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Killing the Boogeyman by Richard Chizmar book coverOut now
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Killing the Boogeyman

by Richard Chizmar · The Boogeyman, Book 3

OCT6Tue
Published Tuesday 6 October 2026Hardcover · Gallery Books · 321 pagesSee everything out in October 2026 →
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About the book

From the publisher

THE USA TODAY BESTSELLER

“A small-town nightmare straight out of Ray Bradbury country...with a dark dash of Thomas Harris’s The Silence of the Lambs.” —STEPHEN KING

The terrifying horror trilogy finale to the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling series that includes Chasing the Boogeyman and Becoming the Boogeyman from “one of horror’s indispensable writers” (Paste).

Notorious serial killer Joshua Gallagher—dubbed “the Boogeyman” by the media—has vanished from prison. One moment, he was locked inside a maximum-security cell; the next, he was gone, leaving behind on the wall a crude hangman puzzle and two chilling IT’S TIME.

Now, days later, the world is coming apart again. Bodies are turning up near writer and Gallagher confidante Richard Chizmar’s home, echoing the Boogeyman’s signature horrors. The news frenzy reignites while the police chase shadows...even as Gallagher’s twisted true crime fanbase celebrates online, acknowledging that he’s something more than human now.

To everyone else, it’s a desperate hunt for answers. To Chizmar, it’s more like destiny closing in. The evidence, the sightings, the voices in the dark all point to one unthinkable the Boogeyman never left. And very soon, Chizmar must come face-to-face with the thing wearing Gallagher’s skin, and learns all too quickly that some nightmares don’t return—they evolve.

“Richard Chizmar delves deep into our worst fears and touches the darkness that lives there.” —S. A. Cosby

Description supplied by the publisher.

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Not reviewed yet

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The series in order

The Boogeyman

This is Book 3 of 3. Every book in the series has its own page.

Out the same day

Also publishing 6 October

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