> Therefore, it might not be surprising to discover how often legendary bottomless holes have a demonstrated bottom that people simply chose to ignore.
> Even Thoreau’s famous Walden Pond was rumored to be bottomless. He recognized the rumor as a folklore motif common in New England. He succeeded in measuring the depth himself at 102 feet. The locals ignored the finding.
> Soundings in 1896 found a bottom just 20 feet below, but the legend of the pool as supernaturally deep continued. Facts can’t ruin a good story.
Speaking of which: I'm reminded of this image, captioned "Lake Baikal is creepy deep." https://twitter.com/futurebird/status/1381476991975759894/ph... And indeed, the image is somewhat unsettling, though I find it so not for its depth alone, but also for its narrowness (which isn't real BTW). Perhaps claustrophobia and thalassophobia amplify each other.
> [Houska Castle in the Czech Republic] was supposedly constructed in the middle 13th century to surround and cover the hole to hell that had spontaneously formed. … Prisoners were put into the hole and were promised release if they could climb back out.
The SCP creepypasta format is much older than I expected.
Fascinating read - I must confess I only made it through half at the moment.
I used to play Crusader Kings 2 and there was an event about a “Hole from Hell” which was essentially a bottomless pit. I always assumed that was just a made up thing to add variety to the game. Apparently it’s no so far fetched?
One of the particularly horrible medieval torture devices it the oubilette -- a hole below ground with a ceiling out of reach, optionally with spikes at the bottom. You'd be thrown in, and left to die of thirst.
There's a fact based companion to the Discworld series, 3 volumes on science and one on folklore.
The folklore one makes a good case that many of these legends are initially attempts to stop children getting killed in dangerous situations.
"Don't go near this water hole, the water is surprising cold and there's weeds that can trap you like the Winslow boy 20 years ago" vs "The evil Jenny Greenteeth waits in the weeds to grab small children to their doom"
> Therefore, it might not be surprising to discover how often legendary bottomless holes have a demonstrated bottom that people simply chose to ignore.
> Even Thoreau’s famous Walden Pond was rumored to be bottomless. He recognized the rumor as a folklore motif common in New England. He succeeded in measuring the depth himself at 102 feet. The locals ignored the finding.
> Soundings in 1896 found a bottom just 20 feet below, but the legend of the pool as supernaturally deep continued. Facts can’t ruin a good story.
Speaking of which: I'm reminded of this image, captioned "Lake Baikal is creepy deep." https://twitter.com/futurebird/status/1381476991975759894/ph... And indeed, the image is somewhat unsettling, though I find it so not for its depth alone, but also for its narrowness (which isn't real BTW). Perhaps claustrophobia and thalassophobia amplify each other.
> [Houska Castle in the Czech Republic] was supposedly constructed in the middle 13th century to surround and cover the hole to hell that had spontaneously formed. … Prisoners were put into the hole and were promised release if they could climb back out.
The SCP creepypasta format is much older than I expected.