History Main / ThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight

So just remember that the Boogeyman, The Golems, or the Oni is and are right there. In your closet. Under your bed. In the dark. At night...

* ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc.'' depicts this general situation from the monsters' point of view. In their world, they get their power via engines fueled by screams of fear, thus requiring them to scare children; a major plot point is that there is a power shortage due to this generation's kids being desensitized and harder to scare.

The Boogeyman, also known as the Bogeyman, is a recurring figure in folklore and urban legends across various cultures. This elusive and malevolent entity preys on children, lurking in the shadows and under beds, waiting to strike fear into their hearts. Its appearances and characteristics vary drastically across households and cultures. Most commonly, the Boogeyman is depicted as a masculine or androgynous monster that punishes children for misbehavior. These are a few of the Things That Go "Bump" in the Night. They are ''very'' real when you are six or seven years old, and even after you've (supposedly) grown up and moved far, far away... well, they're still back there somewhere.

The word is also known as "bogeyman" in England. Boogeymen trace back to Middle English, where they were known as "bugge" or "bogge," meaning a "frightening spectre." The concept of the Boogeyman likely predates the 15th century, making it an ancient and enduring figure in human imagination. Similar monsters exist in various cultures worldwide. These creatures may target specific acts of misbehavior or general disobedience. Often, invoking the Boogeyman serves as a warning from authority figures to children. Beyond its literal existence, the Boogeyman symbolizes fear--the universal emotion that transcends age and borders. It reminds us that fear is a fundamental part of the human experience.

So just remember that the Boogeyman is right there. In your closet. In the dark. At night...

The [[OurMonstersAreDifferent monster]] living in your closet. The [[OurMonstersAreWeird creature]] lurking in the shadows underneath your bed. The thing hiding in your [[CreepyBasement basement]]. The guy who begins scratching his long, ''razor-sharp'' nails on your windowpane the instant you draw the curtains and turn out the lights. These are a few of the Things That Go "Bump" in the Night. They are ''very'' real when you are six or seven years old, and even after you've (supposedly) grown up and moved far, far away... well, they're still back there somewhere.

[[NightmareFuel Waiting]].

** Darkrai could be considered as an inversion, as, according to its Pokedex entry, it only creates nightmares if it is threatened.

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* In the ''Magazine/{{MAD}}'' spoof of ''Film/{{Aliens}}'' there's a xenomorph lurking under Ripley's hospital bed in the CatapultNightmare scene.

* Subverted in ''Webcomic/SupernaturalLaw''; the monster under the bed is inoffensive and the kid is a horrible brat who took a baseball bat to it.
* In ''ComicBook/WayOfX'', it's shown that the mutant children on Krakoa have a new bogeyman: a being that lives in their dreams called the Patchwork Man. [[spoiler:The second issue reveals that it's actually '''Onslaught'''.]]

* In ''ComicStrip/BloomCounty'', [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Binkley]]'s Closet of Anxieties is full of monsters, the most visible one being the Giant Purple Snorklewhacker: as the strip goes on, this concept was expanded. Once Binkley is old enough to worry about more mature problems, avatars of said fears show up in the closet with the monsters, sometimes scaring the monsters themselves. For instance, in one strip, the Snorklewhacker gives Binkley a choice between a convention of ''PM Magazine'' hosts, Jesse Helms explaining at length why Martin Luther King Jr. was a communist, or a huge, Binkley-eating python. Binkley opts for the python, saying, "[[TakeThat Heck, I'm no glutton for punishment.]]" Eventually the fear closets of other characters are also shown.
* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'': Calvin often has to battle under-the-bed monsters, never fully depicted but often shown as alien, tentacled... ''things''; one of the comic's strip collections is even titled ''Something Under the Bed Is Drooling''. Luckily, they're also not very smart; they'll leave Calvin alone if he leaves garbage under the bed for them to eat -- much to his parents' chagrin -- and their poor bluffing caused their ambushes to fail on [[https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1986/03/02 two]] [[https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1995/04/03 separate]] occasions. The collection ''The Essential Calvin and Hobbes'' contains an original poem (with some fantastic, if terrifying, illustrations) called "A Nauseous Nocturne," about such a monster attacking Calvin at night, but then getting [[HorrifyingTheHorror scared away]] by a sleeping Hobbes.

* Gary Larson often used this trope in ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'':

* In one series of ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'' strips, Snoopy started to develop a fear of the dark, driving Charlie Brown nuts:

* One ''ComicStrip/{{Zits}}'' strip featured Jeremy's childhood boogeyman -- a small, purple bogey with a rhino horn -- having upgraded his scare tactics to cater to more "adult" fears. As an example, he pulls out an image of Jeremy's girlfriend Sara saying "Let's just be friends."

* Played with in Creator/TheBrothersGrimm fairy tale "The Story of a Boy Who Went Forth to Learn Fear" (aka "The Youth who Could Not Shudder"). The titular youth had never figured out the concept of fear, so when he ends up spending three nights in a haunted castle full of things that really ''did'' go bump in the night, he was completely unfazed by them; because of this, he breaks a long-standing curse, and [[EarnYourHappyEnding gets a happy ending]] (including finally figuring out what all this fear stuff was about).

* The opening sequence in the movie ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'' features a number of these among the inhabitants of Halloween Town:
-->I am the one hiding under your bed\\
Teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red.\\

Filling your dreams to the brim with fright.
** As well, the film's main antagonist, Oogie Boogie, is a sack man filled with terrible things, such as insects and snakes. He refers to himself as the Boogie Man once:

* The Boogeyman aka [[DarkIsEvil Pitch Black]] is the BigBad of ''WesternAnimation/RiseOfTheGuardians''. In [[TheDarkTimes his heyday]], he wielded great power. Now, he is mad about being written off as just a bad dream and wants to restore his former glory and engulf the world in fear and darkness.

* The ''Boogeyman'' series of films.
** In [[Film/Boogeyman2005 the first film]], the creature lives in the closet of [[TheProtagonist Tim]]'s childhood home, and took his father right in front of him. [[spoiler:Tim kills the Boogeyman by destroying the things from his childhood that gave him physical form.]]

* Cesare from ''Film/TheCabinetOfDrCaligari'' has some aspects of this, a sinister, [[LooksLikeCesare bedraggled figure]] who sneaks into people's bedrooms at night. He's certainly very boogeymannish.

* The title character of ''Film/{{Candyman}}'' and its sequels is treated as a kind of boogieman by his "congregation" - the people who fear him and continue to spread his legend. He also invokes real-world UrbanLegends like Bloody Mary (he is summoned by [[SpeakOfTheDevil saying his name]] into a mirror) and the HookHand campfire story.
* The movie ''Film/DarknessFalls'' transforms the otherwise innocuous childhood mythological figure of the Toothfairy into one town's bogeyman, and one man's life-long nightmare.

* In the Creator/DisneyChannel film ''Film/DontLookUnderTheBed'', boogeymen are what {{Imaginary Friend}}s become when their children stop believing in them. The main character is tormented by a boogeyman, who turns out to be [[spoiler: her [[ForgottenChildhoodFriend forgotten imaginary friend from her childhood]], seeking revenge for being abandoned]].

* The movie ''Film/MonsterInTheCloset'' is a comedic riff on this idea, in which it is revealed that the indestructible eponymous entity [[spoiler:needs closets to survive, and the only way to kill it is to destroy every closet in the world]]. Also a pun. The compulsory TouchOfTheMonster moment is not with a woman but ''[[HoYay a man]]''!
* Briefly shows up in ''Film/TheMonsterSquad'', when the {{Mummy}} is hiding in one kid's closet. His dad, [[AdultsAreUseless naturally]], doesn't believe him.

* The Babylonian deity Bughuul in ''Film/{{Sinister}}'' that would kill entire families and steal their children to feed on their souls. He's also supposed to be the origin of the boogieman myth, hence the name.
* "Mr. Boogens" from ''Film/TheSummerOfMassacre'' segment ''Son of the Boogyman'' is a fat, deformed and seemingly supernatural man who raped and impregnated a teenage girl, and has been stalking her ever since. Because, as he puts it, he's always wanted a son who he could "scare the living Hell out of!"

* When the Boogeyman goes to sleep at night, he [[HorrifyingTheHorror checks his own closet]] for Creator/ChuckNorris. And when Chuck Norris goes to sleep, ''he'' checks for Creator/ChristopherWalken (or in some tellings, Creator/WillemDafoe).

** In the short story called "The Boogeyman" (published in the collection ''Literature/NightShift''), a grown-up tells his psychologist about the closet-dwelling entity which killed his children, one by one. (Or rather [[spoiler:what he ''thinks'' is his psychologist...]]) This trope is also visited in a subplot in King's novel ''Literature/{{Cujo}}''.
** It also makes an appearance in ''Literature/TheLangoliers'', where the titular monsters begin as a boogeyman story but, well... okay, they're not real, but there are real monsters that get named after them.
** Ditto with ''Literature/TheTommyknockers'', although they're rather different from the legends.
** Also appears in ''Literature/SalemsLot'', where the master vampire takes the appearance of one of the characters' childhood bogeyman.

** [[MonsterClown Pennywise the Dancing Clown]] from ''Literature/{{IT}}'' is actually [[spoiler: a shapeshifting EldritchAbomination]], but often acts as a boogeyman of sorts when stalking and killing its young victims, either enjoying terrorizing them as it stalks and kills them or [[EmotionEater feeding on their fear]] as much as it [[ChildEater feeds on their flesh]], or both.

* Grendel, from ''Literature/{{Beowulf}}''. He sneaks into the feasthall at night and eats people in their sleep. Because he lives in the swamp and hates music and dancing, he's associated with darkness, the primal, and the subhuman, making him a classic boogeyman.

* In ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'', ''many'' things go bump in the night. Fortunately, the titular wizard detective goes ''[[KillItWithFire fwoosh]]'' right back. In ''Literature/SkinGame'' Little Maggie proudly tells her father that there had once been a monster under her bed but she and Mouse "slayerized" it. Given the setting maybe he should take her literally.
** The short story "Zoo Day" confirms that she wasn't kidding.

* The Big Sisters of ''VideoGame/Bioshock2'' serve as this both in Rapture and on the surface. In ''There's Something In The Sea,'' they've become legendary for [[InvasionOfTheBabySnatchers stealing children from all along the coastlines of the Atlantic]], breaking into houses in the middle of the night and leaving behind only a vague glimpse of an [[LeanAndMean unusually skinny figure]] haloed with a [[RedEyesTakeWarning glowing red light]] retreating into the distance. In Rapture, they're actively feared by the inhabitants as brutal enforcers of Lamb's rule, targeting any who dare interfere with the [[CreepyChild Little Sisters]]. For good measure, Henry Hall's "Here Comes The Boogeyman" can be heard playing around Rapture from time to time...
* The ''VideoGame/{{Boogeyman}}'' [[VideoGame/Boogeyman2 games]] have you play as a [[KidHero child]] alone in their room, with only a flashlight to keep the titular monster at bay.
* Superstitious medieval Germany of ''VideoGame/{{Darklands}}'' provides things that go bump in the night from German folklore. But your band of heroes aren't children to be cowering beneath their blankets. The horrors of old German nightmares will learn that their fate is to be gutted with a sword or set on fire with an alchemical concoction.
* The Hidden in ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'' are describes as "the boogeymen that haunt our dreams and live in the nightmares of children." Since they're servants of the Lord of Terror, they're one of the few monsters in the original game that match the theme of the DemonLord they're assigned to. In practice, they're bug-eyed humanoid monsters that stay invisible until they're right next to you, which can be pretty scary.
* In Adventurer Mode of ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'', this is the general role of the broad class of "night creatures", hostile monsters that lurk in the dark of night or underground.
** Bogeymen are the best example of this trope in adventurer mode because they can leap out of the darkness anywhere -- literally, they spawn continuously when the sun is down. Peasants warn you about not traveling at night or sleeping somewhere outside civilization, lest the bogeymen get you, and the boogiemen are quite real; [[FragileSpeedster incredibly hard to hit]] little blighters that will OneHitKill you if you're asleep, [[VillainTeleportation teleport in front of you when you try to run away]], and dissolve in the sunlight.

* This is the theme of ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys4'', where instead of playing a security guard at a SuckECheeses, you're a little kid who is deathly afraid of its animatronics and dreading your upcoming birthday party there. So you stay up all night, scampering around your room with a flashlight, peeking down the hallways to stop Bonnie or Chica from sneaking up on you, checking to make sure Foxy isn't crouched in your closet, looking over your shoulder in case Freddy's sitting on your bed...
* The Locust from ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'' are the basis for Seran legends about these sorts of creatures. Unfortunately, Sera has ''very real'' things that go bump (and bite and eat): ravenous little nocturnal fliers called Kryll. Anyone caught alone in pitch darkness on Sera ''will not'' see the dawn.
* Subverted, as ''VideoGame/JimsComputer'' builds up tension about a monster hiding in one of the closets to kill Jim, only for it to turn out the only real threat towards Jim was himself as he points his gun to his chin, not wanting to deal with what he believes is a horrific beast.
* TheHeartless of ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' ''started out'' as these, according to the first game's [[AllThereInTheManual Ansem Reports]]. They lurked in dark places like the rarely-visited, sealed off dungeons under the rather gothic castle at Hollow Bastion.

* In ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'', as an essential part of gameplay. The various Special Infected have their [[SoundCodedForYourConvenience own distinct noises]] to warn you when one of them is nearby. NothingIsScarier in ''Videogame/Left4Dead2'''s "Last Man On Earth" mode.
* The final monster in the Creator/{{Infocom}} InteractiveFiction game ''VideoGame/TheLurkingHorror'' is described in these terms.
* When the sun sets in the world of ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'', you'd better be inside behind a locked door or bury yourself in a cave with a nice bright torch because that's when all the monsters come out. While there isn't a lot of bumping, there is a great deal of groaning, rattling, hissing and cackling. And think twice before you sleep in a bed to skip ahead to sunrise -- a glitch can give enemy mobs access to your house. Imagine waking up, crawling out from under the covers. 'Time for breakfast' you mumble to yourself as you open you eyes an- TSSSS BOOM.

* The ''Attic, Basement and Beyond'' level of ''VideoGame/NightmareNed'' plays this trope as an embodiment of one of Ned's fears, in particular, his fear of the unknown.

--->Should you feel yourself attacked by a sudden chill, it is evidence of an approaching Gengar. There is no escaping it. Give up.

* The main premise of ''VideoGame/{{Scratches}}'', a writer moves into an old Victorian mansion, but every night he hears strange unnerving scratching noises and becomes determined to solve the mystery.
* Both ''VideoGame/TheSecretWorld'' and its spin-off ''VideoGame/ThePark'' features a bogeyman haunting the abandoned Atlantic Island Park, [[EmotionEater feeding off the fear and terror]] of unsuspecting visitors. Text messages from faction contacts reveal that the Bogeymen are a DyingRace, having once been found in every closet and under every bed up until Secret Worlders started rooting them out; however, at first it's not certain how this particular Bogeyman decided to take up residence at the park. [[spoiler: It turns out that he's actually Nathaniel Winter, the millionaire behind the park's construction; having discovered a PlaceOfPower which he could use to imbue himself with magical powers and immortality, he built the park there as part of a bizarre scheme to unlock the power by harnessing the joy of park guests; it worked... but the power he unlocked transformed him into a Bogeyman.]]
* With the release of the "Kids Room Stuff" DLC pack for ''VideoGame/TheSims4'', child Sims who sleep in a child-sized bed will occasionally get a visit from a many-tentacled "Monster Under the Bed" in their sleep. The child Sim will then refuse to sleep in ''any'' bed for a few hours until an adult Sim sprays it away. Spraying the bed just before the child Sim goes to sleep often prevents the Monster from showing up in the first place.
* The flash game ''VideoGame/ToysVsMonsters'' was inspired by the head programmer's son having a nightmare and her telling him a story where his toys drive the monster from it away, and her have recently played ''VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies''. The enemies are [[TheFairFolk evil fairy-tale creatures]] that charge from a child's closet, and if they get to his bed the child's mother [[ContrivedCoincidence chooses that exact moment to check in on him for the last time that night]].
* In ''VideoGame/WhatRemainsOfEdithFinch'' Molly herself becomes one of these and crawls under her own bed to eat her. [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane Or she just imagined it in her hallucinations]] after eating toothpaste and holly berries.
* ''VideoGame/{{INFRA}}'' features a shadowy entity with a WhiteMaskOfDoom named Mörkö, which literally translates to "Boogeyman".

* The Mimics from ''WebVideo/VitaCarnis'' have shades of this. A race of grotesque, skinless HumanoidAbominations with permanent SlasherSmiles that stalk their victims for weeks to learn their daily routine, often hiding inside their prey's home behind furniture or inside cabinets and closets. Then, when their victim is asleep or otherwise alone and helpless, the Mimic kills and messily devours them.

* One of the highlights of [[https://www.youtube.com/@cocobrED CocobrED's Youtube channel]] is Kaepernick's VitriolicBestBuds relationship with a being known only as Bed Monster. Bed Monster is only seen with its hands visible under or off the edge of Kaepernick's bed, and frequently either trolls Kaepernick in all kinds of ways, or backs him up in the many gunfights he has with bad guys. It's also not the only monster Kaepernick deals with -- he has a closet monster, a sleep paralysis demon, a dude with a horse-head, various monsters from the netherworld and others which he usually either allies with or defeats hilariously with a chancla.

* ''Literature/NightmaresPoemsToTroubleYourSleep'': The bogeyman in "The Bogeyman" is a creature that lurks in the shadows of an unspecified sinister place. No one who has ever entered his domain has returned from it, having fallen victim to his "steely sharp claws", "slavering jaws", and his bone-crumpling "bogey embrace". But still people come and he waits patiently for his next victim.

* Creator/GrahamMasterton had an '80s horror series ''Literature/NightWarriors''. In it, there are many demons and other horrors that can freely move between the real world and the dream world. They haunt their victims's nightmares in an effort to push humanity back into age where fear of the dark was very real. But {{God}} aka Ashapola has given a few groups of special individuals the power to enter dreams and fight these things that go bump in the night.

** In “Go to Sleep, Roys Bedoys!”, Roys thinks there is a monster under his bed due to hearing noises, but it turns out to only be the wind.
** In “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, Roys Bedoys!”, Loys mistakes the shadow of a tree branch in his room for that of a monster hand, then later thinks he can hear the monster but it’s just the ice machine, the wind, and a pigeon.

* In Creator/DrSeuss' ''Literature/TheresAWocketInMyPocket'', there is the Vug under the rug, pictured only as a shadowy lump beneath the aforementioned carpet.

Often found in concert with an IronicNurseryTune. [[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Not to be confused]] with being kept awake at night by your neighbors having noisy fun. Nor with MonsterCloset, a video game trope about hidden enemies.

Often found in concert with an IronicNurseryTune. [[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Not to be confused]] with being kept awake at night by your neighbors having noisy fun. Or with MonsterCloset, a video game trope about hidden enemies.

Often found in concert with an IronicNurseryTune. [[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Not to be confused]] with being kept awake at night by your neighbors having noisy fun. Or MonsterCloset, a video game trope about hidden enemies.

[[quoteright:298:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/michael_whelan_boogeyman.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:298:[[https://www.michaelwhelan.com/galleries/boogeyman/ Crrrreeeeaaakkk...]]]]

[[quoteright:290:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/michael_whelan_boogeyman.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:290:[[https://www.michaelwhelan.com/galleries/boogeyman/ Crrrreeeeaaakkk...]]]]

The [[OurMonstersAreDifferent monster]] living in your closet. The [[OurMonstersAreWeird creature]] lurking in the shadows underneath your bed. The thing hiding in your [[CreepyBasement basement]]. The guy who begins scratching his long, ''razor-sharp'' nails on your windowpane the instant you draw the curtains and turn out the lights. These are the Things that Go Bump in the Night. They are ''very'' real when you are six or seven years old, and even after you have (supposedly) grown up and moved far, far away... they're still back there, somewhere.

There may be [[WhoYouGonnaCall someone you can call]], but if not, just stay [[SafeUnderBlankets under the covers]].

Frequently found in concert with an IronicNurseryTune. [[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Not to be confused]] with being kept awake at night by the neighbors having noisy fun. Or MonsterCloset, a video game trope about hidden enemies.

* ''WesternAnimation/FrankeldasBookOfSpooks'' has grotesque gnomes lurking under children's beds to scam them into giving them their names in exchange for doing their chores as a means of stealing their identity, and El Coco Jr. (called the Bugaboo in the English dub) who steals the passion and joy from the souls of troubled artsy kids to join his ghostly orchestra.

* ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe'': Discussed when Gru tries to scare his three adoptive daughters by saying that there's probably "something" in their closet. It only really works on the youngest one Agnes.

* In ''ComicStrip/BloomCounty'', [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Binkley]]'s Closet of Anxieties is full of monsters, the most visible one being the Giant Purple Snorklewhacker: as the strip goes on, this concept was expanded. Once Binkley is old enough to worry about more mature problems, avatars of said fears show up in the closet with the monsters, sometimes scaring the monsters themselves. For instance, in one strip, the Snorklewhacker gives Binkley a choice between a convention of ''PM Magazine'' hosts, Jesse Helms explaining at length why Martin Luther King Jr. was a communist, or a huge Binkley-eating python. Binkly takes the python, saying, "[[TakeThat Heck, I'm no glutton for punishment.]]" Eventually the fear closets of other characters are also shown.

* In ''ComicStrip/BloomCounty'' [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Binkley]]'s Closet of Anxieties is full of monsters, the most visible one being the Giant Purple Snorklewhacker: as the strip goes on, this concept was expanded. Once Binkley is old enough to worry about more mature problems, avatars of said fears show up in the closet with the monsters, sometimes scaring the monsters themselves. For instance, in one strip, the Snorklewhacker gives Binkley a choice between a convention of ''PM Magazine hosts'', Jesse Helms explaining at length why Martin Luther King Jr. was a communist, or a huge Binkley-eating python. Binkly takes the python, saying, "[[TakeThat Heck, I'm no glutton for punishment.]]" Eventually the fear closets of other characters are also shown.

* ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterRise'': Goss Harag is based on the namahage, a specific type of oni found around the city of Oga in Akita, Japan. Once a year, namahages would prowl the city looking for any misbehaving children to eat them, and the first quest that pits you against one involves a mother whose child is too scared to use the bathroom on their own at night because of a Goss Harag.

* When the Boogeyman goes to sleep at night, he checks his closet for Chuck Norris. When Chuck Norris goes to sleep, ''[[HorrifyingTheHorror he]]'' checks for Creator/ChristopherWalken (or in some tellings, Creator/WillemDafoe).

[[folder:The Boogeyman]]

!!Examples: