This was a (probably) monochrome drawing, full-page, of a woman being eaten by a large, troll-like creature, somewhere in a book of (I assume) creepy short stories. This was from my elementary school library, so I also add the assumption that it was probably not a book ostensibly for adults.
Now that I am older, I can clearly see that it was a reference (to be kind) to Goya's
Saturn Devouring His Son. However, I recall some distinct differences. First, it was clearly a woman as the victim. Second, in an attempt to spare our childish sensibilities, she was not nude, but rather dressed in a sheer nightgown. (Yes, people being eaten is okay,
hey, thatsa naked lady! is bad.) Third, the woman's head, up to her shoulders, was in the creature's significantly larger mouth; she was dangling limply, like some prey item being digested by an enormous frog. Fourth, the humanoid itself was in nearly full profile, rather than staring madly bulge-eyed at the viewer.
The book would have been published prior to 1986.
This was not the
Very Scary Stories series — I have all of them and have checked. Additionally, the stories were substantially longer than the quickies in that series. I am less certain that this was not from the Joan Kahn-edited series, such as
Some Things Weird and Wicked. I have not finished purchasing all of them, however, and continue to try to track down full-sized, illustrated versions.
And, before you ask, no, this is not a 'vore fetish thing.
posted by Faint of Butt at 7:55 AM on November 25, 2008