Deep in forests where they cry by Rococospade on DeviantArt (original) (raw)

Close up: [link]

Vermeil was about thirteen when her mother began sending her out on errands to town. One night she had to get medicine, but to get back she had to walk the forest at night...

Vermeil Vesperia. Gotta love her. Little miss badasses are amazing, you know?
This one is dedicated to for her birthday~ (If its too dark, let me know what you want and I'll paint you something new)

Image and background information; Title is a reference to "Higurashi no naku koro ni" (Where the cicadas cry), a very, very dark series with elements of both slasher and psychological horror. I chose to reference Higurashi because of the dark and bloody nature of many versions of the 'little red riding hood' folktale.
WARNING: MILD FOLKTALE LESSON
Most of you are familiar, I'd imagine, with this end; the huntsman guts the wolf and rescues the girl and grandmother from his bowels (they are swallowed whole).
Well, most aren't like that.
In some, the grandmother or the girl kills the wolf. In some the grandmother is killed before she is eaten.
And before the Brothers Grimm got hold of it, the wolf told red to take off her clothes before climbing into bed with him.
Also, sometimes the girl isn't rescued, resulting in her being ripped apart, eaten alive, etc. and in one case she is tricked into eating her grandmother, drinking her blood, and using her intestines to open a door (This is an Italian version, with an ogre in place of the wolf.)
The story is very dark over all, and would scarcely be considered child appropriate in modern times. The point of the folktale was to strike fear into children - listen to your mother, don't stray from the path, by weary of strange men.
Its not meant to be happy and bright. Its meant to teach a lesson.
... folktales are brutal.
In addition, there’s a debate on whether the original folktales 'eating' actually refers to rape.
Like I said, folktales are brutal.
MILD LESSON OVER

This image was not intended to be that dark, but I was trying for creepy. I did research around the swamp I live in, then Google (Sadly the mushrooms were scrapped) for the forest.