Beware the Seven O'Clock Man

I blogged a couple of months ago about le Bonhomme Sept Heures, a bogeyman from Quebec's folklore who used to scare the bejesus out of me when I was a child. The creature that haunted some of my nightmares and many children before me (and probably some after) freely inspired the horror novel The Seven O'Clock Man, which I bought and already read for my countdown to Halloween. I might blog about it in more details in October and "plug" the novel more formally, but suffice to say now that I enjoyed it tremendously. Enough so I lend it to Blonde Tickler, who has started reading it and apparently is having a ball reading it too. I am quite happy, as not only I am sharing my love of horror stories with her, but by making her read this novel, I am also sharing a part of my culture. I will let you know what she thought about it. Until then, keep your children in after seven o'clock in the evening and beware of shadowy figures you see walking in your neighbourhood around that time. It might be the Seven O'Clock Man.

The Seven O'Clock Man

The things you learn with a Google search. I was recently looking for information about a figire of Quebec folklore, the Bonhomme Sept Heures, who is our own Boogeyman. The Bonhomme Sept Heures, which translated into English means the Seven O'Clock Man, chases down children that are either not in bed at seven o'clock at night, or still out of the house after seven o'clock at night, or not asleep yet at seven o'clock. He takes them in the big bag that he always carries over his shoulder, to eat them in his lair, or to give them back to his parents. Sometimes, he just takes sands from the bag and throws it to the children to put them to sleep. So he used to scared the bejesus our of me when I was a young child. Since then, I have also been fascinated by the character. So I was googling about it, finding information about our beloved (in)famous boogeyman, when i discovered via this webpage that there is a horror novel based on him, aptly titled The Seven O'Clock Man. The writer is a certain Thomas Burby. Now I always thought the Bonhomme Sept Heures deserved a proper novel treatment. I don't know if this one does him justice, but I am very tempted to buy it. It will add beautifully to my collection of spooky books and it will make for an excellent Halloween read.