Post by teddyagro on Sept 24, 2019 16:14:53 GMT
I remember reading a book when I was in middle school that I got it from the school library. I remember the title and cover image being similar to Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, so much so that I thought it was the same book. The two stories that stuck with me the most in my head were a story about a woman washing clothes covered with blood in a stream that foretells the deaths of three girls, and a story about a group of kids swimming in a pond that are killed when the water becomes sentient and attacks them.
I looked up the stories recently and found out a lot about the first story. It's called Bloody Laundry and it was featured in a couple different collections, namely a book called Scary Stories for Stormy Nights. Convinced that this was the book I had read as a kid, I bought the book online. While most of the stories don't ring a bell, sure enough, Bloody Laundry was in there, exactly as I remember it. It also had another story called Greenhouse Effect about a plant that eats people and steals their identity that I remember vividly as well. But I flipped through the whole book and could not find the story about the sentient water. I was certain it was in the same book as the other ones and I was never that much into scary books so I don't think I would have gotten more than one.
Some more details about the story. What I remember is that a group of kids go to a pond to swim and a couple of them get stuck in the water as the water itself grabs and kills them fairly violently. Then the main kid goes home and gets a call from another friend that was there. The friend says he's about to take a shower and the main kid yells at him not to, but before he can stop him he hears the friend scream over the phone line. The story was somewhat scary and gruesome, but the thing that sticks out in my head the most is the illustration. I could hardly look at the page as a kid. It shows a young girl being suspended in the air by a water tentacle. The water is holding her by the legs, arms, and head, suspending her like a hammock. I remember her spine and limbs being twisted and a look of anguish on her face.
I would just chalk this up to a false memory if it wasn't for this old post I found on Reddit.
Reddit Post
This guy mentions Bloody Laundry, another desert related story that is in the book I mentioned above, and the water monster story I am looking for. This cannot be a coincidence. My leading theory is that the story was in an early version of the book but was removed for being too graphic. This makes sense, as if it was in this book, it would by far be the most gruesome of the stories.
I want to find that story just so I can get another look at that picture, because it's still so clear in my mind. I would be very thankful to anyone that could help me find this story.
I looked up the stories recently and found out a lot about the first story. It's called Bloody Laundry and it was featured in a couple different collections, namely a book called Scary Stories for Stormy Nights. Convinced that this was the book I had read as a kid, I bought the book online. While most of the stories don't ring a bell, sure enough, Bloody Laundry was in there, exactly as I remember it. It also had another story called Greenhouse Effect about a plant that eats people and steals their identity that I remember vividly as well. But I flipped through the whole book and could not find the story about the sentient water. I was certain it was in the same book as the other ones and I was never that much into scary books so I don't think I would have gotten more than one.
Some more details about the story. What I remember is that a group of kids go to a pond to swim and a couple of them get stuck in the water as the water itself grabs and kills them fairly violently. Then the main kid goes home and gets a call from another friend that was there. The friend says he's about to take a shower and the main kid yells at him not to, but before he can stop him he hears the friend scream over the phone line. The story was somewhat scary and gruesome, but the thing that sticks out in my head the most is the illustration. I could hardly look at the page as a kid. It shows a young girl being suspended in the air by a water tentacle. The water is holding her by the legs, arms, and head, suspending her like a hammock. I remember her spine and limbs being twisted and a look of anguish on her face.
I would just chalk this up to a false memory if it wasn't for this old post I found on Reddit.
Reddit Post
This guy mentions Bloody Laundry, another desert related story that is in the book I mentioned above, and the water monster story I am looking for. This cannot be a coincidence. My leading theory is that the story was in an early version of the book but was removed for being too graphic. This makes sense, as if it was in this book, it would by far be the most gruesome of the stories.
I want to find that story just so I can get another look at that picture, because it's still so clear in my mind. I would be very thankful to anyone that could help me find this story.
