#hauntingtales

The lake is still tonight. The reeds whisper, the moon hangs pale. But do not go closer. She is waiting there, where the water deepens.

The rusalka is not like the kind mermaids of children’s tales. She is a drowned soul, a maiden torn from life by betrayal, violence, or despair. Some were abandoned by lovers, cast into the river. Others drowned themselves, condemned by shame. Their bodies are gone, but the water does not forget.

She rises on summer nights, her hair long and wet, her skin glowing faintly as though the moonlight clings to her. At first she seems beautiful, even pitiable. She calls to men in a voice that trembles with sorrow. And when they step into the water, she smiles.

Her embrace is as cold as the current. Her fingers curl into claws. With a sudden surge, she drags them under. The lake ripples once, then smooths again. Silence returns, broken only by the reeds shivering in the breeze.

In some villages, they say a rusalka can be appeased—garlands of flowers left at the shore, offerings of combs or mirrors, tokens of beauty for the restless dead. But to see her is still an omen. She does not appear without purpose.

Worse still are the midsummer nights, when rusalki dance together in meadows near rivers. They form circles, swaying, their laughter as sharp as ice. If a mortal stumbles upon them, they pull him in, spinning until he collapses, drained of life. His body is left in the grass, pale, lips blue.

Even in winter, when the rivers freeze, the rusalka lingers beneath the ice. Fishermen tell of seeing pale faces below the surface, eyes wide, mouths open, as though screaming silently through the frozen barrier.

Below is an incomplete list of unsettling short stories read in English text books, grade 9-12. Some are well known, and other’s obscure.

The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst

Marigolds by Eugenia Collier

The Diamond Necklace by Guy de Maupassant

The Monkey’s Paw by W.W. Jacobs

The Open Boat by Stephen Crane

The Lady, or the Tiger? by Frank R. Stockton

The Minister’s Black Veil by Nathaniel Hawthorne

An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce

A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner

The Cask Of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman