Story Effects…

Hey friends. I’m sure all of us have read books that have stayed with us for one reason or another. You know what I’m talking about, those stories that left a lasting mark? Well, this is exactly what Tiffany Crystal and I have been talking about recently, so we decided to do a collaboration about some of the effects stories have had on us. Hope you enjoy the humor here…(and yes I can even laugh about it now).

Ugh! There was this book that was the epitome of cool back when I was in elementary school, “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark”. There were quite a few creepy stories in it, but one story will always stick out, “The Red Spot.” This story scared the hell out of me, I’d be prepared to testify under oath in a court of law (sorry, I’ve been watching A LOT of Law and Order) that this is where my fear of spiders started. This story talked about how a girl woke up one day with a red bump on her face. When she asked what it was her mother told her it was a spider bite. Simple enough, right? Yeah, no. After the bump started growing they decided to go to the doctor to get it checked, them being worried about an infection and all. In the end, the doctor got busy and they were never seen. That night the boil split open while the girl was in the bath and thousands of baby spiders flooded out (blech), the next morning she was found dead from all the spider bites.

Now I’m not sure if you’re an arachnophobe like me, but then again, I’m not sure you even need to be for the idea of this story to give you the willies. Now let’s remember I read this book when I was maybe 8, it messed me up. I had this irrational fear of spiders crawling in my ears and laying their eggs. You know how most kids have their parents check for monsters under the bed? Yeah well, I made my father perform S.W.A.T like tactical type sweeps of my bedroom to check for spiders. Looking back now and reading it again, it doesn’t really pack the same punch as it did when I was 8, but spiders and I are still not going to be hanging out any time soon.

Well, there you have it friends, one story that left me with something. If you guys have any of your own to share, please do. Oh yeah, don’t forget to check out Tiff’s half of this, you won’t be disappointed. Until next time…