The version I had was illustrated by the fantastic, Dirk Zimmer. I'm aware there were a couple of other versions of this book, but when I think of this story, I always remember how well Zimmer's illustrations portrayed the tense and gloomy mood. Each picture was simply drawn but was then painstakingingly detailed with tiny black etchings to create depth. It always disturbed me when I was younger how even when Jenny was smiling in the pictures, she always looked so sad. I suppose that happens when you harbour a terrrrrible secret..WHoOoOoOoOoOoo etc etc. Was the cat supposed to be Death, or just a creepy cat?! This tale without a doubt, spawned my life-long love for horror. Maybe some of you remember this story?
This is my favorite story from this book, which is one of my favorite childhood books. Thanks for posting the pics.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, glad you like it!
ReplyDeleteOMG, for the 1st time in 15+ years this story randomly popped into my head today. Glad I found this site, it would have driven me crazy trying to recall what it was. Honestly, though, this book traumatized me as a kid (probably 6-ish?). It all came back looking at the last page, the head on the floor, lifeless body still on the bed... Scary!! Anyhoo, thanks for sharing, I love hashing up repressed childhood memories!!
ReplyDeleteSame! I just randomly remembered this book.
DeleteHaha yeah, it was a pretty scary story for a child to read in fairness! Glad you liked the post anyway x
ReplyDeleteI thought I was the only one!
ReplyDeleteI love this!
wow ...i so remember this
ReplyDeleteI got to your blog through someone's tumblr. This story is scary as hell. I thought it wasn't going to end with something romantic. This would be the scariest thing alive if it was made into some scary movie.
ReplyDelete*shivers*
thanks for sharing.
www.riskofrain.com
ooops. I meant I thought it WAS*
ReplyDeleteI read a book of short horror stories by Anthony Horowitz, I now just realised he completely ripped this off except for a black ribbon.
ReplyDeleteI miss this story so much as a kid i would read this story over and over again i absolutely love this book :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the comments, glad you loved the story as much as I did! x
ReplyDeleteokay.this is disturbing.LOL. ilike. :)
ReplyDeleteO_O wow.... creepy.
ReplyDeleteI found this book at a used book store when I was 9 and it scared me. The stories that are stuck to my mind until now is this one and "In a dark dark room".
ReplyDeleteJust found this book last week after 20+ years!!! I read the Green Ribbon for the first time to my nieces and nephew and it's now their favorite!!! Thanks for sharing! :)
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely LOVE this story! I, too, was obsessed with it as a kid. Thanks for posting!!
ReplyDeleteI was just thinking about this story today. I only heard it as a kid from other kids, probably ones who had the book. However, it says on the title, "as re-told by..." which means these are collections of older tales. Does anyone know where the story originated?
ReplyDeleteThis was my favorite all time story when I was young. I'm not sure what that says about me lol but I would literally rent it from the library every week and read it over and over again! I'm not sure why my mom never just purchased it, but anyways! Thanks for posting!
ReplyDeleteLove this story. Read at school only once, when i was maybe 5-6. Im 34 now!
ReplyDeletesomehow this story stuck w me. I have 2 boys now and want to find the book for them. Thank you for shareing. Love the dark dark room too.
I really want to know the meaning behind the story its driving me crazy and honestly.
ReplyDelete•All I know is that she always looked sad
•had the ribbon as a secret
•if you pull it off her head falls off
•her husband was curious
......I think I just figured it out...Omg
Like curiosity how the saying is "curiosity killed the cat" well maybe his curiosity was supposed to be society and jenny is what society didn't know. But we know her head fell of if the ribbon was taken off but we still dont know why or how or....like....we know we are in space but we dont know how or why..this is really screwing with my mind urgh sorry for bad grammar
according to some, the ribbon was giving women no voice in their marriage and that is how they were raised. according to some, you can never truly know a person because they will always have secrets.
DeleteI had very difficult 7th graders who hated to read last year, so I rewrote "The Green Ribbon" for them. They loved it. Luckily, none of them had read it when they were little, so a lot of them screamed at the end. It was pretty awesome.
ReplyDeletehttp://tarpfrog.wordpress.com/2014/10/13/the-green-ribbon/
This was my favorite story in the book, thank you for posting this!
ReplyDeleteAfter twenty years I still remember "The Green Ribbon" as a traumatic memory of my childhood. Glad to find out it was the same for others too:)
ReplyDeleteI wanted to be her for Halloween but apparently nobody knows this story.
ReplyDeleteUr telling me that all that time her head was off n that ribbon was the one to keep her head attached to her body??
ReplyDeleteMy memories are vague but it was an old southern folk tale. There's no moral, the reason the ending is so abrupt is because it's one of the original jump scares. The speaker would be calm and somber during the telling of their lives, but then shout "and then her head fell off!"
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting this! This is one of my fave short stories!
ReplyDeleteIn the 1800d a green ribbon around the neck symbolized mental instability. I dunno if that adds any meaning for ya, but there ya go
ReplyDeleteI love this story. I made a poem about this story if you guys want to read it....
ReplyDeletehttps://www.wattpad.com/569751051-the-songbird-sings-a-collection-of-poems-for-your