a lump of snot.
41	** Either Fungus's skunk or his cat is named Mucus. Probably his skunk, since "Pus" sounds like a play on "puss".
42	** When Bogeys are highly emotional, they don't cry but their noses run.
43	* OddNameOut: Fungus is the only one of his family whose name doesn't start with an "M". His wife's name is Mildew and their son's name is Mould.
44	* OhMyGods: Fungus exclaims, "For slime's sake!", which is quite strange because slime is what Bogeys drink.
45	* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: By the end of the night, Fungus is so frustrated at the futility of Bogey life that he [[SuddenlyShouting shouts "WHY?"]] at his wife. Bogeys never shout at each other.
46	* PlagiarismInFiction: Most Bogey literature is plagiarised versions of human literature.
47	* {{Pun}}: Many instances of wordplay, e.g. a Bogey inn is called an "outt".
48	* PunchClockVillain: Scaring people is simply what Bogeymen do. Only Fungus questions it, seeing his once-fun job as pointless and repetitious.
49	* RipVanWinkle: When Bogeys experience psychological distress, they bury themselves to sleep for up to a year.
50	* ShoutOut: Bogey literature is all plagiarised versions of human literature and Mildew reads a parody of ''Literature/HuckleberryFinn''.
51	* ShrinkingViolet: Bogeymen are described as being "shy" when at home.
52	* SmellyFeet: Bogeys' entire bodies stink but their feet are the worst - or the best, from their point of view.
53	* SpellingSong: One background character is seen singing, "B-O-G-I-E!".
54	* ThemeNaming: The characters are all named after gross things (Fungus, Mildew, Mould, Fester, Mucus, Pus).
55	* ThermalDissident: Bogeys as a species prefer colder temperatures, which is part of the reason they're nocturnal, and will complain if the weather is too warm. However, there's nothing to suggest they actually ''need'' it to be cold.
56	* ThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight: The Bogeys' job is to scare humans at night.
57	* ToiletHumour: The whole book is a whole lot of gross-out jokes. Our protagonist drinks slime, wears dung-covered clothes, and sleeps in a bed of snails.
58	* VagueAge: It's unclear how old Fungus's son Mould is. He's lanky like a teenager but he's seen being tucked into bed.
59	* TheVicar: The "Nice Little Vicar" terrorised by Fungus. A footnote explains that bogeys resent Vicars for conflating them with devils.
60	* WorthlessYellowRocks: Bogeys regard gold as a base metal, and use it to make spittoons.

Context Literature / FungusTheBogeyman