Booger

by Franklin E. Wales

Not believing in his child's night scares cost David Thurston his child's life. Believing in them cost him nearly a decade of his own. It took the doctors at the Sunnyville Mental Institution seven years to convince David the only Boogeyman was in his mind. It took only a few weeks back in the outside world to convince him they might be wrong. As the people he cares most about are dealt horrible deaths, David is forced to choose between the unbelievable words of a homeless man, and the uncomforting facts of the doctors. All the while the words of his mother echo through his tormented mind...The Boogeyman will get him if he doesn't watch out.

230 pages, Paperback

First published July 22, 2010

About the author

The author of six novels and numerous shorter works of fiction and nonfiction, Frank prefers the title of Storyteller to Novelist or Journalist. “It’s a time honored tradition passed down through our parents and our grandparents,” he says. “No matter what I am writing, it is my goal to entertain you with the story I’m telling.”

Born and raised in Conway, NH, Frank now lives with his beautiful photographer wife, Jacki, in the South Florida home they share with their two dogs and a cat named Oz (as in Wizard of).

Reviews

[Jackie Weger · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't read any of Franklin's work since he was an aspiring author. My goodness! Booger is knocking my socks off. I love it.

[Jeffrey Kosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Booger, the Bogeyman – Simply Delicious

I’m a fan of Frank E. Wales, so I may be a bit biased here, having read many of his short stories and some of his novels. When he offered me the opportunity to pick one of his books free, I immediately went for his first; not because I wanted to see his evolution as a writer, but for its theme. I’m simply in love with legends: urban or old.
And the bogeyman legend is one who is staying with us from humanity’s dawn. Tales on this creepy kidnapper of kids have been told and retold, but Wales found a different approach to it.
He made it even scarier than the stories out there.
We are immediately treated to a terrible experience suffered by the protagonist, David. His son vanishes in the wee hours of night right under his disbeliever nose, but what he sees is enough to send him to the nuthouse for more than seven years.
Once he comes out, he has lost everything: his son, his marriage, his job, even his mind. Convinced he was the cause of his own son’s demise, he tries to start a new life, but soon old horrors resurface and people around him start to die. This will lead him on the verge of alcoholism – and madness – until he meets Arthur, a hobo with a back-story very similar to his. Soon, they join forces to understand what killed their kids and most of all how to protect those they care for.
Booger is well written, filled with angst, and occasionally even cinematic (it would made for a perfect horror movie) but what will fascinate the reader is its dramatic ending.
The Booger – or Boogerman, as the scared kids call it – is something that both Lovecraft and Stephen King would love to add to their ‘unnameable things’ cosmogony.
A must read.

[Will · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book written by my cousin Frank Wales. He sent me this book signed. And now since it has been loaned out, it has been misplaced. :(