"The Boonieman" is a short story by American author Edward M. Erdelac.
Synopsis[]
When a remote American firebase during the Vietnam War receives word that a major North Vietnamese offensive may be in the offing, a small unit takes a helicopter to investigate. Landing at a friendly village, they find that they have arrived too late and it has already been burned out. However, amongst the survivors is a sorcerer who yearns for revenge, and he awakens the entity which sleeps beneath the village. As the abomination rampages across the countryside, the helicopter pilot and a local man use the power of a strange charm to send it back into slumber.
Characters[]
- Lieutenant Jatczak, a special forces officer nearing the end of his tour of duty.
- Beo, a Vietnamese villager who has thrown his lot in with the Americans stationed nearby.
- Rin, a village shaman, actually a Tcho-Tcho sorcerer from Cambodia.
- Major Dyer, an American officer with knowledge of what lies beneath the hilltop village.
- Shugoran an Avatar of Nyarlathotep.
Publication History[]
"The Boonieman" was included in the thematic anthology World War Cthulhu in 2014, published by Dark Regions Press and edited by Brian M. Sammons and Glynn Owen Barrass.