Trying to remember my childhood scariest horror story.....bwaaaaah!

[Dover]

Maybe someone here knows this one and has a better memory than me.
This is THE story that not only scared the bejeezus out of me at a sleep over when I was eight years old, but that did so for many years...even into my teens...


All I can remember now is that it involved an old woman who each night would, after getting into bed and turning out the light, drop her hand down to pat her dog who slept beside her on the floor. And one night her murderer (who I guess had killed the dog) took the dog's place by the woman's bed and when she dropped her hand down to pat the dog, was actually patting the man's head.....and then I assume was murdered. I can't remember the build up to the story or the ending though.

Anyone hear that one?

If not, share your own scariest story.

[Dookus]

1. Here's a variant that made the email rounds -

Once there was a a beautiful young girl who lived in a small town just south of Farmersburg. Her parents had to go to town for a while, so they left their daughter home alone, but protected by her dog, which was a very large collie. The parents told the girl to lock all the windows and doors after they had left. And at about 8:00pm the parents went to town. So doing what she was told the girl shut and locked evey window and every door. But there was one window in the basement that would not close completely.

Trying as best as she could she finally got the window shut, but it would not lock. So she left the window, and went back upstairs. But just to make sure that no one could get in, she put the dead-bolt lock on the basment door.

Then she sat down had some dinner and decided to go to sleep for the night. Settling down to sleep at about 12:00 she snuggled up with the dog and fell asleep.

But at one point, she suddenly woke up. She turned and looked at the clock...it was 2:30. She snuggled down again wondering what had woken her.....when she heard a noise. It was a dripping sound. She thought that she had left the water running, and now it was dripping into the drain of her sink. So thinking it was no big deal she decided to go back to sleep.

But she felt nervous so she reached her hand over the edge of her bed, and let the dog lick her hand for reasurance that he would protect her. Again at about 3:45 she woke up hearing drippping. She was slightly angry now but went back to sleep anyway. Again she reached down and let the dog lick her hand. Then she fell back to sleep.

At 6:52 the girl decided that she had had enough...she got up just in time to see her parents were pulling up to the house. "Good,"she thought. "Now somebody can fix the sink...'cause I know I didn't leave it running." She walked to the bathroom and there was the collie dog, skinned and hung up on the curtain rod. The noise she heard was its blood dripping into a puddle on the floor. The girl screamed and ran to her bedroom to get a weapon, incase someone was still in the house.....and there on the floor, next to her bed she saw a small note, written in blood, saying: HUMANS CAN LICK TOO MY BEAUTIFUL.

[Dover]

2. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek! That's close enough for me!

I should have asked this question in broad daylight!

Th..th....th...thanks..I ..th...th...think!

[Dover]

5. The Story’s Origin.......from the web

It seems there are different versions. The one I heard was the one with the old lady.

http://www.ulrc.com.au/html/report.asp?CaseFile=ULRR0020&Page=1&View=Request&Collection=Murder#sizzle

[Skittles]

3. imagine a teacher using this poem to teach you the alphabet

a is for amy who fell down the stairs
b is for basil assaulted by bears
c is for clara who wasted away
d is for desmond thrown out of a sleigh
e is for ernest who choked on a peach
f is for fanny sucked dry by a leech
g is for george smothered under a rug
h is for hector done in by a thug
i is for ida who drowned in a lake
j is for james who took lye by mistake
k is for kate who was struck by an axe
l is for leo who swallowed some tacks
m is for maud who was swept out to sea
n is for neville who died of ennui
o is for olive run through with an awl
p is for prue trampled flat in a brawl
q is for quentin who sank in a mire
r is for rhoda consumed by fire
s is for susan who perished of fits
t is for titus who flew into bits
u is for una who slipped down a drain
v is for victor squashed under a train
w is for winnie embedded in ice
x is for xerxes devoured by mice
y is for yorick whose head was knocked in
z is for zillah who drank too much gin

It is "Gashlycrumbs Timies" by Edwin Gory.

There are illustrated ones too. :o

[m-jean03]

4. LOVE Edward Gorey

Note: Edward, not Edwin :-)

He was a genius, with a VERY dark sense of humor.

I first got into him because he illustrated the late John Bellair's wonderful kid's novels.