Scary Stories Treasury

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A New Horse Kitty: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Winterjoy: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 1/2

This is story number 14 on our journey through Scary Stories To Tell in the Dark.

A New Horse

Two farmhands shared a room. One slept at the back of the room. The other slept near the door. After a while, the one who slept near the door began to feel very tired early in the day. His friend asked what was wrong.

“An awful thing happens every night,” he said. “A witch turns me into a horse and rides me all over the countryside.”

“I’ll sleep in your bed tonight,” his friend said. “We’ll see what happens to me.”

About midnight ad old woman who lived nearby came into the room. She mumbled some strange words over the farmhand, and he found he couldn’t move. Then she slipped a bridle on him, and he turned into a horse.

The next thing he knew, she was riding him across the fields at breakneck speed, beating him to make him go even faster. Soon they came to a house where a party was going on. There was a lot of music and dancing. They were having a big time inside. She hitched him to a fence and went in.

While she was gone, the farmhand rubbed against the fence until the bridle came off, and he turned back into a human being.

Then he went into the house and found the witch. He spoke those strange words over her, and with the bridle he turned her into a horse. Then he rode her to a blacksmith and had her fitted with horseshoes. After that, he rode her to the farm where she lived.

“I have a pretty good filly here,” he told her husband, “but I need a stronger horse. Would you like to trade?”

The old man looked her over, and he said he would do it. So they picked out another horse, and the farmhand rode away.

Her husband led his new horse to the barn. He took off the bridle and went to hang it up. But when he came back, the new horse was gone. Instead, there stood his wife with horseshoes nailed to her hands and feet.

~*~*~*~*~*~

For A New Horse, Schwartz states that the retelling in the book was based on a story that came from the Kentucky mountains and was collected by Leonard Roberts. The following story is from Up Cutshin and Down Greasy; Folkways of a Kentucky Family (1959) by Leonard W. Roberts (pp 128-129), and the exact source of the retelling above. It was told to him by Jim Couch, who was a storyteller and a coal miner who lived near the Kentucky River. Before being a coal miner, Jim worked at a lumber company for 19 years. He mostly told the stories his mother told them when he was a boy, but it had a been a while since he’d told any by the time this book was being written. The story begins:

While we were discussing ghost tales one night, Jim gave a vivid account of such sessions at home when he was a boy. He said, “My mother would tell a scary tale along late bedtime, and me and my brother sleeping together in the back room would be afeared to leave the firelight. She would have to go to the room with us and hold the lamp till we got in the bed—and under the covers.” He then told the following witch tale, one that is found in worldwide tradition, but was not given a type number. it is No. 29 in the microcard edition.”

Bridling the Witch

Once they was two young men working at a place. One of them he got to looking awful thin and bad. The other’n asked him what was wrong with him. He told his buddy, he said, “If you went through of a night what I did,” said, “you’d look bad too.”

The other guy said, “Let me sleep in front tonight and see if it will happen to me.”

Well, he laid in front that night. It got up a long in the night, when in come a woman,. Stood up over him, said a little ceremony she used. Had a little bridle in her hand, and when she was done, she popped that bridle on him and turned him into a horse. Took him out, riding him around. Went to an old place where they’d having a big time, fiddling and dancing. Hitched him up and went in.

He went to trying to slip the bridle off of him. He’d rub and get it about off, and she’d know about it and run back out there and put it on and hook him back up the fence. He kept on rubbing, and finally he got the bridle off. And after he got the bridle off, he turned back into his natural self again. He just grabbed the bridle and went in there where she’s at and said the same words over her that she said over him and popped the bridle on her, jumped on her, and rode her.

He rode her to a blacksmith’s shop and had her shod, and he rode her then to her husband’s house. Told him he wanted to trade horses with him. they agreed to trade. He said, “Now, this filly’s kindly skittish. You’ll haft to lead her inside the barn before you take the bridle off of her.”

He saddled this other horse and rode it off. This old guy he led the filly back into the barn and pulled the bridle off of her, and there stood his wife with horse shoes on her hands. He took his gun and shot her brains out. And that was the last of the witch.

Kitty

In what environment did you read the story? On the couch!
Do you remember having read this story as a kid? Yes!
Analyze the actions of the characters in the story. Did they make sense? Would you have done anything differently? I think I’d brush my friend’s story off as a dream. My next line of thinking definitely wouldn’t have been “I want to experience that, too!” So, no, it did not make sense that the other man wanted to “see if it would happen” to him. If I was somehow convinced that a witch was riding my friend all through the countryside, I’d figure that he probably did something to warrant this punishment. Serves him right! For the second telling? Well, that escalated quickly! I guess the husband knew she was a witch somehow….. although, I think I’d have asked questions first. Who’s to say that the man who gave him his horse/wife wasn’t the witch? Or, maybe he thought he was putting her out of her misery? Yikes!
Which was your favorite and least favorite character and why? My favorite character was the bridle. I mean, this is an amazing magic bridle that turns people into horses. That would probably be worth money! My least favorite character was the original man that the witch cast a spell on. As said above, I’m sure he did something to deserve it.
What did you think of the storytelling style? I liked the second story’s style better, but I always feel like there is more character in the source material. For the actual story that was in the scary stories book, I think it was fine and straightforward.
Examine the art for the story. What are your thoughts on it? This was drawn by a man who was two things: A man who never saw a horse in his life, and a man that didn’t even read the story. Who said that woman had heels on? NO ONE!
Your overall rating and why: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ because I like this story, and the idea of horseshoes on a person is pretty frightening in and of itself.

Winterjoy

In what environment did you read the story? In my living room with a window open listening to a rooster crow its head off.
Do you remember having read this story as a kid? I don’t believe I really remember the story but I remember the creepy horse drawing.
Analyze the actions of the characters in the story. Did they make sense? Would you have done anything differently? If I had the back part of the room to sleep, I would absolutely not give up that prime spot. Nailing horseshoes onto a witch that turned me into a horse (and worst of all, made me run really fast), I would probably do.
Which was your favorite and least favorite character and why? My favorite character was the man that offered to sleep at the door. At first, my expectations of him were dim as I didn’t see this as an intelligent decision. But then he really pulled through with the horseshoe and new-horse-acquiring pranks. My least favorite character was the party. Ew.
What did you think of the storytelling style? This one was a little fast-paced and not as descriptive as others. Things were happening fast. My head was spinning.
Examine the art for the story. What are your thoughts on it? I love it!! The horse is soo creepy and slightly comical at the same time. The human feet and eye are so imaginative.
Your overall rating and why: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 1/5. I enjoyed the fast pace. While the ending was feel-good and somewhat surprising, I wouldn’t call it scary exactly.