# The Official " Identify from a vague desciption" thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 20, 2002, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690 "2002-09-20T00:52:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/soul_brother_number_two/32/3515_2.png) [@Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul_Brother_Number_Two)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690/81 "2002-09-30T04:35:35Z")
Wow, TP! That is an awesome piece of remembering, man. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690/82 "2002-09-30T18:27:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by xcheopis \* > \*\ ***Dolores Claiborne** , that sounds very similar to _Stranger from the Depths_. (I don’t know the author, though.) > > It has a very similar story line, but with two boys instead of a boy and a girl. The paperback I read had a cover with the creature swimming straight out (towards the viewer, so the goggling eyes are prominant), and appearing to be in motion. > > \*\* That’s it!!! I found a used book store on-line with the exact cover. Thank you! I have never forgotten this book. It started me into reading sci-fi… The author is Gerry Turner. ---
**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690/83 "2002-10-21T15:48:35Z")
I’m looking to find a horror story anthology for my sister. The first line of the first story is: “Today I put ground glass in my wife’s eyes. She didn’t say anything. She never does.” Anyone recognize this? ---
**Author:** ![li\_l\_Dickie\_Dirtz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/2bfe46/32.png) [@li\_l\_Dickie\_Dirtz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/li_l_Dickie_Dirtz)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690/84 "2002-10-21T17:28:57Z")
I’m glad this thread got resurrected. Not that I can help anybody out, of course, but I have a couple of books that have been nibbling at the back of my memory for awhile. The first was a story of a runaway who lived in a hollowed-out tree. It described his adventures learning to survive in the wilderness. There were a couple of things in particular I remember from this story: one was his fashioning of a fish hook from something-or-other, and the other was his eating an uncooked liver from some game animal. This was juvenile fiction I checked out from library, I would guess around '77-'78, though I’ve the impression the story was set in the late '50s-early '60s timeframe. The other was a science fiction story I read in an anthology in my junior high library, so again around '77-'78. It concerned the first(?) meeting between humans and an alien race. I believe the main character was a teenaged boy, but maybe not. The aliens I think were slightly frog-like, in the manner of the Gowachin if any of you are familiar with Frank Herbert, although I might just be confusing the two. The meeting took place on a deserted road in the country IIRC. Any help would be much appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690/85 "2002-10-21T17:39:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by li’l Dickie Dirtz \* > \*\*I’m glad this thread got resurrected. Not that I can help anybody out, of course, but I have a couple of books that have been nibbling at the back of my memory for awhile. > > The first was a story of a runaway who lived in a hollowed-out tree. It described his adventures learning to survive in the wilderness. There were a couple of things in particular I remember from this story: one was his fashioning of a fish hook from something-or-other, and the other was his eating an uncooked liver from some game animal. This was juvenile fiction I checked out from library, I would guess around '77-'78, though I’ve the impression the story was set in the late '50s-early '60s timeframe. > > \*\* This one was\*\* My Side of the Mountain\*\*. Any kid I know who read it wanted to run away into the woods. Great book, but it did seem to advocate running away! ---
**Author:** ![li\_l\_Dickie\_Dirtz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/2bfe46/32.png) [@li\_l\_Dickie\_Dirtz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/li_l_Dickie_Dirtz)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690/86 "2002-10-21T19:24:06Z")
Excellent! Thank you very much! ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690/87 "2002-10-21T20:32:21Z")
That post about My Side of the Mountain made me think of something. I remember vaguely a show (a series, I think) on HBO a long time ago (the 80s) about three or four boys who may have been brothers and were all teenagers or younger. They either ran away from home or were somehow stranded in a forest. In any case, they lived off the land. They wore clothes made from animal pelts. I think they were British. I know this is all vague–I was very young when I saw it, but it has stuck with me because it seemed like an odd show and I didn’t really understand it very much. Anybody got a clue what this was? ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690/88 "2002-10-21T21:21:53Z")
When I was a little kid, I saw a Japanese monster movie in which the monsters looked like squids standing upright on the tips of their tails. They were in a spaceship, there were, I think, space girls, and there were also some Earth kids. So it could have been any of about 300 movies. Does anyone remember these aliens? The movie scared the bejeebers outta me when I was 5 or so. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690/89 "2002-10-21T23:19:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tangent \* > \*\*That post about My Side of the Mountain made me think of something. I remember vaguely a show (a series, I think) on HBO a long time ago (the 80s) about three or four boys who may have been brothers and were all teenagers or younger. They either ran away from home or were somehow stranded in a forest. In any case, they lived off the land. They wore clothes made from animal pelts. I think they were British. I know this is all vague–I was very young when I saw it, but it has stuck with me because it seemed like an odd show and I didn’t really understand it very much. Anybody got a clue what this was? \*\* That sounds vaguely familiar… Do you remember anything about the bad guy or protagonist? And do you recall if the forest was a real forest or was it a built-in-studio forest that looked like the ones on “Jason of Star Command.”? ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690/90 "2002-10-21T23:25:27Z")
Sorry, that should have said “antagonist.” ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2002, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690/91 "2002-10-22T04:46:56Z")
Charmian, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Jason of Star Command, so I can’t compare to that. From what I remember, the forest was a real forest. I don’t remember the bad guy. Wish I could give you more to go on. ---
**Author:** ![Skeezix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@Skeezix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skeezix)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2002, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690/92 "2002-10-22T07:17:20Z")
**Tangent** : You’re not thinking of some version or other of [Lord of the Flies](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0057261), are you? The IMDB doesn’t list any HBO miniseries of the same title, (or, by anyone else, for that matter) so I may be way off here. The “I think they were British” bit made me think of this right off the bat. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2002, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690/93 "2002-10-22T14:55:18Z")
**Skeezix** – I thought of _Lord of the Flies_ right off too. But the timing seemed a bit off for something seen in the 80s on HBO. The original was black and white, filmed in the 60s, the re-make was 1990. However, when the boys split into two tribes, one dwindles down to Ralph, Piggy and the twins, Sam and Eric. Four boys that would all be the right age to seem like “brothers” surviving in the forest. I also can’t think of any other show where the “lost boys” were of uniform race. Most films and TV shows with children follow a pretty standard convention: Three kids – Two boys and a girl and usually set up in the format of Big Brother “Hero”, Big Sister “Smart One/Care-giver”, Baby Brother “Loveable Oaf/Accidental-Trouble-Maker” (e.g. _Harry Potter_, _The Phoenix and the Magic Carpet_, the Darling family from _Peter Pan_). It’s rare for the kids to be all one gender. Possibilities: Various young-boy versions of Robin Hood and his pals, and variations of the “lost boys” from Peter Pan, have made appearances in different sci-fi/fantasy type shows. I can think of a bunch of forest-dwelling boys and a few “cave boys” appearing in TV episodes, but never with a show of their own. (Though there’s something else nagging at me… Damned if I can’t remember though.) ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2002, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690/94 "2002-10-23T02:34:02Z")
Skeezix and Charmian, It definitely wasn’t any kind of Lord of the Flies adaptation. It was more like just these 3 or 4 brothers. It wasn’t a Robin Hood story either–it was more modern, IIRC. Like 20th century. And it wasn’t a Peter Pan kind of story either. But those were good suggestions based on the little info I provided, so thanks for trying. I dunno, maybe I dreamed the whole thing. (not really) ---
**Author:** ![angelicate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@angelicate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/angelicate)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2002, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690/95 "2002-10-23T07:47:35Z")
Well, this might be a long shot, since I can’t remember much of either of these movies. When I was a kid, I vaguely remember walking in while my mom was watching these movies, and being really scared by them. This would have been in the early 80’s, although I don’t know when the movies were filmed. 1. It seemed like there was some kind of religious theme in this movie. There were some little girls (Dark skin/hair, IIRC), and the only scene that really sticks out is when one little girl’s ring (?) falls down the sink drain, and she is hysterical while they are trying to get it out for her. 2. The only thing I remember about this movie is that it was a horror movie. The scene I remember is a stormy night, and when the people turned on the shower, worms or leeches came out of the shower head. I think that the worms started appearing everywhere after that, but can’t be certain. Also, there’s another one, a horror/slasher type flick that I caught on cable at my dad’s house late one night, and have never seen again. I remember there being a kid, who was probably 12-13, and who (IIRC) was killing people. The only parts I remember are where the kid pushes another kid off of the roof (?) and at the instant the kids head would have hit the ground, the mom drops a watermelon. At the end, I think the mom is in the bathtub, maybe on the phone, and you see the kid coming up the stairs/down a hall cutting a wire. This was probably 10 years ago, so I don’t know how good my memory is. ---
**Author:** ![bifar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@bifar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bifar)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2002, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690/96 "2002-10-23T11:05:53Z")
> [@](#): > > Black and white film, most likely from the 40s, but I couldn’t pin it down for you (I was about 6 when I saw it, so I wasn’t paying much attention to the production date). Romance, possibly starring Katherine Hepburn. The only scene I remember is the final one, in which the main character (who may or may not have been K. H.), is in a sitting room, with a female friend or servant, and tells the other woman she has a pain in her left arm and doesn’t feel well, so the woman brings her some warm milk. Predictably, she has a heart attack, and the milk falls out of her hand and crashes on the floor. The film doesn’t end there, though. The woman’s ghost gets up an walks out the door into bright light, and she may or may not have been accompanied by the love interest’s ghost (I’m foggy on that part). Yay, I got one! Kn\*ckers, that sounds a look like the ending of the film version of [The Ghost and Mrs Muir](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0039420). ---
**Author:** ![li\_l\_Dickie\_Dirtz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/2bfe46/32.png) [@li\_l\_Dickie\_Dirtz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/li_l_Dickie_Dirtz)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2002, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690/97 "2002-10-23T15:02:58Z")
> [@](#): > > - Originally posted by angelicate\* > **2. The only thing I remember about this movie is that it was a horror movie. The scene I remember is a stormy night, and when the people turned on the shower, worms or leeches came out of the shower head. I think that the worms started appearing everywhere after that, but can’t be certain.** [The Amityville Horror](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0078767) perhaps? ---
**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2002, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690/98 "2002-10-23T15:08:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by angelicate \* > **]2. The only thing I remember about this movie is that it was a horror movie. The scene I remember is a stormy night, and when the people turned on the shower, worms or leeches came out of the shower head. I think that the worms started appearing everywhere after that, but can’t be certain.** Sounds like [Squirm](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0075261). Got another one. An English professor once told me about a short story by Chekov in which a boy and a girl are curious about what might be in a hole in the trunk of a tree. Boy sticks his head in, gets stuck. Girl runs for help, several people show up, and eventually get his head out of the tree. After the townspeople leave, the boy and girl realize that they never actually found out what was in the tree, so the boy sticks his head in again. Thing is, if this is a story by Chekov, none of the “Complete Short Stories of Anton Chekov” books I’ve consulted have heard of it. Ring a bell with anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2002, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690/99 "2002-10-23T16:18:08Z")
**MySphyt** , your movie sounds like [My Demon Lover](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0093589) ---
**Author:** ![angelicate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@angelicate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/angelicate)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2002, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690/100 "2002-10-24T02:42:04Z")
I know it’s not the Amityville Horror, because I remember seeing that one when I got older. Squirm sounds right though. I’ll have to see if I can find it somewhere. Thanks! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690.md?page=6)