37 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)
View submission: What makes someone a good bogeyman?
The point of the Abyss is to recycle the material, and Bogeymen are people/Others that refuse to be recycled and which have escaped the Abyss. There are many types, from those that just terrorize victims to those that brutally torture and murder, those that build trap houses and those that just stalk random victims, those that kill from hatred or fun and those that are almost regretful at what they have to do. But the consistency is that all Bogeymen, much like slasher movie horror monsters, are TENACIOUS.
Obviously things like having a strong base of power before falling into the Abyss help you get out, but we see several examples that the drive to escape and keep fighting against insurmountable odds is a near-universal through-line for things that become Bogeymen.
After all, many of the WoG entries and in-universe discussions of Abyssal practitioners talk about how a major draw of Abyssal practice is that it's sticky and hard to stomp out, and most Abyssal practitioners/Others are going to be harder to kill than you expect.
Comment by AceOfSword at 03/02/2025 at 20:18 UTC
16 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I think you're got it mostly right except for one crucial fact.
Bogeymen are people/Others that refuse to be recycled and which have escaped the Abyss.
Bogeymen aren't those that refused to be recycled. They are those who have *embraced* the change that the Abyss brought them, who shed parts of their humanity in order to become stronger. Instead of settling and surviving at rock bottom like many Abyss dwellers do, Bogeymen are proactive and moving forward, changing themselves so that they can *thrive*.
And when they do that, when the Abyss has its hooks deep in them, it's happy to let them out into the world. So long as they keep spreading and feeding the Abyss in some way Bogeymen are allowed to stay on Earth, which is much more welcoming than the Abyss even if the Bogeymen are spreading Abyssal taint where they stay.