1 year ago

The Spider Bite or The Red Spot is a modern urban legend that emerged in England during the 1970s.

PLOT
The legend features a young woman from a frigid, northern location (England, New York City, etc.), who is on vacation abroad in a warm southern location (Mexico, etc.). While sunbathing on the beach, she is bitten on the cheek by a spider. The bite swells into a large boil and she rushes home to seek medical treatment. She finds a doctor to lance the boil then hundreds of tiny spiders come running out of her cheek. She then goes insane from the shock.

VARIATIONS
In other versions, a young girl is asleep while a spider crawls across her face and rests on her cheek for a few moments. The next morning, she asks her mother about the red spot on her cheek and the mother responds, "It looks like a spider bite. It will go away, just don't scratch it." As time passes, the spot grows into a small boil. She confronts her mother again and complains that it is getting larger and that it's sore. The mother replies, "That happens sometimes, it's coming to a head." More days pass and the girl complains that it hurts and is unsightly. Finally concerned that it might be infected, the mother agrees to take her to a doctor, but he is not available until the next day. In order to soothe herself that evening, the girl takes a bath. As she soaks, the boil bursts and releases a swarm of baby spiders into the water from the eggs that the mother had laid.

In telling the story, there are versions that are set in one's own country instead of being abroad (e.g., a Midwestern woman who is bitten in California). Usually, when the story is told to others, the location of the incident is quite specific.