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A website devoted to the study of the human condition |
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A website devoted to the study of the human condition |
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Alone at home. Doors and windows shut and locked. Protected by a large, loving family companion. What could happen?
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There was once a beautiful and very responsible young girl who lived in a small town just south of Lubbock. Her only living parent, her father, had to go out of town on a business trip, so he left his daughter home alone, but protected by the large family dog. The girl’s father told her to lock all the windows and doors after he had gone. At about 6:00pm, he left the house for the airport. Following her father’s instructions, the girl closed and locked every window and door, except one, her father’s bedroom window that just wouldn’t budge. Trying as hard as she could, she finally got the window shut, but it would not lock. So she left the window and sat down in the kitchen for some dinner. At about 9:30, she settled down to sleep and snuggled up with her dog. At one point during her restless slumber, she suddenly woke up. It was midnight. As she attempted to go back to sleep, she began to wonder what caused her to wake up. Then she noticed a sound. It was a dripping sound. She assumed that she had left the water running, and now it was dripping down into the drain. Nothing to worry about, so she again attempted to fall back to sleep. A sense of uneasiness began to sweep over her tired body. Feeling nervous, she reached her hand over the edge of her bed, and let the dog lick her hand for reassurance that he would protect her. Again, at about 3:45 she woke up because of the incessant dripping. She was slightly agitated now but went back to sleep anyway. Again she reached down and let the dog lick her hand. Then she fell back to sleep. Awake again at about 4:15, the girl decided that she had put up with the noise long enough. She got up, walked to the bathroom and there was her dog, skinned and hung up on the curtain rod. The noise she had been hearing was the dog’s blood dripping into a puddle on the floor. She screamed and ran to her bedroom to get her baseball bat, just in case someone was still in the house. Next to her bed on the floor there was a small note written in blood. It read: HUMANS CAN LICK TOO.
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| This legend is a cautionary tale about the dangers associated with being home alone and that fear remaining from childhood about being attacked in our room by a boogey man. Keeping that in mind, one could easily see that this tale would be a favorite at slumber parties. In fact, one version of this tale is set at a slumber party where all of the girls, except the hostess, are killed. In this version, the killer's message is found written on the wall of the kitchen or bathroom. This hand-writing on the wall motif also occurs in the AIDS Mary Legend. Another legend that contains the same basic plot line is referred to as "Aren't You Glad You Didn't Turn the Light On." This legend has been around for decades and was enacted in the movie 'Urban Legend." In this version, a college-coed walks in her dorm room, and believing her roommate is making out with a guy, ignores the rustling of the bed covers, leaves the lights off and goes to bed for the night, just a few feet away from her roommate. The next morning, the girl awakens to find her roommate dead and a note scribbled on the mirror which reads: "Aren't You Glad You Didn't Turn the Light On." Both of these legends are particularly horrific because the focus is not on the actual victim, but the girl who survives and the fact that she just barely escaped being a victim too. We all fear becoming the victim of a violent crime and given the fact that we are constantly bombarded with scenes and reports of violent crimes via the media, this is a tale that we all can relate to. -The Folklorist
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| Links For other versions of this story, click here. http://www.snopes.com/horrors/madmen/lighton.htm
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