Fairy-Tale Files, published once weekly, feature three variations of a fairy tale chosen by one of Fairy Tale Review’s editors, readers, editorial assistants, or contributors.

Speculation runs rampant when footwear is your address. Meet two contenders considered the real-life basis for the old woman who lived in a shoe:

• King George II’s wife, Caroline of Ansbach, the original octomom.

• 1660’s Bostonian Elizabeth Vergoose (purportedly you-know-who), a widow with 16 mouths to feed.

Some historians ponder the degree of influence Caroline wielded, re-lensing Parliament members as her children. Meanwhile, Lancastrians of the day held fast to the belief that the quickest shortcut to pregnancy was wearing a new mother’s shoes, which translates, perhaps, to why we lace anything from slippers to Sketchers to newlyweds’ trunks.

For anyone who’s ever said “If only there was a spaceship house nestled in the American south,” have we got a deal for you! Built by Curtis King in 1972, this UFO with a birdfeeder and Windex-able portholes retailed around $250,000 upon completion, though it had depreciated to $120,000 by the time it was auctioned off in 2008. A prime piece of rental property, this Signal Mountain, Tennessee, domicile is not to be confused with Los Angeles’ Chemosphere House, currently owned by German super-publisher Benedikt Taschen, the dwelling’s 20-foot concrete pedestal having withstood 50-plus years of earthquakes.

Topiary giving you guff? Keep its ego in check with a slideshow from the Lost Gardens of Heligan. These Cornwall botanicals have existed since the 16^th century, having seen many advances in plant hybridization well before their languishment after World War I, when more than half of its 22-gardener workforce perished. The good news: innovation is unstoppable, as the gardens were “rediscovered” in 1990, all stripes of curators having added their unique touch in the ensuing years to produce such behemo- er, floramoths as Giant’s Head and the Mud Maid.

This edition of Fairy-Tale Files is brought to you by poetry editor Jon Riccio.