Week 7 Story: The Cannibal Goblin of London
Long Ago in London, there was a Cannibal Goblin who would take the form of a handsome man in order to lure women to him to be devoured. He always hunted near the same road, Adachigahara where prostitutes would often solicit themselves and even lived near by. Everyone knew of the legends of the Goblin, though many chose to write it off as a myth.
One day there was a young Nun who many considered to be beautiful. She was visiting different churches in the area. She wished to travel to all nearby churches on foot before making the pilgrimage to The Vatican. After staying later than she had initially intended at the church, she began to make her way back to the Inn where she was staying. However there were rumors of a serial killer in London who enjoyed cutting up girls and teasing the newspaper with letters. Because she knew this man existed, while disbelieving in the legend of the Goblin, she chose to take the road Adachigahara home since it was a shorter more direct path home. Along the way, the Nun began to feel dizzy and felt the world around her begin to spin and she fell on the ground. She was saved by a young handsome man who brought her to his home and offered her tea and a meat pie to regain her strength. She graciously accepted the young mans gift and ate the most delicious meat pie she ever had and along with the best tea. When she inquired as to the secret to the recipe and how he made it. The young man told her he made with with some of the working girls in the area. The Nun happily assumed the young man meant he was offering the girls work other than soliciting themselves. The young man then offered her a place to rest for the night since she was too tired to walk and the Nun happily agreed. He told her not to go into the basement but was welcome to the guest room in the attic and she promised not to look.
Later that night, the Nun had trouble sleeping. She wondered why such a nice young man would deem a room off limits after showing her the rest of his home. At first she remembered her promise and said to herself she would not look. However, Curiosity soon got the better of her and she tip toed her way down to the basement. She found the door to the basement to be unlocked and slowly opened it and once she did she began to smell a foul odor. When she stepped the room looking to look for a candle to light or a torch she stepped on something. After leaving to find a candle in the kitchen she returned to find that what she stepped on was an old street signed that read, Fleet Street. Unable to bare the smell anymore she looked up and walked into the room and saw bodies everywhere. All of them young girls, the sign and the room she realizes now is covered in blood and she now knows the legends of the Goblin are true. Stunned by the sight and unable to move, she does not notice the door behind her close nor the candle go out. The last thing she thought to herself is the young man's comment on how the pie was made...
Author's Note: The original story was a bit different. First the setting was Japan but I chose London just to give it a different location than before. Next the Goblin turned into an old woman, but to give it some change I chose to turn into a young man. In the original, it was actually a Buddhist priest who was traveling and in order to be consistent with the gender swap I changed it to a female priest, and since the setting was London, a Christian Nun seemed for reasonable than a female Buddhist priest. I then wanted to make some real connections with the reader's imagination so I introduced some details about Jack The Ripper. Enjoying my own imagination or lack there of depending on how you think about it, I decided that Jack The Ripper's existence happened to be close to the time when Stephen Sondheim's "Sweeny Todd-The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" took place so I incorporated that in as well. In the original, the priest managed to out run the goblin, but I thought personally that this was lacking in punishment for someone who was virtuous to break a promise and go into a room they promised not to so while I never said the nun was killed I did leave off in the story with it heading in that direction, but hoping the "Cliffhanger" may have been more enjoyable to the reader.
Bibliography: Story source: Japanese Fairy Tales by Yei Theodora Ozaki (1908). Online source
One day there was a young Nun who many considered to be beautiful. She was visiting different churches in the area. She wished to travel to all nearby churches on foot before making the pilgrimage to The Vatican. After staying later than she had initially intended at the church, she began to make her way back to the Inn where she was staying. However there were rumors of a serial killer in London who enjoyed cutting up girls and teasing the newspaper with letters. Because she knew this man existed, while disbelieving in the legend of the Goblin, she chose to take the road Adachigahara home since it was a shorter more direct path home. Along the way, the Nun began to feel dizzy and felt the world around her begin to spin and she fell on the ground. She was saved by a young handsome man who brought her to his home and offered her tea and a meat pie to regain her strength. She graciously accepted the young mans gift and ate the most delicious meat pie she ever had and along with the best tea. When she inquired as to the secret to the recipe and how he made it. The young man told her he made with with some of the working girls in the area. The Nun happily assumed the young man meant he was offering the girls work other than soliciting themselves. The young man then offered her a place to rest for the night since she was too tired to walk and the Nun happily agreed. He told her not to go into the basement but was welcome to the guest room in the attic and she promised not to look.
Later that night, the Nun had trouble sleeping. She wondered why such a nice young man would deem a room off limits after showing her the rest of his home. At first she remembered her promise and said to herself she would not look. However, Curiosity soon got the better of her and she tip toed her way down to the basement. She found the door to the basement to be unlocked and slowly opened it and once she did she began to smell a foul odor. When she stepped the room looking to look for a candle to light or a torch she stepped on something. After leaving to find a candle in the kitchen she returned to find that what she stepped on was an old street signed that read, Fleet Street. Unable to bare the smell anymore she looked up and walked into the room and saw bodies everywhere. All of them young girls, the sign and the room she realizes now is covered in blood and she now knows the legends of the Goblin are true. Stunned by the sight and unable to move, she does not notice the door behind her close nor the candle go out. The last thing she thought to herself is the young man's comment on how the pie was made...
Goblin
Photo by Nightblue Art
Online Source
Author's Note: The original story was a bit different. First the setting was Japan but I chose London just to give it a different location than before. Next the Goblin turned into an old woman, but to give it some change I chose to turn into a young man. In the original, it was actually a Buddhist priest who was traveling and in order to be consistent with the gender swap I changed it to a female priest, and since the setting was London, a Christian Nun seemed for reasonable than a female Buddhist priest. I then wanted to make some real connections with the reader's imagination so I introduced some details about Jack The Ripper. Enjoying my own imagination or lack there of depending on how you think about it, I decided that Jack The Ripper's existence happened to be close to the time when Stephen Sondheim's "Sweeny Todd-The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" took place so I incorporated that in as well. In the original, the priest managed to out run the goblin, but I thought personally that this was lacking in punishment for someone who was virtuous to break a promise and go into a room they promised not to so while I never said the nun was killed I did leave off in the story with it heading in that direction, but hoping the "Cliffhanger" may have been more enjoyable to the reader.
Bibliography: Story source: Japanese Fairy Tales by Yei Theodora Ozaki (1908). Online source
Hi Jake!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this story. I think this technique of completely reversing each gender role really brings the story into a different light. While I haven't read the original story before, I think you did a really great job with trying to keep things similar but also different. The image is what drew me to this story to be honest, and so I think you did a really great job organizing and structuring the layout of the story as well. Nice job!
Hi Jake!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your story “The Cannibal Goblin of London.” I like how your story takes place in London and you incorporated historical events and stories that originated from London. Also I like the image you choose for this post. I think it illustrates your story perfectly. Overall I think you did a great job and I can’t wait to read your future stories.
Hey Jake! Honestly, I was so impressed with your retelling of this story. I read the original and tried to rewrite it too, but yours turned out much better! I love that you flipped the genders and added in the bits about Jack the Ripper and Sweeney Todd. There were a few typos and I noticed that, towards the end, you were switching between different tenses. I really enjoyed the mysterious ending. Excellent job!!
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