The 19th century Irish writer J. Sheridan Le Fanu is famed for ghostly stories like "Carmilla" and the cautionary tale "Green Tea." Cautionary for people who like their tea strong and who drink plenty of it, and for those who might be susceptible to strange hallucinations. (To quote:
Tea was my companion--at first the ordinary black tea, made in the usual way, not too strong: but I drank a good deal, and increased its strength as I went on.) We may consider green tea to be full of antioxidants and healthy benefits nowadays, but if you start seeing a red-eyed monkey, you've had enough. The story itself can be read
here, and in the sense of following the old-school wisdom of
write what you know, Le Fanu did indeed enjoy many a well-steeped cup.
Pictured:
Green Monkey -- George Stubbs, 1798 (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, UK)
