Man-Eating Rose

A Gardeners' Fairytale

CW: gruesome death, desecration of bodies, prejudice, ghosts

The man-eating rose is a myth made popular by its appearance in Bedtimes Stories by Jonathan and Michael Burch.

Burch Twins Story

In the story "The Furniture Maker," a new furniture maker has set up shop in a small town in Euirir. A woman named Edna hears great things from her friends and neighbors who return with beautifully carved bone chairs and tables. Edna scoffs at these and insists they no finer than her wooden chairs.

One day, one of her chairs breaks, and Edna goes to the new furniture maker to have it repaired. The furniture maker tries to sell Edna an intricately carved bone chair that he claims is the twin of one in the home of the Atlinthaian queen. Edna says that the chair does not look particularly interesting, and that she would prefer her old wooden chair repaired. The furniture maker agrees and suggests Edna have some tea in the garden while she waits. He also mentions he has one of the Atlinthaian queen's prized roses--a gift for his beautiful work.

Edna goes into the garden and finds a tea service waiting on a table near a rosebush. She suspects this is the queen's rose, though it doesn't look remarkable to her. She is surprised that the tea is hot, as she doesn't know when the furniture maker could have brewed it, but she sits down to drink. Then she grows sleepy and begins to nod off, falling out of her chair.

Edna wakes to a sharp pain and notices thorny vines wrapped around her ankles. As she tries to pull them off, more vines come and wrap themselves around her hands. She turns her head and sees that it is the furniture maker's rose that is putting out these vines, and as she screams for help, one wraps around her mouth. In minutes, Edna is encased in a writhing mass of vines. After some time, the furniture maker comes into the garden. The vines recede back into the rose, leaving only a pile of bones. As the rose puts out a new bloom, the furniture maker collects the bones and begins making a new chair.

Burch Twigs Version

In Burch Twigs: Bedtime Stories for a New Generation, Art and Indigo Tory include the man-eating rose in new story, titled "The Resort." In this story, a man named Andrew buys land in Euirir, which he intends to develop and turn into a resort. He hires a local gardener about growing a garden full of local plants, in particular, the rare Taira Rose, which is only found on the island of Kuwa.

As Andrew is bringining builders, he sees Vidia praying to her ancestors and asking them for permission to grow the land and for guidance to do so in a way that is pleasing to them. When Andrew asks Vidia about these prayers she tells him that an ancient Euiriran custom dictated that the burial grounds of bodies be hidden, to prevent the desecration of the bones. As a result, bodies are buried all over the island, and modern Euirirans believe that the spirits of the dead protect the land. If Andrew builds without their permission, they may seek vengance. Andrew tells Vidia he is unafraid of her superstition.

Later, the builders are preparing to break ground, and as Andrew does one more survey of the land, he encounters the largest, most beautiful taira rose he has ever seen. It is nearly as tall as himself, with blooms the size of his head. He decides to dig it up and replant it next to what will be the doors of his resort. He gets several men to help, but as the first shovel enters the dirt, the rose moves, as if awakening from a slumber. The blooms grow larger and wider, and tendrils from the rose begin to climb the men's legs. The more they try to hack at these with the shovel, the more tendrils wrap around them, until they are held vast against the bush and the rose's thorny vines pierce their bodies, slowly draining their lives.

When Andrew mysteriously disappears, the builders leave, and the land reverts to its previous ownership. Vidia finds the rose and thanks it, and then says a prayer to her father, who is buried beneath it. Because it is not the dead that protect Kuwa Island, but rather the island that protects the dead.

Inspiration and Reception

We don't kill people and make their bones into furniture. You only think that because of the Burch Twins' story!

— exasperated Xurugwi practioner

I honestly don't know where this idea of man-eating plants came from. It must be some sort of Zenxonian fabrication.

— Euiriran folklorist

It's clear that both versions of the story were inspired by the history and folklore of Euirir. Early Euiriran Nature Worshippers conflicted the Xurguwi of Atlinthaia, which likely led to the practice of burying the dead in secluded or secret places out of fear of the bodies being desecrated. This resulted in centuries-old bodies being unearthed in several places by land developers--usually foriegners who were interested in the exotic landscape and the famed taira roses that are native only to Kuwa, where Euirir is located. Nevertheless, the concept of the dead protecting the land is seen more often in Zenxon, from where both sets of writers hail. Likewise, there are no other stories about man-eating plants on Euirir.

Though the original story does not specify that the furniture maker is Xurguwi, it is heavily implied. The character is from Atlinthaia, which has a prominant Xurguwi population. Then he is depicted making furniture from human bone, similar to Xurugwi Death Beads, a practice which is commonly abhorred in Euirir. The story has not recieved a welcome reception from Xurguwi practictioners as it has perpetuated a myth that the Xurguwi kill outsiders to make death beads, rather than making them out of the bones of family and friends who have already died.

by Artbreeder

Date of First Recording

1753

Other Appearances

• In 1939, Xurguwi writer Lucretia Nelson created her own version of the Burches' story titled "The Bone Thief." In this story, the furniture maker is masquerading as an Atlinthaian Xurguwi practitioner to spread lies about the group. Edna suspects his lies and must battle the man-eating rose to reveal the truth to the public.



• The 1952 film Unremarkable retells the story, focusing on Edna's inabilty appreciate the things around her. In this version, the furniture maker now runs a curiosity shop, and as her neighbors ohh and ahh, Edna insists that everything is "unremarkable." When the shop owner suggests she see his unique rose, the plant kills her before she unable to finish saying the word. The film ends with a customer asking the story of a bone chair new to the shop, and the owner tells her it is unremarkable.



• A 1960 poem by Euriran poet Peter Filine retells the Tories' story. By alternating between the voice of the rose and the voice of Vidia, he explores the symbiosis between the land and the people who live there. He wrote another poem the following year in which the rose is a person who is transformed into a rose by the Calistian god of plants as a guardian to future generations. This poem also contains elements of other stories from the Tories' book as well as The Death Witch.



• The band The Roses uses a rose and crossed-bones logo. Many of their songs are inspired by folklore.



• The man-eating rose appears as a monster in the game Echoes and Descent. Artwork from the player manuel also depicts a pirate ship whose flag bears a rose with a skull in its center.