YMMV / The Spider and the Fly

• Beam Me Up, Scotty!: The opening line is "Will you walk into my parlour?" not "Won't you come into my parlour?" or "Will you step inside my parlour?"
• Crosses the Line Twice: The Spider writes a letter to the reader at the end (just after polishing off the Fly), reminding them that he's a predator, and not every story is going to end well just because it's written for children. If he'd been Charlotte, he says, he wouldn't have wasted time writing words in a web; he'd have had pork for dinner.
• Magnificent Bastard: The Spider is a voracious predator who uses charm and flowery language to lure unsuspecting insects into his parlour. When he sets his eyes on the fly, he becomes a gentleman, recommending the fly to come to his parlour by feigning concern for the fly's well-being. Not deterred by the fly's refusals, the spider changes tactics and appeals to the fly's inner vanity and suggests she look at herself in his looking-glass. He then crafts a web to snare the fly once he successfully enticed her to return.
• Memetic Mutation: As cited in the "Aesop" post, this story, or at the very least, its title, has been used for years as a cautionary tale about falling for enticing tricks.
• Narm: Even when tied up, terrified, and about to become dinner, poor Ms. Fly is still clutching her purse.
• Nightmare Fuel: The fact that quite a lot of Spider's furniture is made out of dead bugs.
  • The look of horror on Ms. Fly's face when she's bound up in a web, silk covering her mouth, as Spider's shadow approaches. You can even see that he's laughing and carrying a knife and fork.
  • The ghost bugs, Fly included, after she's been killed, looking sadly at a gravestone.
  • All of these, and then you remember that this book was made for children.
• Visual Effects of Awesome: The ghost-bugs were hand drawn and then added in later in Photoshop as a transparent layer, giving them the glow.

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