British 90s nostalgia and shite

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There's a series of books called Puddle Lane. These books feature a monster called the Griffle. And as a kid, the Griffle fucking terrified me.

The Griffle first appears in a book called The Vanishing Monster.

Sitting in the magician's garden, Davy sees the Griffle, a shy green monster gradually appear, first ears, then eyes, tail, and body, and quickly disappear when frightened.

I owned a copy of that very book. It sat on the bottom shelf of my bookshelves in my bedroom.

But I rarely pulled the book out to read it. I was always afraid of it. Because of the eyes on the cover. Those eyes. THOSE EYES.

I was especially afraid of the book when I was alone in my bedroom. I was afraid the Griffle would become real. I was afraid that if I turned my head, I'd see A FLOATING PAIR OF EYES BEHIND ME.

Sometimes, when I was walking down the stairs at home, I'd become convinced that the Griffle was WATCHING ME from the top of the stairs. Absolutely convinced.

I never turned my head to check though. That's Griffle Survival Rule #1. Never turn your head. I knew that if I did turn my head, I'd see those floating eyes and scream.

So instead I would RUN down the stairs until I reached safety at the bottom. Then it would all seem silly.

The Griffle can turn invisible, except it can't turn fully invisible. Sometimes its eyes will still be showing, or sometimes just its tail.

At times only its ears are visible:

What the Griffle looks like when fully visible

What does the Griffle look like when he's fully visible?

He looks like this:

He's CUTE. He's not a scary monster after all. He's just a weird, goofy green dog.

It makes sense, because in the books, the Griffle isn't supposed to be scary. He doesn't eat people and in fact, he's... shy.

That's right: he's shy. That's why he turns invisible.

The Griffle himself is afraid: of us. That makes him about as scary as a spider or a mouse.

Conclusion

Does that mean the Griffle doesn't scare me anymore? I would like to say yes, but I'll always imagine those two floating eyes watching me when I'm all alone.

In fact, he might be watching me right now.

In fact, he might be watching you... (don't turn around – I've warned you.)

The Vanishing Monster is available at Amazon.