There is a reason I like standalones. By definition, the sequel (or any subsequent iterations) will never hot the same levels or originality and freshness. Sequels are a gimmick, depending almost entirely on things like the reader's connection with the characters. And because a lot of people out there enjoying reading the low hanging fruit of sequels as much as the authors enjoy plying it, it thrives.
Chasing the Boogeyman was a book successful enough to merit a sequel. And (with that ending) almost guaranteed a book three. But is it worth it?
Well, here's the thing: the first book was Chizmar's breakthrough. The man has done a ton of things in the business as a publisher, editor, and a prolific cowriter, but never before as a proper novelist. And he debuted very well, with a clever and twisty meta-thriller that took on the current obsessions with serial killers to the new (and pseudo) personal level. It wasn't the most literary of novels, but it was sharp, original, and the twist in the end made it sing.
With the sequel, it is impossible to expect those things. From now on, you get pure formula. Chizmar is still Chiz the protagonist, only now it's real time (or 2022 real time) so it isn't even a stretch. It reads like the man is just writing himself and the people on his life ... in what to me seems like a sort of cheaply exploitative ploy. Yes, people say "write what you know," but Chizmar takes that to the extreme. Yet he still weaves in scenes of imaginary crimes in there, so that's fun.
Once you get past the meta gimmick, what you have is a solid murder mystery.
Chizmar's writing style is gratingly gee-haw, aw shucks, apple-pie Americana, which I didn't care for in the first book (but it worked better thematically there) and really didn't the second time around. The man can write and make the pages turn, but it's all so basic, like some small-town nostalgia goodness where all the people are basically good and oh-so-homogenous, except for a few bitter apples. It basically reads like an ad for the suburban way of life. A slice of Wonderbread slathered in Cheez Whiz.
That said, it is immensely readable and even fun. A snack food of a book. Addictive with low caloric value. But yes, fun. Thanks Netgalley.

A worthy sequels that delivers on all fronts and did not disappoint. Fans of the first book are bound to love this one as well.

I usually don’t like sequels but this one did not disappoint. Wow!!! I found myself flipping the pages because it was just as unique as the first book. I was pleasantly surprised.

This is such an interesting, high-concept series. A book within a book premise and the author makes the writing SO realistic you think this is a non-fiction, true crime story.

I re-read my review for the first book, CHASING THE BOOGEYMAN, and I wrote the exact same thing - the plot, along with the author's voice and the pictures of victims, houses, props, just make the story seem ... real.

In BECOMING THE BOOGEYMAN, we delve a bit more into the original boogeyman. We also learn more about the "author's" past more. I'd actually like to know more about the original boogeyman. We read about his past, but the author likes to go on and on with details, yet it seemed he skimmed over what made the killer do what he did.

The enormous amount of details is really my only complaint about the book. The book probably could have been about 50 pages shorter.

However, this is a fascinating twist on the horror genre, that I just really enjoyed this series overall.

Thank you NetGalley and Gallery Books for an e-copy of BECOMING THE BOOGEYMAN to review.

I rate CHASING THE BOOGEYMAN four out of five stars.

Richard Chizmar's "Becoming the Boogeyman" is a chilling and metafictional horror novel that blurs the lines between writer and subject in utterly unsettling ways. Inspired by Chizmar's own childhood experiences with a serial killer nicknamed "The Boogeyman," the book follows an adult Chizmar as he pursues a twisted relationship with the now-incarcerated murderer for the sake of his writing.
From the outset, Chizmar establishes an air of creeping dread, allowing readers to steadily piece together the traumatic events that haunted his youth in 1988 Maryland. As he revisits the Boogeyman, Josh Gallagher, in prison decades later, a sinister game of cat-and-mouse ensues, each trying to gain the upper hand and unravel the other's secrets.
Chizmar renders this psychological horror with masterful control of tension and an eye for visceral detail. The ominous threat of violence simmers constantly, amplified by unreliable narrators and a chronology that fractures like a dark fun-house mirror. Reality and fiction meld in increasingly nightmarish ways as the Boogeyman's sadistic legacy seems to manifest in the present.
More than just an exercise in scares, "Becoming the Boogeyman" is a profound meditation on the toll that evil enacts, not just on its victims but on those inextricably bound to it. Chizmar's nuanced character work, especially his introspective self-portrayal, elevates the book beyond traditional horror tropes into more existential, metafictional territory.
A disturbing and masterfully crafted descent into darkness, "Becoming the Boogeyman" establishes Chizmar as a distinctive voice in contemporary horror fiction. An unnerving and intelligent tale that will linger like a haunting long after the last page.

Having absolutely loved the first installment in this series so much, Becoming the Boogeyman definitely had some large shoes to fill. While I overall really enjoyed the story and it kept me just as hooked as the first book, I enjoyed this one just a little bit less - but overall still a strong read. Highly recommend if you read and loved Chasing the Boogeyman!

Thank you to Netgalley and Gallery Books for my review copy!

I feel like I"m missing something with Richard Chizmar. I've read a few books by him, including the first Gwendy book he wrote with Stephen King, and I just can't get into it the way others do. His books are highly rated, and the first Boogeyman book was pretty good, but I didn't really enjoy Becoming the Boogeyman much. It could be because it is from his POV, and I am sure there is a term for it, but it's like breaking the fourth wall. Stephen King did it in the Dark Tower series and it was weird but ok, but in Becoming the Boogeyman, I found myself not really liking the main character, who is Richard Chizmar, writing a fictional account based on fictional events, but when you aren't a fan of the main character, and the main character IS the writer, it's just not it. I gave it a 3/5 stars because it is an interesting take on it and he is a good writer.

Wow! Going in knowing this was a work of fiction, just like Chasing the Boogeyman was, I was still on the edge of my seat throughout the entire story. Can't wait for the next installment. Hopefully it won't be too long. Thank You for the complimentary egalley in exchange for my honest review. I thoroughly enjoyed Becoming the Boogeyman.

Chasing the Boogeyman, the first in this series, was so compelling because it felt so insanely real. I felt like I was reading something along the lines of “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark” and I was sucked it.

However, however, I think I’d have to say, I liked Becoming the Boogeyman more. Where the first felt like Richard Chizmar’s love story to his hometown and childhood, this one was built on grit, and suspense, and secrets being revealed. The stakes felt and still feel far bigger in this one.

I love the way the mixed media style works for this book so well. Including the incredible photos Chizmar manages to take on his own to make it feel more realistic.

The characters were well thought out, well-developed, especially the incredible fictional Carly.

I am here for these books and highly recommend if you like horror, serial killers, mixed media, and true crime elements blended with thriller tropes and a little police procedural action.

I loved the first book SO much and had such expectations going into this one. I think that's why ultimately I was slightly disappointed. I did enjoy it but felt it had too much is some areas and not enough in others. There were places it dragged and could have been edited to make it flow much easier. Some things didn't need to be there to contribute to the overall plot and served as a it of a confusion.

This author has some serious chops!! I read Chasing the Boogeyman and absolutely loved it. Mr. Chizmar seamlessly weaves fact with fiction to the point that you don't know what's real and what isn't. It's absolutely brilliant. His style of writing is immersive, captivating, and makes you jump in and not want to come up for air until it's all done. I read this in one day, which is amazing when you consider I'm "look a squirrel" distracted all the time. I cannot wait for the next installment. And there is going to be another one...right? RIGHT!?!

The tangents, and the way the author name drops and inserts himself into the story is just not for me.

I didn’t care for book #1, but wanted to give the author another chance. Now I know.

It’s not the book, it’s me. Not every book is for every reader.

Great sequel to Chizmar’s Chasing the Boogeyman. I love how he writes both books like an investigation. It’s super fast paced and keeps you sunk into the book. Overall a captivating read that had me engaged and desperate to see how it ended.

Thank you to the author Richard Chizmar, publishers Gallery Books, and TLC Book Tours, for an advance paperback copy of BECOMING THE BOOGEYMAN. Thank you also to NetGalley for an accomanying widget. All views are mine.

This book is good, but not as good as the first, which I loved. I found the metafictional elements to be stronger in the first, where they are more subtle. The story didn't need the ramp up, it was just Chizmar having fun. But, you know, part of the reason writers write is because stories are really fun to create!

Three (or more) things I loved:

1. Hey, Datsuns are fun! We had a Z!

2. This is a long book, but it moves fast and, as in the last book, Chizmar's style is smooth.

3. The pacing is really good, and honestly mismatches the form.

4. I love the bits from "Chizmar's" fictional memoir, Edgewood: Looking Back. How much of this content is mined from Chizmar's actual life is impossible to tell, but it often has an authenticity that I enjoy, like the ghostly experience he shared with three friends, at loc. 2958.

Three (or less) things I didn't love:

This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.

1. Though they are the same person, the narrators are much different in tone and mood between the two books. It is literally the difference between a "Chizmar" who did not realize he was the center of everything, and the one who would have it no other way. The interview "Chizmar" and Gallagher share at loc.1049 seems to support this.

2. Given the ending, some of the content is either illogical or difficult for the reader to accept, or both, such as the conversation at loc. 2193. They're being needlessly vague with each other here; the only one who benefits from that, here, is the reader, I mean again, given what the reader learns at the end. Are the characters and narrator now aware of the reader? Because, if so...dayum.

3. It is not Stephen King's magnum opus! The Dark Tower series is!

Rating: 🪢🪢🪢🪢 plot twists
Recommend? Yes!
Finished: Dec 12 '23
Format: Advance paperback, TLC,
Read this book if you like:
🩸 horror stories
👻 ghost stories
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 family stories, family drama
🤸‍♂️ man's coming of age
🗞 true crime

I loved the first Chasing the Boogeyman, I am happy to report that I love this sequel just as much.this one seems to touch on Ted bundy and some of the silence of the lambs style. It kept me engaged and turning the pages. He has such a way with words.

Becoming the boogeyman picks up right where chasing the boogeyman left off and I love that in a sequel. But I feel like the excitement had worn off from his previous book and I couldn’t get into it and enjoy it like I wanted. I started it and then put it down thinking it wasn’t the right time. And then picked it back up and tried again and I think it’s just me. I didn’t enjoy the format as much and I feel like maybe this book didn’t need a sequel.

I enjoyed Chasing the Boogeyman and I couldn't wait to see what was new in the world of Richard Chizmar!

Chizmar delivers a story with enough suspense and mystery to entertain. However, in difference to Chasing the Boogeyman, this story dragged in some areas.

I do like his winning formula of inserting himself and his life into the world where a serial killer is out to get him. Chizmar gave us enough questions, including if there was a new killer and if he was someone he already knew. Was he just following orders from someone from prison? or if a copycat was lurking on his property just to create non-stop fear.

The ending gives a perfect place for book 3 which I would read without hesitation.

Cliffhanger: Yes

3.5/5 Fangs

A complimentary copy was provided by Gallery Books via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Richard Chizmar is back with another Boogeyman book! If you haven’t read Chasing the Boogeyman, you could read it first to see how this all began, but it isn’t completely necessary. Though I highly recommend that you do.

If you haven’t read the first book, be prepared to be sucked into the most unusual concept for a novel. It reads like a true crime novel, complete with pictures and news articles. The catch is that the author, Richard Chizmar, is in the story. He is an author, who has written about the Boogeyman and who now has a relationship with him.

The story picks up after Josh Gallagher has been sent to prison for the murders of young girls in Richard’s hometown. A copycat killer seems to be at work and he is playing mind games with Richard.

While I think technically this could be read as a standalone, it is much more impactful if you've read the first book - Chasing the Boogeyman. If you haven't read the first book at all or if it has been a while and you need a refresher, this book does a good job of giving the events of the previous book but doesn't take too long to get into the current story.

The tension build was really great and stretched over the course of the book. I liked the constant push/pull of trying to figure out who is watching Chizmar and his family. The mystery-reader in me wanted more red herrings in the investigation, but other readers might feel differently.

We get flashbacks to Chizmar's childhood and at first I didn't think they added a lot to this particular story. However, once we get to a certain point in these flashbacks, it really added a whole new layer into the story that I wasn't expecting and absolutely loved.

Despite all my horror, thriller, and mystery reading, I've never really gotten into the true crime sphere. I am aware of the conversations around the ethics and impact of true crime and I liked how this book worked those conversations in in a natural way.

I can't wait for the third book to come out so we can

Richard Chizmar and the Boogeyman are back. How can the Boogeyman be stalking the Chizmar family and leaving dead bodies if he's in prison?

I love the way the author writes these stories. I forget that the Boogeyman is a fictional serial killer. Chizmar has an amazing storytelling ability. I also enjoyed the Stephen King namedropping because I'm a huge King fan.