Knowra Bogeyman Bogeyman A frightening imaginary being invoked to scare children, often described as punishing or abducting those who misbehave. Its appearance and name vary across cultures.
Childhood fear : Fear experienced during childhood, shaped by development, experience, and imagination. The bogeyman gives imagined form to fears children may find difficult to name.
Baba Yaga : A supernatural figure in Slavic folklore, commonly portrayed as an old woman living in a forest hut. Her stories sometimes make her a child-threatening figure, though she is more complex than a simple bogeyman.
Bogey : A word for a frightening or mischievous supernatural being, also used for other meanings in English. The bogeyman name is built from this older, related word.
Monster : A real or imagined creature characterized by frightening or abnormal features. The bogeyman is one culturally specific kind of imagined threat, not a synonym for every monster.
Scapegoat : A person or group blamed and punished for problems caused by others or by wider circumstances. Calling an unwanted figure the bogeyman can concentrate diffuse anxieties into one target.
Krampus : A horned figure in Alpine Christmas traditions who accompanies Saint Nicholas and punishes misbehaving children. Krampus gives the threat of punishment a seasonal, embodied form.
Boogeyman : A common American spelling of the name for a frightening imaginary child-threatening figure. This spelling variant preserves the same figure while differing from the usual British form.
Boogeyman (politics) : A person, group, or idea portrayed as a threatening enemy, often to mobilize opposition. This figurative use borrows the bogeyman's menace but does not describe a supernatural being.
Moral panic : A surge of public concern that portrays a person, group, or behavior as a threat to social values. The bogeyman metaphor can turn perceived social dangers into a simplified menace.
El Coco : A child-frightening figure in Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking folklore, known by many regional names. Like the bogeyman, El Coco is invoked to frighten children into behaving.
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