> 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.
> 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.