Haunted Closets

Many children, indeed, many of us as children, slept with the light on. Real or imagined, we often feared the monster in our closets or the invisible hand reaching out from under our beds (and who hasn't made the leap from the light-switch to the bed, a la Superman style?). For Katie Boyd, her fears were more than just fears. Her fears were actual experiences she endured as a child. 

"Haunted Closets" takes the reader on a journey, neatly segmented into three legs. The first leg discusses the history of various "boogeyman" personae. We learn why parents of different cultures often scare their children into submission with threats of "The Bag Man" or "Tommy Rawhead" coming to take them away if they don't behave. I found this to be quite informative as well as entertaining. Ms. Boyd has obviously done her homework, and she truly makes the history come alive. She also does a wonderful job of balancing the supernatural with the natural, an effort which is not lost on this reader.

The second section of the book deals with personal experiences, and is by far, my favorite section. Katie delves into her past, her fear, and how she finally escaped the torment. She also discusses various paranormal cases she has been a part of in the past and again, who doesn't like a good ghost story? Each of these are, indeed, good ghost stories.

The final section of the book covers "Flesh and Bone Boogeymen." This is where the book becomes a bit disjointed for me. We learn about real-life serial killers as well as various movie "monsters" (such as Freddie Kruger and Michael Myers). While the stories, in and of themselves, are interesting, it was a bit of an emotional lurch and leap for me to go from personal experiences to movie characters. That said, I did especially enjoy the "history" of Sweeney Todd, and could only picture Johnny Depp as I read that segment. As twisted and messed up as the story is, I caught myself swooning a bit on the inside.

All in all, I do recommend this book. It is well-worth your time and energy. Just make certain that if you are at all timid, you read it with the lights on.

I give the first two-thirds of the book four stars; the final third, three stars.

Author: Katie Boyd
Publisher: Schiffer (schifferbooks.com)
ISBN: 978-0-7643-3474-0