Characters Becoming the Boogeyman Richard Chizmar

Richard Chizmar: The Author at the Heart of the Boogeyman’s Shadow

Overview

Richard Chizmar, the first-person narrator of Becoming the Boogeyman, is a fictionalized version of the real author. In the novel’s opening “Note to Readers,” he stresses the story is fiction, while still using his own name, family, and hometown—Edgewood, Maryland—to create a disturbing verisimilitude. He is a bestselling writer and two-time cancer survivor, married to Kara and father of three sons. The plot thrusts him into a nightmare when a black garbage bag containing human remains—later identified as Annie Riggs, the sole survivor of serial killer Joshua Gallagher—appears near his home. From that moment, Chizmar becomes investigator, target, and unwitting catalyst for a copycat’s violence.

Plot Role

Chizmar is the story’s anchor and its most unreliable observer. His past as the chronicler of Gallagher’s crimes in Chasing the Boogeyman makes him both a celebrity and a lightning rod. The public accuses him of exploiting tragedy; the copycat killer positions him as a stage for a grotesque sequel. Chizmar’s exclusive access to Gallagher turns him into a go-between for police and prisoner, yet the lieutenant distrusts his emotional entanglement. His role shifts from observer to participant when the killer begins leaving evidence on his property, culminating in a direct attack. By the end, Chizmar resolves to step away, recognizing that his involvement only fuels the monster.

Motivations and Traits Shown Through Actions

Chizmar is driven by unresolved guilt. In a childhood summer job, he narrowly escaped abduction by Henry Metheny, a real cannibalistic killer, but failed to report the incident—a silence he believes cost a woman her life. This trauma resurfaces when the copycat mimics Gallagher’s methods. He repeatedly risks his family’s safety to chase answers, a trait that his wife Kara identifies as dangerous obsession. He is introspective, often noting his own “ungrateful prick” feelings despite professional success. Resilience marks his arc: after an axe-handle attack during Chizapalooza, he continues investigating. Yet his most defining trait is a need for redemption through truth-telling, even when that truth implicates him.

Chronological Arc

The narrative weaves between “Before” (1983) and “Now” (2022). In 1983, Chizmar is a college student working a labor job, befriending Hank Metheny. He escapes an abduction attempt but stays silent. In 2022, he is a settled author whose latest book has made him famous. The discovery of Annie Riggs’s body forces him to reopen his past. He meets Gallagher in prison, becomes a suspect in the public eye, and discovers his unpublished manuscript has been hacked. After the copycat kills Mallory Tucker and attacks him at home (killed by Kara), Chizmar finally repudiates Gallagher and chooses family over investigation.

Relationships

Kara Chizmar

Kara is the novel’s moral compass. She repeatedly warns her husband that he is being consumed by the case. Her actions—insisting he hold the bonfire, killing Sean Phillips with a fireplace poker—demonstrate both her love and her breaking point. Chizmar admires her toughness but feels ashamed that he endangers her.

Carly Albright

An old friend who arrives unexpectedly after quitting The Washington Post. Carly’s death of her husband Walter has strained their bond. She helps Chizmar decode evidence (the gait discrepancy in surveillance video) and becomes a sounding board. The author’s note admits Carly is a composite character; in the story she represents the part of Chizmar’s past he cannot fix.

Joshua Gallagher

Gallagher is a manipulative serial killer who treats Chizmar as a confidant and pawn. Their prison conversations are psychological chess: Gallagher denies knowing the copycat yet feeds clues, taunts Chizmar with the nickname “Richie Rich” (a Metheny reference), and boasts about immortality. Chizmar initially pities him but eventually calls him a “cheap carnival barker.”

Henry Metheny

Though Metheny appears only in flashback (and briefly in a coma at the end), his shadow is pervasive. Chizmar’s silence after their encounter defines his guilt. The copycat killer’s use of staking victims and dismemberment echoes Metheny’s crimes, forcing Chizmar to confront his own complicity in enabling violence.

Key Decisions and Consequences

  1. Not reporting Metheny (1983). Chizmar stays silent out of shame, and later discovers Metheny was arrested for multiple murders. He believes his inaction allowed a subsequent murder. This decision haunts every choice he makes in the present.

  2. Visiting Gallagher to write a follow-up. Against Kara’s wishes, he seeks a prison interview. This reopens his media exposure and gives Gallagher a platform to manipulate him. The visit results in Gallagher naming Benjamin Thacker, a false lead.

  3. Continuing the investigation after the mannequin incident. Instead of retreating, he searches the Meyers House, retrieves stolen objects, and confronts the copycat. This leads directly to the killer’s escalation and Chizmar’s attack.

  4. Pressing charges against Jeremy Hollister (Peyton Bair’s stepfather). A minor decision, but it shows Chizmar choosing legal consequences over personal empathy.

  5. Stepping away. After Kara kills Sean Phillips, Chizmar tells Lieutenant McClernan, “I’m done with Joshua Gallagher.” He resolves to care for his family, acknowledging that his obsession had become part of the problem.

Theme and Symbol Connections

Copycat Effect: The novel’s central theme. Chizmar’s research on the term mirrors his own fear that his book inspired the copycat. The killer replicates Gallagher’s methods (burlap mask, ear removal, hangman drawings), blurring originality with imitation.

True-Crime Obsession: Chizmar embodies this. His fame from true crime makes him a magnet for both fans and haters. The media circus, the Boogeyman Lives podcast, and the merchandise (t-shirts, bumper stickers) show how society commodifies horror.

Blurring Reality and Fiction: The author’s note—and the novel itself—deliberately confuse memory and imagination. Chizmar uses real landmarks, names, and even photographs taken with friends to make the story feel authentic. The line between the writer and his narrator dissolves.

Guilt and Complicity: Chizmar’s failure to report Metheny makes him an accessory by silence. He internalizes the accusation that he “anticipated” the murders. His guilt is not abstract: it propels him back into danger.

Performance of Evil: Gallagher performs the role of the Boogeyman for the media; the copycat performs for Chizmar. The prison interviews become theatrical dialogues. Chizmar himself stages a performance of innocence while wrestling with dark impulses.

5 Book-Specific Questions and Answers

1. Why does Chizmar keep visiting Gallagher when the police and his family warn him against it?
He believes only Gallagher can provide the truth about the copycat’s identity. More deeply, he is drawn to the same fascination with evil that he documented—a flaw he openly acknowledges. His need to “close the circle” of his book outweighs personal safety.

2. What is the significance of the nickname “Richie Rich”?
Gallagher uses it during their final interview. Chizmar later learns that only Henry Metheny ever called him that. The name links the two killers in Chizmar’s mind, confirming that Gallagher had access to details about Metheny—likely via the hacked emails or guard Carl Runk’s burner phone. It symbolizes Gallagher’s omniscient manipulation.

3. How does Kara’s killing of Sean Phillips change Chizmar’s arc?
It forces him to see that his investigation has put his wife in mortal danger. Her act of violence—using the fireplace poker—parallels the brutality he has been chronicling. He immediately chooses to withdraw from the case, telling McClernan he is done.

4. What was in the black garbage bag that Chizmar found near his home?
Human remains belonging to Anne Taylor Riggs, the 1988 survivor of Joshua Gallagher. The bag was placed by a masked man wearing a burlap mask. Chizmar’s discovery launches the entire plot.

5. Does Chizmar ever reveal the third victim Gallagher hinted at in the first book?
No. Gallagher offers to reveal a fourth victim’s name if the police rerun his DNA, but the copycat plot overtakes this thread. Chizmar never learns the full truth from Gallagher. The novel ends with Gallagher’s threats and Chizmar’s decision to no longer care.

For further analysis, explore the themes of the copycat effect, blurring reality and fiction, and the ending explained. See also the full book overview and questions and answers.