Operation Bogeyman

Synopsis

This essay film navigates the intersections of folklore, folk horror and black propaganda during the Troubles. Beginning in the filmmaker’s childhood home of Carrickfergus, Simon Aeppli embarks on a personal journey through haunting landscapes and archival discoveries to reveal a past steeped in strangeness and horror. The film examines a bizarre propaganda operation in which the British army staged fake black magic rituals to smear the IRA as ‘Satanists’. This unique blend of video essay and desktop documentary explores the spectres of Northern Ireland’s history through landscape and archival footage, audio interviews, and personal reflections. The film grapples with themes of buried histories, social control, and the haunting legacy of psyops and black propaganda.