The Brown Recluseext_4183041July 24 2017, 17:13:22 UTC
I don't know your name above from Excerpt from The House That Haunts Me, but I really liked it. Closets used to scare me when I was little. Would love to keep reading. Nice job! Mine is not as scary, but is based on when our family did move to Idaho.
As Claire watched the spider crawl away, a memory bubbled up to the surface in her mind. She was only four when her family moved to the farmhouse in Idaho. A neighbor came by with a plate of cookies to welcome them to their new surroundings. She told her mother right away to purchase sticky traps for the brown recluse because this time of the year was when they were mating. These spiders like to hide in clothes lying on the floor, shoes, or climb up a bed skirt, but they usually leave humans alone unless they get caught while while putting on a shoe or whatnot. Mother purchased some sticky traps, and the next morning, there were four spiders on the sticky trap in the kitchen, not even dead, but wriggling around! That sticky trap with the giant spiders on it made her so scared that she became fanatical about her shoes, her clothes, and making her bed which had no bed skirt. She would pull down the covers at night, and look for any hidden in the folds of the sheets. What her mother didn’t know was that if you didn’t kill them on the sticky trap, they can sometimes crawl off! Those darn brown recluse can lose one or two of their legs and work themselves off. After a month or two of learning the ins and outs of this Houdini spider, her brother, and her sister were not scared to stomp on the sticky trap, but Claire stayed clear away of it. She would not even look at it, for it gave her nightmares.
RE: The Brown Recluseext_4182848July 24 2017, 18:46:08 UTC
Kay, is this true?! I had no idea that brown recluse spiders could take a leg off and still live! That is terrifying! I'm not typically afraid of spiders but when they suprise me and are in clothing or bedding, as you described, it is so scary. I found a spider in my sweater over vacation and I did exactly as you described, checked everything before I wore it.
Your descriptions are clear and exact. I love the build up to the spider trap not actually working. I also love the phrase, "Houdini spider." I was left wondering why she was watching a spider crawl away at the beginning. Nice job!
Re: The Brown Recluseext_4183041July 24 2017, 21:14:31 UTC
Absolutely true!. I hated those spiders. You would see a couple of legs left on the sticky trap and you knew what had happened. But one day, we also watched one get off. Side note: It was hilarious when a sticky trap would accidentally get stuck on something else. When we moved to Idaho, I was a mother of four kids (I wrote the above with my MC in mind), and my little three year old came over to me with his blanket that he had dragged around, and there was an ugly sticky trap stuck on it!
Re: The Brown Recluseext_2035891July 24 2017, 20:52:09 UTC
Sandra Stiles says: I started getting all queasy reading about your spiders. They are my number one fear. I scream and get physically sick when I see them. I wouldn't be able to stay there. First place I lived in when I got my own place I came home to a big garden spider in my sink. I poured boiling water on it while I screamed and my neighbor kicked in my door to take down the person he thought was assaulting me. He laughed his butt off when he realized it was a spider. I wasn't laughing.
Re: The House that Haunts meext_2035891July 24 2017, 20:53:48 UTC
That was one of two bedrooms we had upstairs in our house. You could reach in behind the curtain and not feel anything but the light and other times you would feel a cold clammy hand touch you. I hated that house. I had nightmares for years until I started writing about it.
As Claire watched the spider crawl away, a memory bubbled up to the surface in her mind. She was only four when her family moved to the farmhouse in Idaho. A neighbor came by with a plate of cookies to welcome them to their new surroundings. She told her mother right away to purchase sticky traps for the brown recluse because this time of the year was when they were mating. These spiders like to hide in clothes lying on the floor, shoes, or climb up a bed skirt, but they usually leave humans alone unless they get caught while while putting on a shoe or whatnot. Mother purchased some sticky traps, and the next morning, there were four spiders on the sticky trap in the kitchen, not even dead, but wriggling around! That sticky trap with the giant spiders on it made her so scared that she became fanatical about her shoes, her clothes, and making her bed which had no bed skirt. She would pull down the covers at night, and look for any hidden in the folds of the sheets.
What her mother didn’t know was that if you didn’t kill them on the sticky trap, they can sometimes crawl off! Those darn brown recluse can lose one or two of their legs and work themselves off. After a month or two of learning the ins and outs of this Houdini spider, her brother, and her sister were not scared to stomp on the sticky trap, but Claire stayed clear away of it. She would not even look at it, for it gave her nightmares.
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Your descriptions are clear and exact. I love the build up to the spider trap not actually working. I also love the phrase, "Houdini spider." I was left wondering why she was watching a spider crawl away at the beginning. Nice job!
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