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Not to be confused with Sandman from IDW Comics

A renegade Sandman[3] (also known as Mr. Sandman) proceeded with his desire to stop all wars. He is a sleep dust spreading ghost with a groaning voice who is determined to complete his mission.[4][5]

History[]

Primary Canon[]

The Real Ghostbusters[]

The Sandman first appeared in Chelsea, Manhattan where he was on a mission to stop all war by putting all of mankind to sleep for 500 years.[6] He wished to do this in order to stop all wars and create peaceful world where only dreams exist. Sandman appeared in room 413 of an apartment on 248 West 16th Street. He put many people to sleep, and their wild dreams caused much chaos throughout the streets of New York.

These actions attracted the Ghostbusters to his doorstep. He managed to put all but Winston Zeddemore to sleep. Winston finally learned that if people realized that what they saw were a dream, they could take control of what was in their dream thanks to advice Ray Stantz gave to Peter Venkman.[7] Winston rushed back and laid a trap for the Sandman at headquarters, which was successful when Janine Melnitz got the drop on the Sandman by dreaming she was a Ghostbuster and her dream self successfully managed to halt the Sandman. Winston then delivered another blast and Slimer successfully trapped the Sandman. After he was captured, all his victims were awakened. The dreams and nightmares all dispersed, as well.

Secondary Canon[]

IDW Comics[]

While out on her lunch hour, Kylie Griffin did a favor for Ray Stantz and went on a bust. A Sandman attempted to dust Kylie and put her to sleep. Kylie was unaffected on account of her high levels of caffeine intake. Utterly shocked, the Sandman was soon trapped.

Ghostbusters: The Board Game[]

Ghost Card Information[]

Side A[]

  • To Hit: 4 or higher, add a Stream
  • To Trap: 4 Streams (from at least 3 Ghostbusters)
  • When Hit: Moves 1 space away from that Ghostbuster.
  • When Trapped: Place it on your Character Card.
  • When Missed: You are put to Sleep, and then Sandman moves 1 space in a random direction.
  • Special:
    • At the end of each round, Sandman teleports (without passing through intervening spaces) to a random space adjacent to the nearest Ghostbuster that is not asleep, then roll the Event Die- If a Closed Gate is rolled, that Ghostbuster is put to Sleep.
    • Sleep: Lose all Streams and skip each of your turns. An adjacent Ghostbuster may spend an Action to wake you up.
    • Sandman cannot leave the map.

Side B[]

John Milton wrote, "Easy is the descent into Hell, for it is paved with good intentions." This rogue Sandman is committed to an idealistic crusade to end all of humanity's wars by putting everyone to sleep for 500 years. However, the combination of an inflated ego and lack of foresight proves he is incredibly dangerous to the lives he is attempting to protect.

Armed with numerous powers including sleep inducement, dream manipulation, teleportation and flight, Sandman is formidable. Training in the ability to be lucid under his spell is one's best defense.

Dimension 50-S[]

A Sandman entered the Calvin Home on Staten Island. The family felt an evil presence and had same nightmares for days.[8] They checked into a hotel and called the Ghostbusters.[9] The next week, Alan Crendall and Bridget Gibbons took the case. An hour after they were supposed to be off-shift, they searched the house with their Ecto Goggles on.[10] While Bridget emphasized time and a half, Alan sighted the eyes of the entity but was unaware it was a Sandman. He was attacked and placed in a dream-like state where he was confronted by Vigo. Bridget retreated and called in Samuel Hazer and Gabriel Sitter. They trapped the Sandman then Alan regained consciousness soon after. Bridget told him he wasn't getting a cut of the payment since he slept through the bust. Alan noticed the slash on his chest inflicted by Vigo in his dream was still there.

Personality[]

Sandman seems to be somewhat of an egotistical idealist in many ways. His ego has also led him to be paranoid at times, as he believed the Ghostbusters were laughing at him when they said nothing. However despite his ego, he does care about the wars man continues to cause. In this context, it's possible that the Sandman might have perceived himself to be a hero and "the greatest Sandman ever."

It's likely that the Sandman isn't evil, just exceedingly misguided. His warped definition of being "humane" makes him very dangerous to the very human life he wants to protect. For example, had he put the world to sleep and a natural disaster occurred, countless innocents could be injured or killed and no one would be in a position to come to their aid. And had he put all the Ghostbusters to sleep, no one would be left to stop later incursions on the paranormal front like Vigo or Ivo Shandor. So one could say that another of The Sandman's character deficiencies is shortsightedness. He's so focused on the "enemy" that he has become it.

Classification[]

Secondary Canon[]

In Ghostbusters: The Board Game, the Sandman is a Class 6.

Powers[]

As a Sandman, the Sandman's powers all are based on sleep.

Sleep Inducement: He wields a blowgun that he uses to blow dust onto people.[11] When a victim is put to sleep, the visions within a dream are brought to life. The sleep dust causes people to sleep for 500 years.

Dream Manipulation: He can also change these dreams into nightmares.

Teleportation: He also has the ability to teleport away whenever someone tries to attack him, letting him escape harm to prepare a counter-attack.

Flight: Standard ghost power.

The flaw to his powers is that if a victim realizes that it's only a dream, they can take control of the visions. He doesn't seem to be aware of this flaw as he simply considers anyone who is asleep no longer a threat, which ultimately led to his defeat.

Based on Folklore[]

The Sandman is a mythical character in Western folklore who brings good dreams by sprinkling magical sand onto the eyes of children while they sleep at night.[12] The sand is usually implemented by means of a small blowpipe.

Egon Spengler mentioned that he is a Sandman, but one using powerful sleep dust, to which the Sandman later replies "Ah yes... We are Many! Hundreds of us, my friend."[13][14] This implied there is a large group of Sandman entities that perform the same role out there. None have ever been seen in any cartoons or comics however. It would appear that this particular Sandman was a renegade, and that no other Sandmen share his viewpoint. Since the other Sandmen haven't tried to free their brother, it's possible that they have disavowed him.

Another implication of Egon mentioning that this is but one of a number of Sandmen in a matter-of-fact manner is that someone at some point beforehand has had an encounter with one or more Sandmen and made a record of it.

Trivia[]

  • The Sandman is notable for being one of the few villains to address a Ghostbuster (Winston Zeddemore) by his individual name, the only other such ghosts being Boogieman (he called Egon Spengler by his name in his second appearance), the Grundel (in Grundelesque, he referred to Kylie Griffin by her name and even referred to Egon by his name), and Dyb Devlin (he referred to all the Ghostbusters by their individual names).
  • Peter had a dream about the Sandman the night before the Ghostbusters encountered him.[15]
  • Sandman makes a cameo on a special sketch cover of Ghostbusters #9.
  • Sandman is referenced on the back cover of Mars Attacks The Real Ghostbusters.
  • On page 11 of Ghostbusters Volume 2 Issue #18, a Sandman's bag and blow gun makes a non-canon cameo on top of the white locker.
  • On the Convention Cover of Ghostbusters: Get Real Issue #1, the Sandman makes a non-canon cameo right of Ray Stantz.
  • On Sandman's character card in Ghostbusters: The Board Game
    • The biography quotes the writer John Milton.
    • The biography mentions the Sandman's goal in "Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream" to put humanity to sleep for 500 years to bring about peace.
    • The biography mentions Winston's idea that led to the Sandman's capture as suggested by Ray, being lucid while dreaming.
  • On page 27 of Ghostbusters Annual 2015, the rogue Sandman from "Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream" appears on the right page of Tobin's Spirit Guide.
  • On page 21 of Ghostbusters International #11, in panel 2, the Sandman makes a non-canon cameo on one of the pieces of paper on the right.
  • Sandman appears on the IDW Convention Variant cover of 35th Anniversary: The Real Ghostbusters.

Appearances[]

Primary Canon[]

The Real Ghostbusters

Secondary Canon[]


References[]

  1. Marsha Goodman (1986). Episode Call Sheet and SAG Report - "Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream" (1986).
  2. straczynski Tweet 3/20/2021 J. Michael Straczynski says: "Sidebar info: the Sandman was voiced by Frank Welker, who made that uncanny sound without computer enhancement, ditto the Boogieman episode. He could do amazing things with his voice."
  3. Egon Spengler (2009). The Real Ghostbusters- Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream (1986) (DVD ts. 7:01-7:03). Time Life Entertainment. Egon says: "This is definitely the work of a Sandman."
  4. Sandman (2009). The Real Ghostbusters- Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream (1986) (DVD ts. 7:29-7:34). Time Life Entertainment. Sandman says: "But who is taking care of the world's need for peace?"
  5. Sandman (2009). The Real Ghostbusters- Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream (1986) (DVD ts. 7:35-7:40). Time Life Entertainment. Sandman says: "Let them call me a renegade."
  6. Sandman (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream" (1986) (DVD ts. 07:41-07:49). Time Life Entertainment. Sandman says: "I don't care. What will happen is the world will sleep for 500 years. No wars. No fighting. Peace and only dreams will walk the world."
  7. Ray Stantz (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream" (1986) (DVD ts. 02:55-03:04). Time Life Entertainment. Ray says: "My Aunt Lois always told me the best way to deal with a bad dream is to keep telling yourself it's only a dream. Then you can take control of the dream."
  8. Narrator (2019). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters IDW 20/20" (2019) (Comic p.23). Narrator says: "The whole family had nightmares for days."
  9. Narrator (2019). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters IDW 20/20" (2019) (Comic p.23). Narrator says: "Which is exactly why they checked into a hotel and called the Ghostbusters."
  10. Bridget Gibbons (2019). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters IDW 20/20" (2019) (Comic p.23). Bridget Gibbons says: "We were supposed to be off-shift an hour ago."
  11. Egon Spengler (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream" (1986) (DVD ts. 06:55-07:00). Time Life Entertainment. Egon says: "But one using incredibly powerful sleep dust. So powerful, it makes whatever you dream come to life."
  12. Winston Zeddemore (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream" (1986) (DVD ts. 05:48-05:50). Time Life Entertainment. Winston says: "You mean like the kind that helps people go to sleep?"
  13. Sandman (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream" (1986) (DVD ts. 07:05-07:09). Time Life Entertainment. Sandman says: "Ah yes, we are many my friend. Many."
  14. Sandman (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream" (1986) (DVD ts. 07:13-07:26). Time Life Entertainment. Sandman says: "Hundreds of us, my friend. Taking care of the world's need for sleep. But who's taking care of the world's need for peace?"
  15. Peter Venkman (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream" (1986) (DVD ts. 02:48-02:53). Time Life Entertainment. Peter says: "I kept dreaming about this weirdo guy in a robe with glowing eyes and stuff. Real strange."
  16. Ray Stantz (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "Short Stuff" (1988) (DVD ts. 02:20-02:24). Time Life Entertainment. Ray says: "Remember the good old days? Stay Puft. The Sandman."

Gallery[]

Primary Canon[]

Secondary Canon[]

Non Canon[]

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