Fungus The Bogeyman [Raymond Briggs]

Fungus the Bogeyman (1979) 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 Boogeyman with the mundane job of scaring human beings.

The Bogey society 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.

The novel was eventually adopted for a television movie starring Clare Thomas as Jessica White and Mak Wilson as Fungus.

The British Labour Party politician, Charles Clarke was once described as looking like Fungus the Bogeyman.