The AFU and Urban Legend Archive
Animals
 beehive update




Date: Wed, 12 Mar 1997 20:51:07 -0600
From: jjohnson@cybergate.com
Subject: Re: Spiders
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban

In article <3326D632.1291@slc.unisys.com>, hsm@slc.unisys.com wrote:
>
> Hopgood & Ganim wrote:
> > I heard there was a fellow who approached a barber for a haircut.

[some snippage]

> I think that this is the first time that the victim was at the
> barber's when the biting started - in fact, I'm not sure that any
> of the variants in _Hitchhiker_ mention that the victim feels the
> bites. (The most innocuous version of the story just has a nest of
> maggots found in the 'do.) Anyone with a copy of the book?

The dreadlock detail rang a bell with me. A search via good ol' Deja News pulled up the following: 

Subject:      Re: deadly spiders in dreadlocks

From:         dlawson@netcom.com (Drew Lawson)

Date:         1996/01/19

Message-Id:   <dlawsonDLFsDK.AE2@netcom.com>
Newsgroups:   alt.folklore.urban

In article <4dmu1a$bne@otis.netspace.net.au>

jonwells@ice.net.au (Jonathan P. Wells) writes: >I was told a story about the friend-of-a-friends brother who had a mean
>set of dreads. Little did they know but a red-back spider (a small but
>deadly Australian / Tasmanian sucker with a red arrow on it's back,
>renown for hanging around out-door toilet seats) had built a nest in
>the dreads and laid eggs.
>
>When they went to get a haircut, the newly hatched baby spiders all
>rushed out of the nest and bit the dude to death!

Interesting variation, and updating.

The beehive hairdo (does anyone still get those?) has changed to the somewhat popular dreadlocks (old hairstyle, recent popularity). Then take the "baby spiders" out of the vibrating cactus and have them lying in wait in the hair.

The interesting change, to me, is that now the story has a precipitating event -- the haircut. The old beehive story just had unexplained illness from undetected spider bites. This one is more dramatic.

It is odd that the dreadlocker is the only one to die, and not the barber as well.

[rest of Drew's informative post snipped]

I just checked TVH, and found no listing of the spiders being found at the beauty parlor/barber shop, but did find a mention of a male "hippy" being the victim. I was initially interested in the "dreadlock" variant because it seemed to be the first time the victim was male.

Judy "arachnophilic" Johnson




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