Big Toe

The Big Toe is a scary story for kids about a young boy who unearths a mysterious toe in his garden. It is based on a classic American folk tale and is sometimes known as “The Hairy Toe” or “The Skinny Toe”. A version of this story appeared in Scary Stories To Tell in the Dark.

The Big Toe

One day, a boy was digging in his garden, when he saw a big toe sticking out of the ground. He tried to pick it up, but it was stuck. It wouldn’t budge, so he pulled as hard as he could and it came off in his hand. Then he heard something groan and scamper away.

The boy took the big toe into the kitchen and showed it to his mom.

“That looks nice piece of meat,” she said. “I’ll put it in the soup and we’ll have it for dinner.”

That night, at the dinner table, the boy’s father scooped the big toe out of the soup and chopped it up into three pieces. The father, the mother and the boy each ate a piece. Then they did the dishes, and when it got dark they went to bed.

The boy fell asleep almost at once. But in the middle of the night, he was rudely awakened by a strange sound. He listened closely. It sounded like there was a voice coming from outside his window and it was calling to him.

“Where is my big toe?” it groaned.

When the boy heard that, he got very scared. But he thought, “It doesn’t know where I am. It never will find me.”

Then he heard the voice once more. Only now it was closer.

“Where is my big toe?” it groaned.

The boy pulled the blankets over his head and closed his eyes. “I’ll go to sleep,” he thought. “When I wake up it will be gone.”

But soon he heard the back door open and again he heard the voice.

“Where is my big toe?” it groaned.

Then the boy heard footsteps move through the kitchen into the dining room, into the living room, into the front hall. They slowly climbed the stairs. Closer and closer they came. Soon they were in the upstairs hall. Now they were outside his door.

“Where is my toe?” the voice groaned.

The boy watched in horror as his bedroom door opened. Shaking with fear, he threw his bedclothes over his head and listened as the footsteps slowly moved through the dark towards his bed.

Then they stopped.

“Where is my toe?” the voice groaned. “YOU’VE GOT IT!”

(The Big Toe has an alternate ending. When the boy hears the voice calling for its toe, he finds a strange looking creature up inside the chimney. The boy is so frightened he can’t move. He just stands there and stares at it.)

Finally, he asks: “W-w-w-what you got such big eyes for?”

The creature answers: “To look you thro-o-o-ugh and thro-o-o-ugh!”

“W-w-w-what you got such big claws for?”

“To scra-a-a-tch up your gra-a-a-a-ve!”

“W-w-w-what you got such a big mouth for?”

“To swallow you who-o-o-le!”

“W-w-w-what you got such sharp teeth for?”

“TO CHOMP YOUR BONES!”