The New York Times bestselling coauthor of Gwendy’s Button Box brings his signature prose to this story of small-town evil that combines the storytelling of Stephen King with the true-crime suspense of Michelle McNamara.

In the summer of 1988, the mutilated bodies of several missing girls begin 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 in the quiet suburb. But soon a rumor 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. For a once peaceful community trapped in the depths of paranoia and suspicion, it feels like a nightmare that will never end.

Recent college graduate Richard Chizmar returns to his hometown just as a curfew is enacted and a neighborhood watch is formed. In the midst of preparing for his wedding and embarking on a writing career, he soon finds himself thrust into the real-life horror story. Inspired by the terrifying events, Richard writes a personal account of the serial killer’s reign of terror, unaware that these events will continue to haunt him for years to come.

A clever, terrifying, and heartrending work of metafiction, Chasing the Boogeyman is the ultimate marriage between horror fiction and true crime. Chizmar’s writing is on full display in this truly unique novel that will haunt you long after you turn the final page.

I was super excited to finally get to this one. I’d read all kinds of rave reviews, and while the premise was something I am typically interested in, I felt a little disconnected and the reason is the very thing that so many raved about – the execution.

Set in the summer of 1988 in a small Maryland town, the novel follows recent college graduate Richard Chizmar as he returns to his hometown. When the mutilated bodies of several missing girls are discovered, Chizmar finds himself caught up in the crimes of a local serial killer. No one knows when the next body will show up, and as rumors run rampant about who it could be, the stories grow and morph until some wonder if the killer that the authorities are searching for is even human.

What sets this book apart from all of the other serial killer books out there is the author’s approach. Rather than assume the identity of fictional characters, he goes meta and makes himself a character in the story. By blending elements of his own life with the fictional horrors unfolding in the town, Chizmar creates an experience that reads like a nonfiction true crime book – and this is where I lost interest. I am not a nonfiction fan at all, and I am so beyond burned out on true crime that by combining these two elements, I couldn’t keep myself invested. I kept reminding myself that it wasn’t real, but it read like it was, and I find nonfiction incredibly dull. I also felt that we spent way more time in the head of the narrator (in this case, a somewhat fictional version of the author), and it prevented me from feeling close to any of the other characters.

After reading only a couple of chapters, I decided to switch to the audiobook version. My thought was that maybe I would grow more invested, but that didn’t happen. The narrator does a great job, but sadly – for me – I just wasn’t into this one. Maybe I’m burned out after reading so many horror/thriller novels in a row, or maybe my annoyance with true crime runs deeper than I realized. Whatever the case, this book was fine, and I can see why readers ate it up, but for me – it was just okay.

While I appreciated the author’s unique approach, I just couldn’t get into it. I stuck with it until the end, but I think my aversion to true crime and nonfiction is what ruined this one for me. If you’re looking for a unique take on serial killer thrillers, or if you are a true crime fan, you might enjoy this one. That said, I’d like to read more by this author – something that is more traditional fiction.

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