Fungus the Bogeyman

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It is not for everyone's taste, I mean you have to be keen on slime, pus and muck but hey, that is what makes a bogeyman happy. The story, such as it is, follows a day in the life of the eponymous Fungus, a hard-working Bogeyman who is going through an existential midlife crisis, questioning both his purpose and the system in which he works.

My teacher used to hate it when the class was reading (non-school) books and he'd see this well-worn tome on my desk. Tapping windows, tugging blankets, creaking stairs, making babies cry and hanging around graveyards are all in a nights work for the bogeyman. A charming first edition of this delightful pop up book, by much loved author of The Snowman, Raymond Briggs. Yes, ultimately the joke is one-note (everything in bogeydom is more or less the reverse of things in the human world, so bogeymen prefer dirt to cleanliness, cold to warmth, wet to dry, and so on, though there are occasional inconsistencies), but Briggs pulls off so many brilliant variations on it, and paces them out so carefully as he narrates Fungus's typical "day" (read night) of frightening and irritating people, all the while wondering what purpose his job serves, that the joke somehow never gets tired. And while the book was certainly quirky and very funny, it was also very different from what I was expecting it to be.However, as much as I do enjoy both the concept and appreciate much of the humour, I actually remain a wee bit disappointed with and by Fungus the Bogeyman. Deep down underground, in the dark, dripping tunnels of bogeydom, live the bogeys, a vile collection of slimy, smelly creatures who revel in everything revolting. As an illustrated and handwritten book, I would give it 5 stars as the author’s creativity knows no bounds: Bogeydom is the world of the Bogeymen and everything is the opposite of where we (the drycleaners) live.

As his day progresses, he undergoes a mild existential crisis, pondering what his seemingly pointless job of scaring surface people is really for. When I started reading books by this author, I was expecting something more fanciful like The Snowman, but found titles much closer in tone and themes to The Man. That is what I loved this time around, Fungus did not know why he scares people, why he puts boils on them and why he does this day after day. Instead we are left with this dense and contemplative literary work that doesn't talk down to children but rather treats them as intelligent readers and throws in references to the likes of John Milton, Alfred Tennyson, William Oldys, Thomas Carlyle and John Donne. And as such, I personally would also not generally consider Fungus the Bogeyman as a book for all children, but most suitable and enjoyable for children above the age of seven or eight (but there is really no upper limit for Fungus the Bogeyman as teenagers and adults who enjoy graphic novels, parodies, satires and coarse, crude humour type of offerings would likely also find their proverbial funny bone tickled).

Yes there were bits with Fungus talking to his family and a bit where he is playing tricks on people but a lot of it is just long winded descriptions of things that didn't really interest me. He spends a good portion of the later part of the book wondering "if this is really worth it" and "why do we do the things we do? I have had this book for years – but it is now time to pass it on to a little boy, who will hopefully love it as much as I do. For a picture book (and even for a short comic book style graphic novel obviously and primarily meant for children), Raymond Briggs' Fungus the Bogeyman is actually in many ways rather sophisticated and involved humour and narrative-wise. You had to keep stopping in the story to have every aspect of life explained and then try to get back into the story again.

She reassures him and we are shown that bogeyman, disgusting as they are potrayed in this book, still possess the strongest human emotion, love.A co-production with Pilot Theatre, the show was directed and adapted by Marcus Romer and designed by Ali Allen. An immensely inventive picture book landmark enjoyed as much by adults as children, Briggs' incredibly detailed classic charts a day in the gleefully gross and disgusting life of the eponymous monster. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on a pop-up opening door on the verso of the front panel in the year of publication, "For Eileen Ireland With Best Wishes from Raymond Briggs 29 September 1982. He would start his journey and that page was full of paragraphs about the history of every place he passed and the function of every item mentioned. We learn about Bogey houses, their family structure, what they do for fun, how they live, the essentials of their health and well-being, and more.