Perspectives

Literary perspective

The short story “The Boogeyman” by Stephen King belongs to the horror genre. This genre aims to frighten the readers by using events and characters which are unexplained or terrifying. The monster at the center of a horror story can be often seen as a symbol of the general fears of a society. In the case of “The Boogeyman”, the monster could represent childhood fears such as the fear of the dark, or fear of the dark side of oneself. There are also hints that the monster might represent fears related to sexuality. 

The horror genre is defined by the emotional response it provokes in the readers. The reader starts off feeling unease because something in the story is not quite right, which usually leads up to a shock or dark twist that confirms the readers' fear. In the case of this story, we can say that a feeling of unease is created when Lester announces he is responsible for the deaths of his three children and by his obsession with the closet in the psychiatrist’...