Saying ‘it’s not real’ is unlikely to stop Stephen King’s ‘The Boogeyman’ from terrifying you

There’s simply no stopping the eternal locomotive that is the Stephen King Cinematic Universe; ever since Carrie‘s film adaptation burst onto the scene back in 1976, the storied horror author’s works have served as prime real estate for everything from top-of-the-line cinema to dust-collectors in an abandoned Blockbuster warehouse.

Only time will tell for sure where The Boogeyman ends up landing on that particular spectrum, but if positive test screenings for the upcoming Shawn Levy (Stranger Things)-produced horror flick was enough to bump it from Hulu all the way to a theatrical release, then perhaps this skin-crawling trailer also doubles as a markedly powerful omen.

Directed by Rob Savage from a screenplay penned by the duo of Scott Beck and Bryan Woods (A Quiet Place) and Mark Heyman (Black Swan), The Boogeyman follows the dire straits of Sadie and Sawyer Harper, two sisters who are actively grieving the death of their mother without any emotional support from their therapist-by-trade father, who’s tangled in grief himself. Things go from bad to worse when a new patient of the father’s, the visibly-haunted Lester played by David Dastmalchian (The Suicide Squad, Boston Strangler), shows up at their home; an arrival that suspiciously coincides with the appearance of a monstrous entity that seems all too intent on carving a slice of hell inside the family’s home.

Indeed, if this particular glance at The Boogeyman is anything to go by, it’s going to be hitting the horror notes at full throttle, and with the Stephen King Cinematic Universe in need of a win after Firestarter, the stage is set for the scarefest of the summer.

The Boogeyman will release to theaters on June 2.