The Ghostbusters are fighting a monster on the top of the World Trade Centre, when it knocks Egon back, leaving him holding onto the edge. He falls and the monster flies away, but Winston rescues Egon in a helicopter and they trap the monster. After Egon is rescued, Peter and Ray compliment him for being so brave.
That night, the Ghostbusters and Slimer prepare to go to bed and the rest of the Ghostbusters again compliment Egon on his bravery. Egon has insomnia and tries to get rid of it by drinking cocoa and watching an old horror movie, but the movie scares him.
Meanwhile, the Boogeyman, who is trapped in his dimension, senses Egon's fear, and after Egon goes back to bed (after running into a thirsty Slimer) he walks into the bedroom. He declares that he will get revenge on the Ghostbusters for locking him up, then scares away Slimer, whose scream wakes the Ghostbusters. They zap him with proton packs and he runs off into the alley, so they follow (still in their pyjamas) and try to zap him again, but miss, and he escapes.
Meanwhile, three children known as the "Junior Ghostbusters" (Donald, Catherine, and Jason) are telling one another scary stories. Catherine and Jason want to go to bed, which causes Donald to tease them for being scared. Then a PKE meter they have stars going off, prompting Jason to phone up Egon.
Back in the firehouse, Egon explains that he was afraid of the fall and the Boogeyman sensed his fear. The phone rings, Egon answers, and Jason explains that the PKE meter reads minus nine. Egon realises that is the Boogeyman's number, so the Ghostbusters drive off to the rescue.
They try to shoot the Boogeyman, but he escapes and runs to an amusement park. Egon, meanwhile, builds a machine to vaporise the Boogeyman so that he can be trapped like a ghost, and they set off with Slimer following after.
At the amusement park, the Boogeyman forces the Ghostbusters onto a haunted carnival ride that knocks their proton packs off and teleports them into his dimension, and then ties them up. Slimer wakes up the Junior Ghostbusters and tells them what happened, while the Boogeyman sends the Ghostbusters into a scary dimension.
The Junior Ghostbusters go to the Boogeyman's dimension and return the proton packs to the Ghostbusters, who are now tied up again. The Boogeyman approaches the kids, so Egon breaks out of his ties and zaps him. Eventually, he gets caught in a ghost trap and the rest of the Ghostbusters also break free.
This episode provides examples of
- An Aesop: There is nothing wrong with admitting being afraid of something.
- Amusement Park of Doom: Invoked. The Boogeyman redecorates an amusement park to look scary and have dangerous rides when he attempts to move into it.
- Children Are Special: Subverted. "The Boogieman Cometh" suggested that the Boogeyman only fed on children's fear, but this episode reveals that he can feed on adults' fear too.
- Cyclops: The entity the Ghostbusters are attacking at the beginning has one eye.
- Did You Think I Can't Feel?: Egon's three friends all compliment him on how unphased he is by falling off the World Trade Center. They're surprised when he finally admits, "That fall I took today terrified me."
- Distressed Dude:
- Egon ends up falling off the World Trade Centre and needing to be rescued with a helicopter.
- All of the Ghostbusters end up held captive by the Boogeyman.
- Emotion Eater: The Boogeyman, who feeds on fear, returns.
- The Empath: Downplayed for the Boogeyman, who can sense fear but it's unknown if he can sense other emotions.
- Evil Laugh: The Boogeyman laughs evilly several times.
- Hesitation Equals Dishonesty: Egon says, "Uh" before insincerely agreeing with Peter that nothing bothers him.
- Implied Death Threat: When the Ghostbusters tell the Boogeyman that they're not little kids he can scare off, he replies, "On the contrary, I can scare you... to death!"
- Incoming Ham: After Egon warns the kids over the phone of what's coming.Catherine: What did he say?
Jason: He-he said the Boogeyman's coming.
The Boogeyman: [bursting through the door] Wrong, my child! The Boogeyman is HERE! [laughs] - Motive Rant: The Boogeyman's first scene starts off with one, as he vainly tries to open the various doors.Boogeyman: GHOSTBUSTERS! You had no right to seal me in like this! All my precious portals to children's closets, all useless now! But somehow, some way, I'll get out, and I'll make you PAY!
- My God, What Have I Done?: As the others say the Boogeyman now poses a threat to every child in the city, the camera pans over to a guilty Egon.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Egon's fear allows his most hated and feared enemy to escape into the real world.
- Not So Stoic: Played for Drama. The normally-stoic Egon is so shaken up by his fall that he trembles, stammers, and hides behind the couch.
- Obviously Not Fine: Egon states that he's "not afraid of some silly old movie" despite hiding his face and gulping.
- Outside-Context Problem: Egon recaps how the Boogeyman is not a ghost and thus far trickier to deal with than their other opponents. He ultimately devises a modified blaster that will vaporize the Boogeyman into a ghost long enough for the trap to work.
- Pet the Dog: When Egon explains how this situation is his fault, Peter is the one to console him.
- Say My Name: When Egon is dangling off the edge of the building, one of his friends shouts, "Egon!".
- Sequel Episode: The Boogeyman breaks out of his in-between place and seeks revenge against the Ghostbusters.
- Shout-Out: When transported to the unfamiliar dimension, Winston says, "Wherever we are, it sure isn't Kansas", which references Dorothy's line "I have the feeling we're not in Kansas anymore" from The Wizard of Oz.
- Shut Up, Kirk!: After the Boogeyman restrains the group, most of them remain defiant.Peter: Give it up, Boogeyman!
Ray: Yeah! We're not little kids that you can scare away.
Boogeyman: On the contrary, I can scare you to death! - Space Whale Aesop: One of the few episodes that has a moral, and being a supernatural-based show, its moral can be summed up as "Admit when you're scared or an evil entity will rise, tie up you and your friends, and endanger three kids".
- Spanner in the Works: When the Boogeyman emerges from the closet, Egon is too scared to react, while the others are sleeping comfortably. At the last moment, Slimer enters with a tray of food and, upon seeing Boogey, gets scared. He flies away screaming and drops his tray, waking the others up.
- Things That Go "Bump" in the Night: The Boogeyman appears again and tries to feed on the fear of three children.
- Villain Ball: The Boogeyman passes up the chance to finish the restrained Ghostbusters so that he can get "some real fear" by terrorizing the children.
- "You!" Exclamation: The Boogeyman when the Ghostbusters interrupt his first attack on the kids.
