Hi everyone,
Newbie here. I'm hoping someone can help me out with this, as it's a many-years-long search. Does anyone here collect mer fiction, even from waaay back? Or can you refer me to a site referencing extensive mer fiction? I'm looking for a mer short story I read in the late 70s/early 80s, part of a collection of "scary" short stories. Believe me, I gave Googled the heck out of this - in various search verbiage, on multiple book search sites, on every page that listed mer fiction - and...nothing. Basically, the story goes that a country boy discovers a beautiful mermaid is living in a pond at the bottom of a quarry. He knows the quarry is about to be dynamited, which of course will kill her, so he decides to try to save her. However, when he struggles to get her out of the pond and into a truck (to transport her to a safer nearby pond), he realizes the water has distorted her appearance and that she is actually hideously ugly. She is also very strong and vicious and nearly kills him. He barely escapes with his life, and soon after the quarry is caved in. Sad, scary, weird. Any clues? Please and thank you!