boo daddy

plural boo daddies · alternative boo-daddy

1. Gullah folkloreA malevolent supernatural being; a bogeyman.

   Dat swamp des’ splodin’ full o’ ghos’ an’ spook, boo-daddy an’ debblement!

   1906, John Bennett, The Treasure of Peyre Gaillard, →ISBN, page 287

   3 more examples

   HAMILTON’S HILL, 0.4 m., a little elevation, was the starting point for the races, and is known for a wide variety of ghosts including such fearsome creatures as a 10-foot cat that explodes before the beholder’s eyes, plat-eyes in the guise of three-legged hogs and two-headed cows, boo-daddies, boo-hags, and drolls.

   1938, The Ocean Highway: New Brunswick, New Jersey to Jacksonville, Florida, page 204

   Boo-daddies are the spirits of doctor-niggers and conjure-men released from the body of the living at night for dread purposes. […] Boo-daddies are supposed to be the disembodied spirit of conjure-man or doctor-nigger. Unlike the boo-hag, these creatures are harmless.

   1941, South Carolina Folk Tales: Stories of Animals and Supernatural Beings, page 48

   When Josie and I were children at midcentury, I would terrorize her with tales of the Boo Daddy, a variation on the boogeyman I’d lifted from Gullah folklore. The Boo Daddy, it was said, would creep into your house late at night if your shutters weren’t painted a certain prophylactic shade of blue.

   2000, Armistead Maupin, The Night Listener, →ISBN, page 322