Fungus the Bogeyman
Fungus the Bogeyman book cover
Author	Raymond Briggs
Illustrator	Raymond Briggs
Country	England
Publisher	Hamish Hamilton
Publication date	1977
Pages	42
ISBN	0241895537
OCLC Number	4035276
Dewey Decimal	741.5/942 19
LC Classification	PN6737.B7 F8

Fungus the Bogeyman (1977) is a children's graphic novel by British artist Raymond Briggs. It follows one day in the life of the titular character, a working class Bogeyman with the mundane job of scaring human beings.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Adaptations 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Plot

Fungus is an ordinary working bogeyman, one of whose working days the book portrays, starting when he wakes up and ending just before he falls asleep. As his day progresses, he undergoes a mild existential crisis, pondering what his seemingly pointless job of scaring surface people is really for. He is a member of the Bogey society, which is very similar to British society, but Bogeymen enjoy the inverse of that which humans (called Drycleaners because of their perverse environmental preferences) appreciate: Dirt instead of cleanliness, stink instead of perfume, slimy and spoiled food etc. The book depicts the mundane details of Bogey life in loving detail, with almost every panel equipped with peripheral notes about such things as Bogey habits, myths, pets, hobbies, literature, clothing and, perhaps least appetising of all, food. Much of the humour derives from wordplay; for instance, Bogeymen enjoy eating flies much as human beings enjoy cigarettes, and one brand of fly is the "strong French Gallwasp", a pun on Gauloises. Similarly, what Bogeymen call a bugbear is a sort of teddy bear with rancid, bug-ridden fur.

[edit] Adaptations

Over a period of decades, a number of attempts were made to make a film from the book, which was difficult given its lack of an actual plot. In 2002 the BBC began work on a three-part TV comedy series, which ultimately aired in November 2004 and is available as a DVD, starring Clare Thomas as Jessica White, Martin Clunes as her father and Mak Wilson as Fungus. This Gala Films production with screenplay by author Mark Haddon, featuring live-action humans and animated Bogeys, was nominated for five awards. It tells of how Jessica, a human teenager, finds her way into Bogeydom and meets Fungus and his family. The family has an addition, a little girl, and Fungus' son Mould (who featured in the original book) is a teenager going through a rebellious phase: cleaning things instead of dirtying them.^[1][2][3]

A stage production, based on the book, was performed at artsdepot in North London between November 2007 and January 2008. A co-production with Pilot Theatre, the show was directed and adapted by Marcus Romer and designed by Ali Allen.^[4][5]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Toonhound:
  • book (1977) at the Internet Archive
  • 3D book (1982) at the Internet Archive
  • TV/DVD (2004) at the Internet Archive