Speaking activities Black Stories

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 2

Speaking activities

Can you solve these black stories?

Black Stories

Black stories are tricky, mysterious stories about bad things. There's always some kind of riddle to solve.

1 person reads the riddle. The rest of the class takes turn to ask this person questions, but they can only be yes or no questions. If you think you've solved the mystery, share your theory!

Thank you

A woman goes into a pub and orders a glass of water. The man behind the bar grabs a rifle and aims it right at the woman. She thanks him and leaves.

(Answer on the next slide)

Thank you (answer)

The woman had hiccups and wanted to get rid of them with the water. The man behind the bar understood straightaway and wanted to help her by giving her a real scare. It worked!

Murder with impunity

A woman shoots dead her husband. The police lead her away but let her go free later.

Murder with impunity (answer)

The woman had already served a long prison term for murdering her husband. It was a miscarriage of justice (= a mistake), for her husband had actually run off.

Because she had already been punished for his murder, the police saw no reason to keep her locked up any longer.

The funeral guest

At her mother's funeral, a woman sees a man she doesn't know. A few days later, she murders her sister.

The funeral guest (answer)

During the funeral, the woman fell hopelessly in love with the man. He, however, disappeared immediately after the funeral before she could ask him his name. She hoped to see him again at her sister's funeral.

The terminal taxi

Tim gets into a taxi. When the driver opens the door for him at the train station, Tim falls out of the vehicle, dead.

The terminal taxi (answer)

A spider collector had forgotten his extremely venomous spider in the taxi. Tim, who happened to be the next passenger, panicked when he caught sight of the creature, and was immediately bitten.

The sauna

A dead man is lying in a sauna; next to him, a thermos flask.

The sauna (answer)

The man had been stabbed to death with an icicle. His murderer had brought the icicle into the sauna in the thermos flask. It melted a short while later, and so the murder weapon was never found.

The light switch

A man living in an isolated building turns on the light every evening on his way to bed. One morning, while listening to the radio, he suddenly runs out and throws himself into the sea.

The light switch (answer)

The man in the isolated building was the keeper of one of the most important lighthouses on the coast. That morning, the radio reported the largest shipping disaster of all time.

The night before, the lighthouse keeper had, indeed, forgotten to turn the light on - an unforgivable blunder.

Backwards

Jonathan takes a step backwards, and dies.

Backwards (answer)

Jonathan was window cleaning near the top of a high-rise. Before finishing his work, he used the mirror-like windows of the building to tidy his hair because his new girlfriend was waiting for him down below.

Finally, Jonathan decided to check his appearance 'in full' and took one (last) step backwards.

Deadly meal

A woman gives a man something to eat. Some time later, both of them die.

Deadly meal (answer)

The man and woman in question are our Biblical ancestors: Adam and Eve. After Adam ate a piece of the apple, both of them lost their immortality.