Chapter Five: Buried Secrets – Summary and Analysis

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

In summer 1983, 17-year-old Richard Chizmar works as a laborer at Aberdeen Proving Ground. He is paired with Hank Metheny, a large, friendly man who soon begins staring at him and asking unsettling questions, such as what pruning shears would do to human fingers. Hank appears outside Richard’s home and at a baseball game. Weeks later, Richard’s car breaks down on a dark road. Hank arrives in his own car, offering a ride. Richard notices the passenger door has no inside handle and realizes he is trapped. Hank lunges for him; Richard swings a piece of rebar, striking Hank’s head, and escapes. Ashamed and frightened, he does not report the attack. Eight months later, he learns from a newspaper that Henry Metheny has been arrested for murdering Bernadette Palletto and is linked to multiple other stabbings, dismemberments, and acts of cannibalism. Richard believes his silence cost an innocent woman her life.

Key Events

Richard and Hank work together clearing brush at Aberdeen Proving Ground.
Hank repeatedly stares at Richard and asks about pruning shears harming human fingers.
Richard sees Hank lurking outside his home at night.
Hank appears in Richard’s binocular view at an Orioles game.
Richard’s car breaks down on Route 7; Hank offers a ride and tries to abduct him.
Richard strikes Hank with rebar and flees.
Richard does not report the incident to police.
Eight months later, Richard reads that Hank was arrested for murder.
Hank is charged with additional murders and suspected of dismemberment and cannibalism.

Character Development

Richard Chizmar: Transitions from a curious teenager to a traumatized young adult haunted by inaction. His guilt over not reporting Hank shapes his future fascination with horror and crime.
Hank Metheny: Initially appears as an odd but harmless coworker; his behavior escalates to stalking and attempted abduction. Later revealed as a serial killer, his predatory nature redefines Richard’s understanding of evil.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Secrecy and Guilt: The chapter centers on a buried secret kept for decades. Richard’s choice to do “the easy thing” rather than “the right thing” leads to lasting remorse.
The Dark Side: Richard’s standard explanation for his interest in horror (monster movies, Stephen King) contrasts with the real-life darkness he encounters. The chapter suggests that true horror lies in personal experience.
Predator and Prey: Hank’s stalking and trap (door without handle) symbolize how a predator isolates and targets the vulnerable.
Memory and Imagination: Richard questions whether the attack was real or a product of his imagination, echoing childhood fears of a witch in the wardrobe. The line between fiction and reality blurs.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter is pivotal because it grounds the author’s lifelong engagement with horror in a real, life-threatening event. It explains why Richard writes about the dark side and why he feels compelled to share this story. The moral weight of his silence—and the cost of inaction—thematically connects to the broader narrative of Becoming the Boogeyman.

Study Questions and Answers

How does Richard’s encounter with Hank differ from his earlier fascination with fictional horror?
Richard’s earlier interest came from movies and books; the encounter with Hank was a real and violent experience that left him ashamed and guilty, not just entertained or scared.
Why does Richard choose not to report the attack, and what does he later realize about that choice?
He was embarrassed, ashamed of running away, and convinced himself it might have been an overreaction. Later, he learns that his inaction might have allowed Hank to murder Bernadette Palletto.
What role does the phrase “graveyard quiet” play in the chapter?
The phrase describes the eerie silence on the road just before Hank appears. It symbolizes the moment when the everyday world becomes suffused with menace, and it echoes the “buried secrets” of the chapter’s title.