Markus had been wandering through the woods for hours now. There was a chill surrounding him that wouldn’t go away, no matter how tightly he wrapped his jacket around his body. All he could see was the bare tree branches above him, and his own feet below him. Everything else was hidden in shadows.
He started to regret his decision to find the famous “goblin of the woods” that supposedly hunted in this forest. Every time someone vanished in the woods, the whole town blamed it on a horrifying, man-eating goblin. Markus totally didn’t believe in it, not at all. There are tons of totally normal, realistic reasons for people disappearing in the woods. Like, starvation or just plain ol’ getting lost. Hell, even getting attacked by a bear was more likely than a goblin! There was no reason to believe that a cannibalistic goblin existed in these woods. Once Markus proved that the goblin didn’t exist, the rumors would be put to rest and his buddies would owe him two hundred dollars. It was a win-win for him.
The moon had finally risen high enough in the sky to provide some light in the forest. He could now see a clearing straight ahead, with a shabby looking cabin in the middle.
Normally, he wouldn’t dare to go in, but it was colder outside than he expected, and he didn’t know how to build a fire. He was a polite boy, so he knocked on the door before barging in. Slowly, the door opened, and inside was an old woman—her hair was gray and matted, and she smelled like smoke. But she looked mostly harmless. With a scratchy voice she said, “Hello, young boy. Are you lost out here?”
“What a kind woman,” Markus thought. “ I bet she’ll offer me a meal and a place to sleep for the night.”
“Please come in and make yourself at home, dear boy,” the old woman said. “I haven’t had a visitor in a long time.”
Markus and the old woman, Gladis he learned, had a great time together, chatting and eating some kind of delicious stew. Gladis wouldn’t tell him the secret ingredient, but it was amazing, unlike anything Markus had tasted before!
When it came time for bed, Gladis got him out a little blanket. Before she left him, she gave him one rule of the house. She warned, “Don’t go into that closet, dear boy. It’s my sacred room and I don’t want it messed up.”
While Markus lay down to sleep, all he could think about was the closet. “What’s in there?” he wondered. “Why can’t I go in there?”
Dread rose in chest. Did he seriously decide to spend the night with a stranger? With a smelly old lady that lived in a secluded cabin? This was clearly the worst idea he’d ever had.
As quietly has he could, Markus got up from the couch. He crept over to the closet and gently opened the door, hoping that it would be a normal closet filled with normal old lady things—quilts, boxes,perhaps some dusty family photos.
“Oh crap,” he thought. The room was filled with bones. There were skulls on the floor and glass jars filled with tiny bones of all kinds. One jar had all thumbs, another had teeth. A rug in front of the door was still soaked with blood. He suddenly knew that the man-eating goblin was real, and he was in her cabin!
In the darkness behind him, he heard a shrill laugh ring through the silence. It was the goblin! A bony hand clawed at his skin. “Please, let me go!” he begged. But…it was too late.
Gladis the Goblin took the first bite of the boy and was delighted. “How lovely and tender,” she thought. It had been a long time since she feasted on such a juicy meat. Gladis prepared her signature stew, feeling glad that foolish young boys existed.
Author's Note: This story is based off The Goblin of Adachigahara from the Japanese Fairy Tales (Ozaki) unit. In the original story, a priest is traveling through the woods when he runs into an old woman. He hangs out in her house for a little while, but when she warns "don't do into my secret room," he starts to get scared. This is when he learns the woman's true identity. She turns out to be the cannibal goblin! Duh. When he discovers the closet, the goblin tries to attack him, and he’s chased through the woods. The priest is chased all night long, but he prays to Buddha for survival. When dawn comes, the goblin vanishes, and the man survives.
I kept the first part of the story (man travels in the woods and runs into a goblin) but changed the priest to a teenage boy. I wanted a more modern, creepy story, so I turned this fable into more of classic scary story. I changed the ending so that the boy loses to the goblin and gets eaten. I also cut out a lot of the opening of the story (it was originally two parts), so I tried to sneak some back story in there. I think when I edit this story, I'll had more detail and imagery. I feel like the end is a little bit rushed, but I didn't want to make it too long. I want to try to make it a bit spookier, maybe add in some suspense? Anyway, thanks for reading! Happy October everyone!
Image Information:
From: Haunted Forest of Maple Valley
Found on: parentmap.com