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The Peek-a-Boogieman is one level more harmless than the Harmless Villain. He's (almost always) a cartoon monster who is more of a jerk than "evil." He takes advantage of the frightening image for which other more industrious of his kind have labored, and uses his existence to frighten people.

"Boo!" And then he laughs when they run away. This is all he does. Sometimes it's his designated job. He probably wouldn't know what to do if someone wasn't frightened of him, which is often An Aesop.

Characters should be careful about what genre they are in, because true horror movie ghosts often pretend to be this to lull their so-called "Genre Savvy" prey into a false sense of security. Alternately, all it takes is one good scare to trigger a Fright Deathtrap.

Often the foil of the Reluctant Monster. Compare to the Noble Demon, who is a more serious version of this. Shouldn't be confused with the real Bogeyman. Not to be confused with the actually scary Peek-a-Boo Corpse.

Examples of Peek-a-Boogieman include:

Comic Books

A decidedly adult spin is put on this trope in the XXXenophile story "The Monster Under the Bed".

Film

Stuart, Cyrus, and Judge in The Frighteners.
This is what the Harvesters used to be, with a side order of Physical God -- Emotion Eaters by nature, they instilled fear of themselves in humanity so they'd always have a ready supply of food. By the film's beginning, they've mostly abandoned this (having discovered the addictiveness of the fear humans feel in the moments before death), but Gray is still at it, keeping his conscience pure.

Literature

Schleppel the bogeyman in Reaper Man.
- Actually, Schleppel doesn't even do that. Other bogeymen hide under beds or in wardrobes and then leap out to scare people. Schleppel just stays there... at first.

Video Games

The normal species of ghosts that hang from the ceiling in Luigi's Mansion. All they do is drop down to scare Luigi, and then vanish. (However, there is a subspecies that attacks with bombs.)
- Blue ghosts also act like this; they pop out to scare Luigi, then run.
Tatara Kogasa from Touhou. She's a karakasa that eats surprise.
The Lurking Tempest from the Vortex Pinnacle dungeon in World of Warcraft. It pretends to be dead when you're facing it, then pops up and flings lightning bolts when you're not.

Web Comics

Squidge the Bogey from Tales of the Questor. It's implied that his people have an entire culture/economy based around scaring children and extorting food and trinkets out of them.

Western Animation

The Disney/Pixar movie Monsters, Inc. was about a society of monsters that did this to gather power from the screams of frightened children.
Other ghosts besides Casper the Friendly Ghost in any medium he appears in. In fact, scaring is Serious Business.
This is what Shrek was in the beginning of his movie, more as a device to maintain his privacy.
The monsters of Aaahh!!! Real Monsters.
The Flying Dutchman of SpongeBob SquarePants.
- ...Sometimes.

Real Life

A Real Life example would be any dressed-up worker at a haunted house, mostly because of the fact that they aren't allowed to touch people, for obvious reasons.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{trope}}
-The Peek A Bogeyman is one level ''more'' harmless than the [[Harmless Villain]]. He's (almost always) a cartoon monster who is more of a jerk than "evil." He takes advantage of the frightening image for which other more industrious of his kind have labored, and uses his existence to frighten people.
+The [[Peek-a-Boogieman]] is one level ''more'' harmless than the [[Harmless Villain]]. He's (almost always) a cartoon monster who is more of a jerk than "evil." He takes advantage of the frightening image for which other more industrious of his kind have labored, and uses his existence to frighten people.
-"Boo!" And then he laughs when they run away. ''This is all he does.'' Sometimes it's [[Punch Clock Villain|his designated job]]. He probably wouldn't know what to do if someone wasn't frightened of him, which is often [[An Aesop]].
+"Boo!" And then he laughs when they run away. ''This is '''all''' he does.'' Sometimes it's [[Punch Clock Villain|his designated job]]. He probably wouldn't know what to do if someone wasn't frightened of him, which is often [[An Aesop]].
 Characters should be careful about what genre they are in, because true horror movie ghosts often pretend to be this to lull their [[Wrong Genre Savvy|so-called "Genre Savvy"]] prey into a false sense of security. Alternately, all it takes is one good scare to trigger a [[Fright Deathtrap]].
 Often the foil of the [[Reluctant Monster]]. Compare to the [[Noble Demon]], who is a more serious version of this. Shouldn't be confused with the ''real'' [[Things That Go Bump in the Night|Bogeyman.]] Not to be confused with the actually scary [[Peek-a-Boo Corpse]].
-{{examples}}
+{{examples}}
 == [[Comic Books]] ==
 * A decidedly adult spin is put on this trope in the ''[[XXXenophile]]'' story "The Monster Under the Bed".
@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 == [[Film]] ==
 * Stuart, Cyrus, and Judge in ''[[The Frighteners]]''.
-* This is what the [[The Deaths of Ian Stone|Harvesters]] used to be, with a side order of [[Physical God]]--[[Emotion Eater]]s by nature, they instilled fear of themselves in humanity so they'd always have a ready supply of food. By the film's beginning, they've mostly abandoned this (having discovered the addictiveness of the fear humans feel in the moments before death), but [[My Species Doth Protest Too Much|Gray]] is still at it, keeping his conscience pure.
+* This is what the [[The Deaths of Ian Stone|Harvesters]] used to be, with a side order of [[Physical God]] -- [[Emotion Eater]]s by nature, they instilled fear of themselves in humanity so they'd always have a ready supply of food. By the film's beginning, they've mostly abandoned this (having discovered the addictiveness of the fear humans feel in the moments before death), but [[My Species Doth Protest Too Much|Gray]] is still at it, keeping his conscience pure.
 == [[Literature]] ==
@@ Line 21: / Line 21: @@
 == [[Video Games]] ==
-* The normal species of ghosts that hang from the ceiling in ''[[Luigi's Mansion|Luigis Mansion]]''. All they do is drop down to scare Luigi, and then vanish. (However, there is a subspecies that attacks with bombs.)
+* The normal species of ghosts that hang from the ceiling in ''[[Luigi's Mansion]]''. All they do is drop down to scare Luigi, and then vanish. (However, there is a subspecies that attacks with bombs.)
 ** [[Money Spider|Blue ghosts]] also act like this; they pop out to scare Luigi, then run.
 * Tatara Kogasa from ''[[Touhou]]''. She's a [[Youkai|karakasa]] that [[Emotion Eater|eats surprise]].
-* The [http://www.wowhead.com/npc=45704 Lurking Tempest] from the Vortex Pinnacle dungeon in [[WoW]]. It pretends to be dead when you're facing it, then pops up and flings lightning bolts when you're not.
+* The [http://www.wowhead.com/npc=45704 Lurking Tempest] from the Vortex Pinnacle dungeon in ''[[World of Warcraft]]''. It pretends to be dead when you're facing it, then pops up and flings lightning bolts when you're not.
 == [[Web Comics]] ==
@@ Line 33: / Line 33: @@
 * Other ghosts besides ''[[Casper the Friendly Ghost]]'' in any medium he appears in. In fact, scaring is [[Serious Business]].
 * This is what ''[[Shrek]]'' was in the beginning of his movie, more as a device to maintain his privacy.
-* The monsters of ''[[Aaahh Real Monsters|AAAHH!!! Real Monsters]]''
+* The monsters of ''[[Aaahh!!! Real Monsters]]''.
 * The Flying Dutchman of ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]''.
 ** ...Sometimes.