Big Bad Banksia Men

As a kid, I was terrified of the Big Bad Banksia men. Which is weird because I was less terrified of Snake who really orchestrated all the menace.

And if you read The Adventures of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie as an adult, you discover the gumnut babies killed way more people than Snake and the Banksia men put together. It's quite bizzare to reread this beloved book. Very, very different to how I remember it.

However, the Banksia Men could have been handsome and gorgeous people, had she not been in need of villians. In bloom, they are so gorgeous! There are apparently around 170 types of Banksia in the genus.

For those OS they don't know the May Gibbs story - a picture of the villainous Big Bad Banksia Men is here. Anyone my age was terrified of them as a child, when our parents chose to read this to us as a bed time story...

Have you ever gone back to a familliar story and discovered it's quite different to how you remember?

Linking with #FloralFridayFoto (also for the OS, Gumnuts are here.)