Tell me a story

Folklore, fact and fantasy

Featured in

  • Published 20230207
  • ISBN: 978-1-922212-80-1
  • Extent: 264pp
  • Paperback (234 x 153mm), eBook

…the question isn’t whether or not something is real but
when is it real and for whom.

Kristiana Willsey

WHEN I WAS twelve or thirteen, the kids at school used to whisper about the Toy House, a lone weatherboard dwelling at the end of a cul-de-sac, hidden deep within an industrial estate. Picture the front yard, they’d say: its soil dry and red, clumps of hedge along the front boundary. Straggly trees dot one side of the garden, then grow haphazardly around the dead-end. And amid the boughs of those trees you’ll find fluffy toys, maybe a hundred of them, strung up with rope. Some toys dangle from a limb, others by a noose around the neck. If you go to the house, they’d say, the man who lives there will lurk inside, watching you while you survey the toys – waiting until you’ve found one to liberate from torture. With your arms reaching and your back turned, you won’t see him spring out to snatch you. 

Already a subscriber? Sign in here

If you are an educator or student wishing to access content for study purposes please contact us at griffithreview@griffith.edu.au

Share article

About the author

Martine Kropkowski

Martine Kropkowski is a writer and HDR candidate at The University of Queensland. Her research examines folklore practice in the online space, including the...

More from this edition

Detail from Disco Sock photographic artwork by Yvonne Todd

Strike a pose

In ConversationI grew up when women were viewed as decorative, appraised for their sexual currency. It’s hard to disassociate from powerful formative experiences. Particularly my childhood observations of glamour fused with my interest in the macabre.

Run River: An exercise

PoetryLittle space in this town for dead game. Steal a teal Corvette, hit the drive-in, Find the tatty shop. They serve a fish dish.

Art, AI and figuring the future

Non-fictionThere is an eeriness in the anonymous way DALL-E and Midjourney create art... The artist is nowhere and everywhere, like a ghost inside the machine. We see the rendering of images, but nothing that makes the design process more relatable. 

Stay up to date with the latest, news, articles and special offers from Griffith Review.