I loved this novel.

It made me question whether it was a true story at times as it gave me definite Michelle McMamara vibes.

I loved how you could feel the fear of the 'characters' and how you were right there with Rich and Carly wanting to solve the crime.

It is set in Maryland in 1988, Rich is home from college whilst waiting to get married and then everything changes, with the death of his school friends sister. More deaths occur whilst the police are trying to find out who is the Boogeyman.

And when you find out who the killer actually is welllll....jaw drop!

I really cannot wait to read further items by Chizmar as this just read really well.

This is a wonderful, engaging murder mystery story with a very nostalgic feel. Written as 'true' crime, this is actually a very clever piece of fiction with a little bit of historic detail from the author's home town. I have only read one other book from Richard Chizmar so far (Gwendy's Button Box, which he wrote with Stephen King), but I will now be looking out for more of his work as he is a fantastic story teller who writes some amazing characters. Highly recommended.

Chasing the Boogeyman is a very clever book - written as a work of fiction but in the style of a true crime book of which the author's younger self is the star - it is hard to consciously read it is as fiction.

Richard Chizmar, in 1988 is 23 and an up and coming writer. He moves back to his parents house in Edgewood, a small town in middle America in the run up to his wedding to Kara. He is happy to have the time with his parents, even though it feels strange to be back in his childhood bed.

However, a murderer is on the loose in his town, 4 young girls have so far been murdered. Richard and his friend, local journalist, Carly Albright, are following the case intensely collating their own notes as they go. Richard eventually writes a true crime book about the murders which is updated 30 years later when the Boogeyman is eventually identified (and what a shock that was!)

This book is fascinating, riveting and compulsive reading. I absolutely loved it. It is now in my top 5 of the year so far. it is authentic and at times too believable, it reads like an altogether too tense and atmospheric true crime book. If you like a really good whodunnit, and you're into true crime books - this is the book for you - it is unputdownable. 5 stars.

Chasing the Boogeyman is a compulsive work of metafiction with both horror and true crime elements set in the 1980s. Casting himself as the main character and narrator, the author introduces his younger self, 22-year-old Richard Chizmar. The story revolves around his recollection of his return to Chizmar’s real hometown of Edgewood, Maryland, and his family home in the searing summer of 1988. He intends on spending time with his loved ones in this time between his college graduation and his upcoming wedding in January. Chizmar mostly plans to hole up in his childhood bedroom to write horror stories and turn out the first issue of horror-themed magazine Cemetery Dance, but fate has something else in mind for him. When teenage girls begin disappearing from their bedrooms and driveways, only to turn up dead and mutilated hours later, Chizmar is drawn into the investigation that quickly consumes his small hometown. Each victim has been found missing their left ear and posed after death. Dubbed the “boogeyman” the possible serial killer seems impossible to catch as he lurks in the shadows.

Richard finds himself caught up in the intensive search for this sneaky perpetrator, his path intertwining with a journalist friend and the lead detective on the case. It isn't long before rumours begin to spread that the killer may not be entirely human, although the police believe the killer to be every bit the human psychopath. This is a riveting and enthralling read in which Chizmar inserts a gruesome—and entirely fictional—serial-killer narrative and places it into a largely autobiographical coming-of-age story. You can clearly see that the plot was shaped by true crime classics and found-footage horror films, and the supernatural thread that runs throughout is absolutely chilling. Suspenseful, haunting and oppressively atmospheric, it reminds you that even somewhere as innocuous and safe as a typical blue-collar small town can and usually does have a dark side. It's immersive, nostalgic and, surprisingly, emotionally resonant and the black-and-white photographs at the end of most chapters lent the book an authenticity that words alone couldn’t provide. A nightmare-inducing must-read for horror and true crime fans.

Chasing the Boogeyman is, essentially, a work of fiction but it is presented to us in such a way as to plausibly seem like a horrific true story. As a story it is cleverly constructed, and as a concept it was fascinating.
The book is set in the small Maryland town of Edgewood, and is told from the viewpoint of our narrator, the author. He is in his early twenties, about to get married and has returned to his childhood home to save money as he attempts to start his career as a writer. When the body of one of his neighbours, Natasha Gallagher, is found in woodland behind her home people are shocked. However, when further bodies turn up it seems that the town has a serial killer.
People are jumpy. Curfews are brought in, neighbourhood watch groups are set up - sometimes with unexpected results - and the FBI are also on hand.
In such a small town the creeping sense of unease is easy to imagine. Chizmar captures the tension well, showing through the eyes of his somewhat naive self the mechanics (such as he could witness them) of the investigation and the effects of such brutality on a small community. His fascination with the crimes is, perhaps, understandable and I found myself completely absorbed in the way he reports these. The photos were a nice touch to lend authenticity, and it was definitely a plus that Chizmar was aided in his somewhat interfering sleuthing by his friend, aspiring journalist Carly Albright.
From start to finish this was a story that I found hard to put down. I wouldn't say it was terrifying, but a bit like Bradbury (who is referenced) Chizmar is skilled at creating a mood.
Huge thanks to NetGalley for granting me access to this before publication in exchange for my honest thoughts.

**Will update the link as soon as I share the review on my insta book blog**

Omg! This was brilliant!

I honestly have not read anything like this before. Part fiction, part real, and all of this shaped into a true crime story including photos of crime scenes, victims, and police investigation. Yes, you read it right! THIS BOOK INCLUDES PHOTOS! (can you hear me screaming?!) Omg! When was the last time you read a fiction book that was so well done it was complete with photos?! This was epic, all y'all fiction writers, please take notes! Also, the story was super interesting and gripping too, and sure read like a true-crime book!

Halfway through I wanted to get on google trying to find out what was real and what wasn't. Thanks to the endnotes where the author has mentioned which parts were real and which were fiction and where all the photos came from, a brilliant job at that too btw, I could never tell they were staged, I would have googled god knows what trying to find it out! xD

Thanks so much to Netgalley, author, and publisher for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

Wow wow wow. An absolute classic of true crime fiction, it has the same excellent and storytelling as Truman Capote with in cold blood, and just the terrifying and horrificness of Stephen King. Love love love this book and I urge anyone who loves, true crime, crime fiction, and horror to pick this tale up.

And if it wasn’t the Boogeyman at your window then who was it?”

Richard Chizmar’s new novel is a play on the true crime genre and brings an addictive reading experience. Told through his own perspective, Richard talks about his past during the time in which he established his career and the progression that brought this chilling true crime story to be.

This takes place in Edgewood, Maryland. We come to learn about a “boogeyman” which has been responsible for several killings in this town however the evidence points towards many theories as to who it is. What kind of monster could do such a thing? This is where Chizmar tells the story of the harrowing events that took place in his hometown.

I knew straight away I wanted to read this book because of the way it had been written as a fictional biography. The pace is fast and foreboding, it definitely grabbed my interest to the point I almost read it in one go.

The investigative style with photos depicting crime scenes and areas of Edgewood only elevated the novel giving it that feel of a true crime book. What I liked was that I was so engrossed in this novel that I forgot it was fictional.

Richard Chizmar has created a chilling and creative story which I would recommend to fans of true crime and horror.

What a lovely mashup of true crime and fiction!
I am a big fan of both genres so this was a fun read.
Police procedural, serial killer, journalists and a small town - what more could you want?

Chasing the Bogeyman by Richard Chizmar, released on 7th August, is a chimera of a novel. It is fiction, but fiction which is pretending to be true crime. Chizmar writes about a real time and a real place in his life, the months he spent in his home town after graduating college and before starting his married life. His fiancée, his mother, father, neighbours and friends all feature, but the part which isn’t real, is the killings.

Bogeyman follows the murders of several adolescent white women and the police search for the perpetrator. The layering of the real and the fictitious creates a read which feels like it has more depth and emotional resonance than crime fiction. There is a hint of Bundy here, (it’s truly annoying how pleased that man would be at being such a cultural touch stone), a little Texarkana Moonlight Murders there. However as a hybrid it is also beset by some of the problems of fiction, there is one jarring “As you know Bob,” and crucial information delivered to Chizmar by a wise neighbour who just knows that this straight out of college, little life experienced man/boy focusing most of his energy on setting up a small press the right person to tell an important piece of information to – rather than say, the police? I guess that’s what being a white middle class male character at the centre of a novel does for you.

Most puzzling (if you take this as fiction) is why Chizmar is the centre of the story, when in reality it is his friend Carly Albright, who actually does most of the investigating. Chizmar’s role is far more passive, basically reporting back to us what he’s seen on the evening news, awkwardly failing to ingratiate himself with the gossiping men of the town, and hearing the results of all the hardwork of pounding the streets, finessing contacts, and pouring over evidence that Carly does. Yes, Chizmar gives her credit a few times as well as musing on her ability to win a Pulitzer, but really the same book written by Carly would be a much less passive, far more pacey and possibly with a lot less of the sentimentality, which infuses the whole novel like tea that is just a bit too sweat. However maybe Chizmar has done this on purpose and the whole thing is a clever role reversal, and it’s here where the porous border between crime fiction and true crime becomes complicate.

By trying to inhabit both the best of true crime and crime fiction Chizmar displays an admirable amount of creative ambition and playfulness. Of course some of the best work in true crime is in the first person, and to truly inhabit that position he has to write as himself. There is the added bonus that this lends great authenticity to the time and place, but this is perhaps at the expense of the telling the story, and it feels to me that in most novels everything should be in greater service to the story. But then again, this is fiction masquerading as true crime, a genre in which narrative is highly important, but so are the fact – and the parts that are genuinely factual do come alive on it’s pages.

There have always been controversies in true crime, regarding just how “true” it is, going right back to what is considered the first true crime book In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. It feels like Chasing the Bogeyman was a natural next step for someone to experiment with. While I don’t feel it fully pulls off what it is trying to do, it is still a captivating, if puzzling, read and I am sure we’ll see it in the best seller charts soon.

In the summer of1988, the mutilated bodies of several missing girls start to turn up in a small Maryland town. The grisly evidence leads police to the terrifying assumption that a serial killer is on the loose. But soon a rumour begins to spread that the evil stalking local teens is not entirely human. Law enforcement, as well as members of the FBI are certain that the killer is a living breathing madman - and he's playing games with them.

This book reads like a true crime story. A crime that could have happened in any small town. But what is fact and what is fiction?

I lied the authors style in writing this book. It's quite a chilling read but I didn't want to out it down. This is a fast paced read and the less you know about the plotline before you start reading (my opinion) the better. This was my first read by the author who inserts himself into the story so you can see it unfold through his eyes. The story will stay with you long after you've finished reading.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #HodderStoughton and the author #RichardChizmar for my ARC of #ChasingTheBoogeyman in exchange for an honest review.

I've got to be honest. I'm not quite sure what I was expecting when I started reading this book. I'm not even sure if the book met those expectations, whatever they were. It is a very clever concept, but one I had read before, quite recently in fact, and thoroughly loved, so it was always going to be a big ask for the book to match that level of enjoyment. I think what sets the two apart is that the first book, whilst a work of fiction, is written exactly as though it was a true crime investigation. Everything about it points toward it being crime fact. In Chasing The Boogeyman, we know that this is a work of fiction, and I suppose that was foremost in my mind as I read, and so I took it as such, never quite taking all of the story as seriously as I might.

The first part of the story is spent in setting the scene, introducing the reader to Richard Chizmar's hometown and to his extended circle of family and friends. This is a very key part of the tale, one which informs the way in which the story, and the investigation into the mysterious 'boogeyman' and seemingly homegrown murderer progresses. There is something very real, something very everyday about the author's start in life, the kinds of scenes you picture from buddy movies like Stand By Me or even the Goonies, a bunch of kids doing what kids do best. It gives readers a strong sense of place, of the very ordinary nature of the small town community, which makes the subsequent murders all the more shocking.

There is a strong sense of the true crime investigation about the book, even though, at times, the author seems to take far more liberties and be in far deeper than he should, adding to the tension and the suspense of the book, but also being the point at which it becomes a little too transparently fictional for me. Much of what happens feels like a very plausible scenario, the relationship between the author and the investigating Detective, Harper, a good example. I can picture the grudging allegiance between the two and the dynamic was captured perfectly. There are other moments of real tension and emotional scenes which can tug at the hardest heart and which have echoes of the many devastated families that have been seen on news reports over the years. The case itself, all too plausible, and though carefully portrayed, still packed with tension and an almost sense of inevitable dread.

It's really hard to talk about character when the principal in the story is the author themselves, but the way in which he drew the people around him, the way he brought them to life, paying homage to those who were real and creating an authenticity about those who were pure fiction made it hard to see where the lines were drawn. Certainly setting the story in a place he knew so well paid dividends as he was able to recreate every aspect of the landscape and therefore amplify the horrific nature of the crimes tenfold. This is a community where everyone knows everyone else. Where the crimes that are committed could never be imagined happening once, never mind being replicated.

This is a very fine piece of metafiction, no doubt about that, and the author is skilled at crafting a tale which draws the reader in, I guess I was just expecting something a little ... different. The author takes time in scene setting and I suppose this is where I struggled a little as I became impatient to get to the heart of the story and to see it reach its conclusion. It was almost as though so much of the story is given over to the author's high-jinx that the whodunnit part felt like an afterthought. That maybe we were still denied some big revelation. Did the ending astound me? Perhaps not. I suppose I was expecting what came to pass. I enjoyed the story, and I did eventually find my flow with it. Certainly I think fans of true crime investigations will enjoy it, as long as they take it for what it is - pure faction.

I wasn't sure what to make of this book and having just finished it I'm still not sure. I was very convinced by the writing, and the element of thriller it contains, but as a whole I didn't feel it had much weight to it. As a slice of nostalgia it was faultless, and you could see the author's enthusiasm for writing about his hometown and teenage life, but as a story I was left feeling a bit shortchanged, as if I wanted more from it.

Part memoir, part meta-fiction. This (true?)crime novel had me on the edge of my seat. The details of the author's hometown upbringing brought moments of beautiful nostalgia and the suspense elements are first class.
Chizmar's best to date.

When people say this book is "genre bending", they're absolutely correct. Richard Chizmar welcomes us to the small town of Edgewood. Full of dark secrets and little twists, as most little towns are. We follow Richard as he remembers the murders that gripped his town one summer.

A nice story but I do wish we knew more about the murderer - but perhaps, that is the point. Perhaps we need to know the victims.

A novel written in the style of a true crime book - its genius.

Richard Chizmar describes the - fictional - murders that took place in his hometown in 1988. An aspiring horror novelist, together with his journalist friend, he tries to track down the person responsible.

I loved this book, it brought me back to the old style horror movies of the 80's, think Halloween or Friday the 13th in book form and this is exactly what Chasing the Boogeyman is. I knew from the get go this was all fiction but the writing was so genuine it had me at times convinced that this was the real deal. The attention to detail was incredible - he even included photos purporting to be from the investigation.!

The story itself is terrifying, young women in a small, friendly community going missing and turning up dead with the police force and the locals having no idea who the killer is or who might be his next victim. This book had me making sure my doors were locked before I went to bed its that good.

I just loved it so much and I hope everyone goes out and reads it when its published. Its one of the best books I've read this year.

"Chasing the Boogeyman" is an intelligent and engrossing fictional story written in the voice of a true crime case study told from a personal perspective.

Chizmar has crafted an addictive and fascinating plot within the author's life history, pulling memories and details from his family life and home town. Despite being advertised as a work of fiction, it was hard to believe this was not a real criminal case. The attention to detail throughout the book was unbelievably well thought out and tightly knit. I was so committed to following the progression of the case, I repeatedly had to remind myself the crime wasn't factual.

This has shot to my top read of 2021 and I cannot wait to purchase a physical copy so I can read it again.

Thank you to Richard Chizmar, Netgallery and Hodder & Stoughton for this arc to review.

Sorry to say that this didn't work at all for me. def AT 14%.

I'm a fan of true crime and I was excited to see a meta version of something in this genre but Chizmar's writing is tedious. He doesn't get to the point in all the time I read the book. He talks up the town and his happy days growing up in it with irrelevant details about his childhood home even mentioning how he's the favourite of his parents. I thought maybe it would get better given other's praises for the book but when the first victim is being described, he objectifies her. This reads more like a diary than anything else.

Brilliant! Having read several true crime books recently, Chasing the Boogeyman all felt very believable and very real, from the characters to the setting and plot. I was gripped throughout - couldn't put it down - and longed for the killer to be found and justice to be served. Very cleverly done, and I enjoyed the author's comments at the end, revealing what was real and what wasn't.

Chasing the Boogeyman is a fictional novel, written in the style of a True Crime book. Richard Chizmar himself is the protagonist, and the novel follows his life in his hometown. He is back at home with his parents, just months before he is going to be married, and Chizmar "documents" the murders of several young girls in his neighbourhood.

We follow Chizmar as he becomes inextricably linked with the investigation, and we wonder who the killer is and when they will strike again.


I have read one novel by Chizmar before - his collaboration with Stephen King, Gwendy's Button Box, which I found charming. After reading this, Chizmar stayed in my mind. I didn't immediately run out and buy his back-catalogue, but I was intrigued. I followed him on Twitter and knew I would read more of his work some day.

Then I read Chasing the Boogeyman. This book is fantastic! Before the story, there is an Author's Note saying that the events are fictional, and yet I had to Google certain things to see if they were real. This is written as the most interesting True Crime book you will read.

Part of the reason that this novel is so real is that I believe Chizmar has allowed us into his life and soul. I don't mean the acts of the Boogeyman of course, but lots of the book feels like it was partly memoir. The parts of the text that describe his family life and the inception of Cemetery Dance feel like we have a snapshot of a real young artist's life. Chizmar has poured himself into the pages. Therefore when we are introduced to a terrifying murderer stalking the night, we have no reason to believe it is fiction.

I don't recall reading a book like Chasing the Boogeyman before. I was gripped from the first paragraph, and read it very quickly. This is the best book I have read so far this year.

I will now definitely be going out and reading Chizmar's back-catalogue. This is perfect for fans of Stephen King, True-Crime fans, and anyone who loves a thrilling dark tale.

Thanks to Richard Chizmar, NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for this ARC.