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For decades, author Richard Chizmar has written short stories and screenplays and published collections that have taken thriller fans on haunting adventures. But in his new novel, Chasing the Boogeyman, he tells another chilling tale and puts himself right in the middle of it.
The story travels back home with the author to a small Maryland town that’s plunged into fear and paranoia when teenage girls begin to go missing. In the summer of 1988, Richard Chizmar is newly graduated from college, and he’s decided to move back in with his parents to prepare for the next steps in his life: publishing a horror magazine and then getting married. Just as he’s packing up to make the move, he learns that one of his neighbors, the teenage sister of an old classmate, has been murdered. And as more girls are targeted, Richard finds himself getting caught up in the case.
With each new missing girl, the town becomes more fearful—and Richard gets more involved. At first, it’s simply because of his eerie fascination with the macabre. He just can’t help but reach out to a journalist friend to see if he can get any more information on the monster who’s haunting the streets of his quaint, comfortable town. But when someone starts calling the house, he realizes that his interest could prove dangerous.
Each girl, each sighting, each revelation makes this story all the more captivating. It may start out slowly—with what sometimes feel like nostalgic passages about the town, its streets, its people. But it doesn’t take long to build into something that’s entirely riveting. The author puts himself into the story, and his writing style pulls readers right along with him—and, after a while, it’s nearly impossible to separate this remarkably clever work of fiction from true crime.
Chasing the Boogeyman doesn’t feel like just another fictional thriller. It feels like those dark, disturbing stories that grownups discuss when the kids are out of the room—that kids hear anyway and whisper about in the dark before going home to lie awake in their beds, jumping at every noise. It’s real and it’s truly haunting.
Fans of true crime thrillers or horror stories will love the mystery and the chills of this clever small-town investigation. Block off some time when you pick it up—because as the story speeds along, you’ll have a hard time setting it aside.
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