1748 Emojis & Text

WILLIAM YORK "The Boy Murderer," convicted of the Murder of another Child in the Poorhouse of Eyke, in Suffolk, May, 1748 https://www.exclassics.com/newgate/ng221.htm William York, aged 10, killing Susan matthew, aged 5 He was a pauper in the poorhouse belonging to the parish of Eyke, in Suffolk, and was committed, on the coroner's inquest, to Ipswich Jail for the murder of Susan Mahew, another child, of five years of age, who had been his bedfellow. The following is his confession, taken and attested by a Justice of the Peace, and which was, in part, proved on his trial, with many corroborating circumstances of his guilt. He said that a trifling quarrel happening between them, on the 13th of May, 1748, about ten in the morning, he struck her with his open hand, and made her cry. That after this he set his foot upon her stomach, and cut her right arm round about, and to the bone, both on the wrist and above the elbow. That he then thought she would not die, and therefore took the hook and cut her left thigh to the bone; and, observing she was not dead yet, his next care was to conceal the murder. This "boy murder" was found guilty, and sentence of death pronounced against him; but he was respited from time to time, and on account of his tender years, was at length pardoned. https://www.exclassics.com/newgate/york.gif

r/shortscarystories 1 day ago Chemical-Elk-1299 My family died in a fire. I think it was my fault. I only remember one thing from my childhood. Fire. I couldn’t remember how it happened, or why. Only the nagging sensation that I had something to do with it. I remember the heat and the horror, a yawning red mouth that swallowed everything in its path. The humanity. The fear. The sound of groaning metal. Crawling out of the flames while women screamed in a language I couldn’t understand. Then nothing. The next thing I knew, I was surrounded by white walls and doctors. They told me it was a hospital. That I needed to be kept under observation. Apparently I should have burnt to death, but I didn’t. In fact, there wasn’t a scratch on me, apart from a lump on my head. Concussion. After two months, I figured it out — I wasn’t just being healed. I was being studied. This was no ordinary hospital. But it wasn’t like I was going anywhere. When I first awoke, I had to relearn everything. How to walk. How to talk. After I’d recovered, one of the researchers explained — the government wanted to know how I’d started the fire. How I’d survived it. Apparently, I’d be of some use to them if I could only remember. But I have an idea. I’ve been here for a long time. The men studying me have grown worn and grey, but my face hasn’t aged. They had me run tests where I stared at other prisoners, told to think “hot thoughts”. And sure enough, every so often — tender flames, smoldering weakly around their feet. But it was never enough. They wanted to know how I started the big one. To counteract the amnesia, they’d put me through “hypnotherapy”. Something about my subconscious. I’d get flashes. We were flying to America. An airship. It was… a long time ago. I was mad at my sister. Something about father loving her more than me. How mother called me a freak. I was so angry. I wanted to hurt her, as badly as she’d hurt me. So, I closed my eyes. I thought of my sister, curling like bacon in the fire. A spark. Father’s skin sloughing off in smoking ribbons. Mother plummeting to the ground, far below. Flames against an endless sky. The therapy ended there. Too painful. Eventually, my captors resorted to drastic measures. They wanted my power, needed it for their own. And they needed me to remember how to use it. So they brought in someone to jog my memory. A survivor, they said. When they wheeled his decrepit old bones to my isolation cell, I could see it in his eyes. He knew me. We’d met before, in the sky long ago. He screamed, raged in a language so familiar and yet so foreign. German, I think. I didn’t understand, but I knew that he hated me. Would never forgive me. One name was clear, howled in my face again and again. “The Hindenburg”.

r/shortscarystories 1 day ago CBenson1273 My Aunt Tried To Protect Me From My Mother My childhood was a nightmare. My mother hated me and took every chance to show it. Nothing I ever did was good enough. ‘B’s on report cards were because I was stupid. Unfinished chores were because I was lazy. Any beatings I got were because I deserved them. And my father was just as bad. Fortunately, her sister was my refuge. When things got too bad, I could go over there to escape for a day or two. Perhaps that was why my mother didn’t like Aunt Lisa. The feeling was mutual. So I was surprised when my aunt told me she’d invited my parents over for tea tomorrow. “Why would you invite them here? The whole reason I come here is to get away from them!!” “I know,” she replied. “But that all ends tomorrow. I’m going to have a talk with them; they aren’t going to mistreat you anymore.” I knew in my heart they’d never change, but she was determined to try. The next day, I sat in the corner as my parents entered. “There you are, you wretched child,” my mother said. “Come home this instant and stop causing trouble!” “Now, now, Lydia,” replied my Aunt. “That behavior is exactly why I called you over today. It’s quite enough.” “HOW DARE YOU TELL ME HOW TO RAIS—!” “Do calm down, Lydia. All that screaming isn’t good for your blood pressure. What’s say we all relax, have a nice cup of tea, and discuss this like adults?” My mother still looked furious, but she took the proffered cup and retook her seat. “How you treat Annie isn’t right. It needs to stop.” “You have no say in what I do in MY home. And whatever MY daughter gets, I can assure you it’s deserved.” “So you aren’t open to change, then?” “Absolutely not - that girl’s gotten exactly what she deserves.” “Very well, then. I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this.” “Come to wh—“ my mother started when she suddenly began to foam at the mouth and grasp at her throat. “Don’t mind that,” my Aunt said. “Just a bit of poison I placed in your cups. I was hoping you’d agree to change your ways, but clearly you never will. Goodbye, sister.” After my parents had collapsed on the floor, I looked over at my aunt. “What did you do?” “What needed to be done,” she replied. “But what if they’d agreed to stop?” “Then I’d have given them the antidote I was keeping in my purs—“ A look of shock crossed her face as her throat closed, replaced by panic as she rifled desperately through her purse. “Looking for this?” I asked, holding up her syringe. “But…. why?” my aunt asked as she collapsed. “Remember all those times you saw my bruises and scars and sent me back there anyway?” “But I loved you like a daughter,” she gasped with her final breath. “Then you should’ve done better,” I said