Stephen King Fans discussion

Discuss Chasing the Boogeyman here. Please mark all spoilers for those reading along.

This is not a plot spoiler, but for people that want to go into a book with no info it could be(view spoiler)[ This is the third book I've recently read that blurred the line between fiction and non-fiction. Chiz used details of his life that are absolutely real, including his hometown, so I was unsure, much of the time, if this was memoir or fiction. I loved that! (hide spoiler)]

I'm up to chapter two. Looking forward to the story starting now the town groundwork has been established. Gwendy's Button Box is the only thing I knew about Chizmar until starting this--as soon as I read about Cemetery Dance I was on Wikipedia to see who this guy is.

I want to read this one but i have some questions. Does the kindle version contain all the extra bits that i hear are int he physical book? and how awesome are they? i've been listening to more than i've actually been reading lately but i don't want to miss out on anything.

Latasha wrote: "I want to read this one but i have some questions. Does the kindle version contain all the extra bits that i hear are int he physical book? and how awesome are they? i've been listening to more tha..."

The kindle version should have everything. The extra bits I think people are talking about are the photos. While they definitely add something to the book, they definitely look staged/posed. You just can't fake a candid "snap."

Latasha wrote: "I want to read this one but i have some questions. Does the kindle version contain all the extra bits that i hear are int he physical book? and how awesome are they? i've been listening to more tha..."

Yep, can confirm the end of chapter pix mentioned above by Kandice are in the ebook. Do you know what other (if any) "extra bits" the physical book contains? If it's only the snaps, I'd say you can go the audiobook route without worrying about missing out on anything as the images just show some people and locations that have been mentioned in that chapter. They don't serve as clues or anything for the reader (as far as I can tell).

I'm probably going to wrap this one up this evening. I'm in the last quarter with only two extremely improbable ideas of who the boogeyman might be. Either I'm stupid, the ending reveal is going to be stupid, or both! :D

3.5 stars. Worth reading. Good story overall but a little too much detail on the home town and other life history. I found myself skimming a lot to get to the murders and sections related to it solving it. He can be very funny at times and I actually laughed out loud at some of his antics and descriptions. It was also very creepy at times and did feel like true crime with the pictures he has added.

No, all I know about in the book is photos. Thank you for all your help. I’ll probably go with the audio book.

Janine wrote: "3.5 stars. Worth reading. Good story overall but a little too much detail on the home town and other life history. I found myself skimming a lot to get to the murders and sections related to it sol..."

I somewhat share your sentiments. Started as a solid 3* for me, rose to a 4*, before I settled back on 3*. I think 3.5 would be a fair rating if GR allowed for .5s.

Once I got into it, I enjoyed the rhythm of going through the hometown events between murders and the way the plot thickened throughout. The growing creepiness was off-set by the warmth that came through for this period of the writers life. And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't intrigued by the murder mystery aspect.

But these stories have to end--and maybe this is how true crime goes--I wasn't satisfied by the way it wrapped up. (view spoiler)[Of course I knew the supernatural stuff was just there to mislead, however a lot of that aspect was left dangling for no other reason than... those questions must remain for another day...? What a cop out. Give us the rational explanation. (hide spoiler)]

As for my stupid ideas for who the bogeyman could have been, one of them had more motive shown than the actual killer (I think!), and the other seemed to have at least some behaviour that could be construed as suspicious if you tilt your head and squint just right. Yes, I was totally clutching at straws but I genuinely thought the story was building to an ah-ha moment when it would all fall into place for the reader a fraction before the characters themselves would figure it out. Maybe that's how murder mysteries go and not true crime.

Fun premise then, but lacking, in my opinion.

I just finished reading Chasing the Boogeyman. There were very clear connections made to Stephen King's (view spoiler)[Low Men in Yellow Coats (hide spoiler)], therefore it's my opinion that Chasing the Boogeyman does indeed contain (view spoiler)[supernatural elements and is connected to the Dark Tower universe (hide spoiler)]. Chizmar has hinted at a sequel, which I look forward to.