Book Review: I Found The Boogeyman Under My Brother’s Crib

A New Take On A Childhood Nightmare Haunts These Pages

With I Found the Boogeyman Under My Brother’s Crib, Ben Farthing has done it again. So far, I’ve reviewed Circus Tent and Puppets Living in Apartment (titles shortened because of how long they are) and with this third review, Ben’s proven it’s no fluke. This person knows how to write horror, knows how to write a strong twist, and consistently impresses me. Every shifting moment of this story compounded more and more, with so many pieces of foreshadowing all paying off.   

But I Found the Boogeyman Under My Brother’s Crib deviates in a few ways from the previous books. Interesting ways that show this series—the “I Found Horror” anthology—doesn’t rest on its laurels. I Found the Boogeyman Under My Brother’s Crib is more like a thriller than a traditional horror and also isn’t as focused on the supernatural as the other two I’ve read. The main character, Rachel, certainly deals with the boogeyman, but the book is about parental abuse. So many different forms of abuse—emotional, physical, neglect, etc.—and the devastation wrought by it.

And I mean this: this book is rough to read at times. There’s a scene in the kitchen with Rachel and her mom that was especially upsetting. However, I don’t have the expertise to speak on how accurately the abuse is portrayed or presented, and some of it is problematic in its implications. Especially with one character. Regardless, some people might not be able to handle I Found the Boogeyman Under My Brother’s Crib, so be careful. 

Several Moments Are Intensely Harrowing To Read

As to the specific forms of abuse presented, the one that gets the most attention in the narrative is sleep denial—and connected gaslighting. Early on, we’re told that the parents only need five hours of sleep—by some quirk of biology—and have mostly convinced the main character that the consequences of her only sleeping that long aren’t because of that chronic sleep deprivation and so she ends up blaming herself on top of everything else. And through this framing of extreme exhaustion, I Found the Boogeyman Under My Brother’s Crib utilizes a classic trope. We don’t know if the monster is actually there. And I won’t reveal the true answer—but the book has an incredibly well-managed pace as we are constantly twisted back and forth over what’s really happening. The only thing that remains clear throughout is how heartbreaking it is that this teenager just wants to protect her brother, no matter how tired she gets, and her parents treat her worse and worse.

And then, once again, Ben Farthing pulls off the twist. And, once again, it’s so well set up. Tiny lines of dialog, small scenes, little moments with big implications. Once again, the depiction of abuse could be problematic, but it leads to tense, devastating scenes as the whole story closes in. Like the ending of literally every book I’ve read by this author, I won’t forget it anytime soon. It’s so creative and unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. The characters aren’t always super complicated. The prose isn’t always pretty. But it’s engrossing, emotionally charged, and tense in so few words, and that’s just so damn impressive. If you like horror, you should check out one of these books.

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