I was still a young boy when my father told me this story. We were sitting with him in the kitchen, drinking coffee, and we were talking about mysticism.
It is worth noting that the Pope was a believer who recognized the presence of various transcendental forces, but at the same time was a logician with a practical mindset.
Well, closer to the topic, as they say. After drinking a little coffee and drinking it with honey, I asked my father a question that worries me: “Dad, nothing mystical has happened in your life?”. Dad wrinkled his forehead and thought for a while, going over in his memory cases that somehow fall under the category of mystical. Then he said, “Well, actually there was something. I was born in the most tragic period of our history - in August 1941. Ukraine is the second after Belarus to have undergone Nazi bombing. The city of Dnepropetrovsk in a matter of weeks turned into ruins. My mother showed real heroism in hiding and feeding me and my older sisters for shelter. Ten or twelve years later, the city was rebuilding at an extremely slow pace. I, like most children of the same age, grew up in the ashes of war. Life was hard. I had to work all day, helping my mother, forgetting about carefree childhood, adolescence and youth. The only entertainment that we had was raids on the rural melon, located outside the city. Watermelons and melons were our only children's delight, because even ordinary sugar was impossible to get.
And so, once, having agreed with friends about the next sortie to melon, I went to the village. I came there before the rest of the guys. Sitting on a bench near Uncle Vanya's hut, I began to examine the field where our youthful joy grew. Noticing the paths of movement and possible retreat in the event of the appearance of the guard, I looked at the road, expecting the appearance of accomplices. But I noticed on her only a lonely woman in a black dress, with a scarf on her head. I would not focus on the widow - there are perhaps few of them left after the war - but she suddenly made a strange maneuver, going into an impenetrable thicket of thorns. It was also strange that she walked through them, completely oblivious to the scratches, which of course should have appeared. At the same time, she walked with a confident gait and a rather brisk step. I jumped off the bench and sowed after a stranger. This behavior was extremely mysterious, and adolescent curiosity did not give rest. Running up to the beginning of the thicket, I saw her head in the distance. Gently pushing aside the thorny bushes, I followed her. The bush palpably scratched the legs, barely covered by the shorts, but I, stoically, continued to pursue the object. Looking ahead, I was surprised that the woman was not visible. "Maybe she felt bad in the sun and fell?" - I thought at that moment. Already rather quickly jumping through the thorny bushes, I moved in the direction in which I last saw the silhouette of a woman. And so, pushing the tall bushes, and looking at the ground, I stopped, paralyzed by fear. A head was sticking out of the ground. A huge head, larger than a human, with unnaturally bulging eyes, as in Graves' disease. I couldn't see the nose at all. I can only say that this head was not human at all. Near her lay the same black kerchief in which the woman walked when she entered these thickets. Not remembering myself from the horror that first fettered me, I rushed away from there. Not noticing no thorny bushes, no heat, no fatigue, I jumped out onto the road like a saiga antelope. Fortunately for me, my friends were waiting for me near the bench. I did not begin to tell them about what happened, because who knows what it was, and what a meeting with it promises. "
In conclusion, I will note that my father was not a dreamer and a supporter of practical jokes, and therefore, I willingly believe him.
The Japanese can trace the history of their culture from antiquity, they trace their genealogies for centuries, and they have preserved very old urban tales. Japanese urban legends (都市 伝 説 toshi densetsu) are a layer of urban legends based on Japanese mythology and culture. Often they are terribly scary, perhaps it is precisely in their hoary antiquity. Children's school horror stories and quite adult stories - we will retell some of them.
15. The tale of the red room
For a start - a fresh horror story of the XXI century. It's about a pop-up window that pops up when you surf the Internet for too long. Those who close this window soon die.
One ordinary guy who spent a lot of time on the Internet once heard the legend about the Red Room from a classmate. When the boy came home from school, the first thing he did was sat down at the computer and started looking for information about this story. Suddenly, a window appeared in the browser, where on a red background was the phrase: "Do you want?" He immediately closed the window. However, it immediately reappeared. He closed it over and over, but it kept reappearing. At some point, the question changed, the inscription read: "Do you want to get to the Red Room?", And a child's voice repeated the same question from the columns. After that, the screen darkened, and a list of names appeared on it, written in red. At the very bottom of this list, the guy noticed his name. He never appeared at school, and no one ever saw him alive - the boy painted his room red with his own blood and committed suicide.
14. Hitobashira - people-pillars
Stories about people-pillars (人 柱, hitobashira), more precisely, about people buried alive in columns or pillars during the construction of houses, castles and bridges, have been circulating in Japan since ancient times. These myths are based on the belief that the soul of a person, walled up in the walls or foundations of a building, makes the building unshakable and strengthens it. The worst thing, it seems, is not just stories - human skeletons are often found on the site of destroyed ancient buildings. During the liquidation of the consequences of the earthquake in Japan in 1968, dozens of skeletons were found walled up inside the walls - and in a standing position.
One of the most famous traditions of human sacrifice is associated with Matsue Castle (松江 市, Matsue-shi), which dates back to the 17th century. The walls of the castle collapsed several times during construction, and the architect was confident that the man-pillar would help rectify the situation. He ordered an ancient ritual to be performed. The young girl was kidnapped and after the proper ceremonies, walled up in the wall: the construction was completed successfully, the castle is still standing!
13. Onry - vengeful spirit
Traditionally, Japanese urban legends are dedicated to terrible otherworldly creatures who, out of revenge or simply from harm, harm living people. The authors of the Japanese "Encyclopedia of Monsters", having conducted a survey among the Japanese, were able to count more than a hundred stories about various monsters and ghosts, which are believed in Japan.
Usually the main characters are the spirits of onryo, which have become widely known in the West thanks to the popularization of Japanese horror films.
Onry (霊, resentful, vengeful spirit) is a ghost, the spirit of a deceased person who has returned to the living world to take revenge. A typical onryo is a woman who died through the fault of a villainous husband. But the wrath of the ghost is not always directed against the offender; sometimes innocent people can also be his victims. Onryo looks like this: white shroud, long black flowing hair, blue and white aiguma makeup (藍 隈), imitating deathly pallor. This image is often played out in popular culture both in Japan (in the horror films "The Ring", "The Curse") and abroad. It is believed that the Scorpion from Mortal Kombat is also from onryo.
The legend of the onry dates back to the end of the 8th century in Japanese mythology. It is believed that many famous Japanese historical figures who actually existed became onryo after death (politician Sugawara no Michizane (845-903), Emperor Sutoku (1119-1164) and many others). The Japanese government fought them as best they could, for example, built beautiful temples on their graves. It is said that many well-known Shinto shrines are actually built to "lock up" the onry to keep them from escaping.
12. Okiku doll
In Japan, this doll is known to everyone, her name is Okiku. According to an old legend, the toy contains the soul of a little dead girl who owned the doll.
In 1918, a seventeen-year-old boyfriend, Eikichi, bought a doll as a present for his two-year-old sister. The girl really liked the doll, Okiku did not part with her favorite toy for almost a minute, she played with it every day. But soon the girl died of a cold, and her parents put her doll on their home altar in memory of her (in the houses of Buddhists in Japan there is always a small altar and a Buddha figurine). After a while, they noticed that the doll's hair was starting to grow! This sign was regarded as a sign that the girl's soul had moved into a doll.
Later, in the late 1930s, the family moved, and the doll was left in the local monastery in the city of Iwamizama. The Okiku doll lives there today. They say that her hair is periodically cut, but they still continue to grow. And, of course, in Japan everyone knows for sure that the cut hair was analyzed, and it turned out that it belongs to a real child.
Believe it or not - everyone's business, but we would not keep such a doll in the house.
11. Ibiza - little sister
This legend takes stories of annoying little sisters to a whole new level. There is a certain ghost that you may encounter while walking alone at night (to be honest, many of these urban legends can happen to those who wander the city alone at night.)
A young girl appears and asks if you have a sister and it doesn't matter if you answer yes or no. She will say: "I want to be your sister!" and after that it will appear to you every night. Legend has it that if you somehow disappoint Ibiza as a new older brother or sister, she will get very angry and start killing you on the sly. More precisely, it will bring "twisted death".
Actually, Ibitsu is a famous manga by artist Haruto Ryo, published from 2009 to 2010. And it described a wise way to avoid problems with this obsessive person. The heroine of the manga sits in a pile of garbage and asks the guys passing by if they want a little sister. Those who answered “no”, she immediately kills, and those who answered “yes” - declares her brother and begins to persecute. Thus, in order to avoid trouble, it is best not to answer anything. Now you know what to do!
10. Horror story about a ghost passenger who never pays
This is a narrowly professional horror story for taxi drivers.
At night, a man in black suddenly appears on the road, as if from nowhere (if someone appears, as if from nowhere - he is almost always a ghost, did you not know?), Stops a taxi, sits in the back seat. The man asks to take him to a place that the driver has never heard of ("Can you show me the way?"), And the mysterious passenger himself gives instructions, showing the way exclusively through the darkest and most terrible streets.
After a long drive, not seeing the end of this journey, the driver turns around - but there is no one there. Horror. But this is not the end of the story. The taxi driver turns back, takes the wheel - but cannot go anywhere, because he is already deader than dead.
It seems that this is not a very ancient legend, is it?
9. Hanako-san, toilet ghost
A separate group of urban legends - legends about ghosts-inhabitants of schools, or rather, school toilets. Perhaps this is somehow connected with the fact that the Japanese element of water is a symbol of the world of the dead.
There are a great many legends about school toilets, the most common of which is about Hanako, a toilet ghost. Approximately 20 years ago, it was the most popular horror story of elementary school students in Japan, but even now it has not been forgotten. Every Japanese child knows the story of Hanko-san and every schoolboy in Japan, at one time or another, stood in fear and did not dare to enter the toilet alone.
According to legend, Hanako was killed in the third stall of the school toilet, on the third floor. There she lives - in the third booth of all school toilets. The rules of conduct are simple: you need to knock on the door of the booth three times, and say her name. If everything is done politely, then no one will get hurt. She seems to be completely harmless if not disturbed, and meeting with her can be avoided by staying away from her booth.
There seems to be a character in Harry Potter very similar to Hanako. Remember Crybaby Myrtle? She is the ghost of the girl who was killed by the gaze of the Basilisk, and this ghost lives in the toilet room, however, on the second floor of Hogwarts.
8. Tomino's Hell
Tomino's Hell, a cursed poem, appears in Yomota Inuhiko's book Heart Like a Rolling Stone and is included in the twenty-seventh collection of poems by Saizo Yaso, published in 1919.
There are words in this world that should never be spoken out loud, and the Japanese poem “Tomino's Inferno” is one of them. According to legend, if you read this poem aloud, disaster will happen. In the best case, you will get sick or injured in some way, and in the worst case, you will die.
Here is one Japanese testimony: “I once read Tomino's Hell on the Urban Legends radio show and sneered at the ignorance of superstition. At first everything was fine, but then something began to happen to my body, and it became difficult for me to speak, it was like suffocation. I read half of the poem, but then I broke down and threw the pages aside. On the same day I had an accident, seven stitches were put in the hospital. I don’t want to think that it happened because of the poem, but on the other hand, I’m scared to imagine what could have happened if then I read it to the end ”.
7. The cow's head is a horror story that cannot be written down
This short legend is so terrible that almost nothing is known about it. They say this story kills everyone who reads or retells it. Let's check it out now.
This story has been known since the Edo period. During the Kan-ei period (1624-1643), its name was already found in the diaries of various people. Moreover, it is only the name, not the plot of the story. They wrote about her like this: "Today they told me a horror story about a cow's head, but I cannot write it down here, because it is too terrible."
So this story is not in writing. However, it was passed from mouth to mouth and has survived to this day. This is what happened recently to one of the few people who know the Cow's Head. Further, we quote a Japanese source:
“This man is an elementary school teacher. During his school trip, he told scary stories on the bus. The children, who used to make noise, listened to him very attentively. They were really afraid. It was pleasant to him, and he decided at the very end to tell his best horror story - "Cow's head".
He lowered his voice and said, “Now I’ll tell you a story about a cow's head. A cow's head is ... ”But as soon as he began to talk, there was a disaster on the bus. The children were horrified by the transcendental creepiness of the story. They shouted in one voice: "Sensei, stop!" One child turned pale and covered his ears. Another roared. Even then, the teacher did not stop talking. His eyes were blank, as if he was possessed by something ... Soon the bus stopped abruptly. Feeling that trouble had happened, the teacher came to his senses and looked at the driver. He was covered in cold sweat and trembled like an aspen leaf. He must have pulled up because he could no longer drive the bus.
The teacher looked around. All the students were unconscious and frothing from their mouths. Since then, he has never talked about "Cow's Head".
This "very scary non-existent story" is described in Komatsu Sakyo's story "The Cow's Head". Its plot is almost the same - about the scary story "Cow's Head", which no one tells.
6. Fire in a department store
This story is not from the category of horror stories, rather, it is a tragedy, which is overgrown with gossip, which is now difficult to separate from the truth.
In December 1932, a fire broke out at a Shirokiya store in Japan. The staff were able to get to the roof of the building so that firefighters could rescue them with ropes. When the women, descending the ropes, were somewhere in the middle, strong gusts of wind began, which began to open their kimonos, under which they traditionally did not wear underwear. To prevent this dishonor, the women let go of the ropes, fell and shattered. This story allegedly brought about a major change in traditional fashion, as Japanese women began to wear underwear under their kimonos.
Despite the fact that this is a popular story, there are many questionable points. For starters, the kimonos are draped so heavily that they won't be exposed to the wind. In addition, at that time, Japanese men and women were calm about nudity, washing in joint baths, and the willingness to die, just not to be naked, inspires serious doubts.
In any case, this story is actually in Japanese textbooks on firefighting, and the vast majority of Japanese believe in it.
5. Aka Manto
Aka Manto or Red Cloak (赤 い マ ン ト) is another "toilet ghost", but unlike Hanako, Aka Manto is an evil and dangerous spirit. He looks like a fabulously handsome young man in a red cloak. According to legend, Aka Manto can walk into the school women's toilet at any time and ask: "What kind of cloak do you prefer, red or blue?" If the girl answers "red", then he will cut off her head and the blood flowing from the wound will create the appearance of a red cloak on her body. If she answers blue, Aka Manto will strangle her and the corpse will have a blue face. If the victim chooses a third color or says that both colors are not pleasant, then the floor will open under her and deathly pale hands will carry her to hell.
In Japan, this ghost - the killer is known under various names "Aka Manto" or "Ao Manto", or "Aka Hanten, Ao Hanten". Some people say that at one time, Red Cloak was a young man who was so handsome that all the girls immediately fell in love with him. He was so frighteningly handsome that the girls fainted when he looked at them. His beauty was so overwhelming that he was forced to hide his face under a white mask. One day, he kidnapped a beautiful girl and was never seen again.
This is similar to the legend of Kashima Reiko, a female ghost without legs who also lives in school toilets. She exclaims, “Where are my feet?” When someone walks into the toilet. There are several options for correct answers.
4. Kutisake-onna or a woman with a torn mouth
Kutisake-onna (Kushisake Ona) or Woman with a Torn Mouth (口 裂 け 女) is a popular children's horror story, especially famous due to the fact that the police found many similar reports in the media and their archives.
According to legend, an unusually beautiful woman in a gauze band walks the streets of Japan. If a child walks down the street alone, then she can approach him and ask: “Am I beautiful ?!”. If he hesitates, as usually happens, then Kutisake-onna rips off the bandage from his face and shows a huge scar that crosses his face from ear to ear, a giant mouth with sharp teeth in it and a tongue like a snake. Then the question follows: "Am I beautiful now?" If the child answers "no", then she will cut off his head, and if "yes", then she will make him the same scar (she has scissors with her).
The only way to elude Kushisake Onna is to give an unexpected answer. “If you say,“ You look average, ”or“ You look normal, ”she will be confused and have plenty of time to run away.
In Japan, it is not uncommon to wear medical masks, they are worn by a huge number of people, and poor children seem to be afraid of literally everyone they meet.
There are many ways to explain how Kushisake Onna got her terrible shapeless mouth. The most popular version is the escaped madwoman who is so insane that she cut her own mouth open.
According to the ancient version of this legend, a very beautiful woman lived in Japan many years ago. Her husband was a jealous and cruel man, and he began to suspect that she was cheating on him. In a fit of rage, he grabbed his sword and slit her mouth, shouting "Who will consider you beautiful now?" She has become a vengeful ghost that roams the streets of Japan and wears a headscarf to hide her terrible scar.
The US has its own version of Kushisake Onna. There were rumors of a clown who would show up in public restrooms, walk up to the children and ask, “Do you want to have a smile, a happy smile?” And if the child agreed, he would take out a knife and slit their mouths from ear to ear. It seems that this clown smile was appropriated by Tim Burton to his Joker in the 1989 Oscar-winning Batman. It was the satanic smile of the Joker in the brilliant performance of Jack Nicholson that became the trademark of this beautiful film.
3. Hon Onna - slayer of sexually anxious men
Hon-onna is the Japanese version of the sea siren or succubus, so it only poses a danger to sexually anxious men, but it is scary creepy nonetheless.
According to this legend, the gorgeous woman wears a luxurious kimono that hides everything except her wrists and her pretty face. She flirts with a dude charmed by her, and lures him to a secluded place, usually in a dark alley. Unfortunately for the guy, this will not lead him to a happy ending. Hon-onna takes off her kimono, revealing a creepy, naked skeleton without skin and muscles - a pure zombie. She then embraces the hero-lover and sucks his life and soul.
So Hon-onna hunts exclusively for promiscuous males, and for other people she is not dangerous - a kind of forest orderly, probably invented by Japanese wives. But, you see, the image is vivid.
2. Hitori kakurenbo or playing hide and seek with yourself
"Hitori kakurenbo" in translation from Japanese means "a game of hide and seek with oneself." Anyone with a doll, rice, needle, red thread, knife, nail clippers and a cup of salt water can play.
First, cut the doll's body with a knife, put some rice and part of your nail inside it. Then sew it with red thread. At three o'clock in the morning you need to go to the bathroom, fill the sink with water, put the doll there and say three times: "He drives first (and tell me your name)." Turn off all the lights in the house and head to your room. Close your eyes here and count to ten. Return to the bathroom and stab the doll with a knife, while saying: "Fired, knocked, now it's your turn to look." Well, the doll will find you wherever you hide! To get rid of the curse, you need to sprinkle the doll with salt water and say three times: "I won"!
1. Tek-Tek or Kashima Reiko
Another modern urban legend: Tek-Tek or Kashima Reiko (鹿島 玲子) is the ghost of a woman named Kashima Reiko who was run over by a train and cut her in half. Since then, she wanders at night, moving on her elbows, making the sound "teke-teke-teke" (or tek-tek).
Tek-tek was once a lovely girl who accidentally fell (or intentionally jumped) from a subway platform onto the tracks. The train cut her in half. And now the upper body of Teke-teke wanders the city streets in search of revenge. Despite the lack of legs, it moves very quickly on the ground. If Teke-teke catches you, she will cut your body in half with a sharp oblique.
According to legend, Tek-Tek hunts children who play at dusk. Tack-Tack is very similar to the American children's horror story about Klack-Klak, with which parents frightened children walking until late.
Touching in their childish superstitious naivety, the Japanese carefully preserve their urban legends - both children's funny horror stories and quite an adult horror. Acquiring a modern flair, these myths retain an ancient flavor and a quite tangible animal fear of otherworldly forces.
Japan is a mysterious and very popular country now. I think everyone will agree that, from the point of view of a modern European person, the Japanese are still freaks. Long isolation, of course, left its mark on their culture, and as a result we have the joy of enjoying what seems absolutely natural and understandable to a Japanese, and an incredible twist of the brain to a European. I have already touched on the topic of Japanese evil spirits in one of the previous posts dedicated to all sorts of exotic evil spirits. But, in order not to overload it, we had to ignore such a layer of Japanese folklore as urban legends. I am correcting this annoying oversight by bringing to your attention a dozen of the most interesting Japanese urban legends that can scare not only children, but also adults. Dead girls with long black hair, water and darkness are the basis of any Japanese horror, and believe me, there will be no shortage of them in this collection.
A terrible story that, in different variations, is found in almost all countries. The plot is not unique, and is found everywhere, especially since television has had a hand in popularizing such stories. Like any other scary story, it also carries a certain amount of an educational moment - retribution for deeds can overtake anywhere and anytime, hiding in the most harmless, at first glance, things. And it is not always so unambiguous whether you are a hunter or a victim.
A four-man gang was operating in the Shibuya area of Tokyo. One of them, a handsome guy, flirted with the girls and took them to the hotel. The rest sat in ambush in the room and attacked the girls. On that day, as usual, the handsome man met a girl. His comrades set up an ambush ...
A long time passed, and the guests did not leave the room. The employees of the hotel ran out of patience, and they went there. There were four corpses, torn to pieces.
2. Satoru-kun
A modern urban legend associated with the proliferation of mobile phones. On the basis of her and others like her, many films have been shot, warning against jokes with phones. It turns out that if there is a terrible maniac on the other end of the line, this is not the worst thing that can happen to a telephone bully or just an amateur to tickle your nerves.
Do you know Satoru who can answer any question?
To call it, you need a cell phone, a pay phone and a 10 yen coin. First you need to put a coin into the machine and call your mobile phone. When they get in touch, you should say into the payphone: "Satoru-kun, Satoru-kun, if you are here, please come to me (answer please)."
For 24 hours after that, Satoru-kun will call your cell phone. Each time he will say where he is. This place will be closer and closer to you.
The last time he will say: "I am behind you ..." Then you can ask any question, and he will answer. But be careful. If you look back or can't think of a question, Satoru-kun will take you with him to the spirit world.
Another variation on the theme of phone calls is Mysterious Anser. These stories are almost the same, the only difference is in what such pranks threaten with the spirit world.
Prepare 10 mobile phones. Call from first to second ... and so on, and from 10th to 1st. Then 10 telephones form a ring. You need to call at the same time. When all the phones connect to each other, you will contact a person named Anser. Anser will answer 9 people to their questions, and he will ask the 10th one himself. If he doesn't answer, a hand will come out of the screen of the mobile phone and take away some part of his body. Anser is a freak child who consisted of one head. To become a full-fledged person, he steals body parts.
3. Do you need legs?
At first glance, this story is rather comical, but you cannot call it kind and harmless. In any case, if you are suddenly asked an unexpected question, think carefully before answering it. Who knows, maybe your words will be taken literally.
The ghost described in the legend is terrible and the fact that it is impossible to immediately come up with the correct answer to his question. If you say no, you will lose your legs, if you say yes, you will get a third. Rumor has it that you can cheat and answer the question with the words "I don't need it, but you can ask such and such." Allegedly, the ghost will switch its attention to him, and you will remain intact.
One day a boy was walking home from school. A strange old woman spoke to him.
He paid no attention to her and wanted to pass by, but the old woman did not lag behind. She kept repeating:
- You don't need legs? Don't you need legs?
He got tired of it, and he answered in a loud voice:
- I don’t need legs! .. Ah-ah!
The people who ran to scream caught their breath.
The boy was sitting on the pavement. His legs were torn off.
4. Okiku doll
One of the biggest mysteries in Japanese urban legends is the mysterious Okiku doll, whose hair suddenly began to grow after the death of its owner. Allegedly, her hair is similar to the hair of a small child and they grow back so quickly that they have to be cut periodically.
It is said that the doll was originally purchased in 1918 by a 17-year-old boy named Eikichi Suzuki while attending a marine exhibition in Sapporo. He bought the doll in Tanuki-koji - Sapporo's famous shopping street - as a souvenir for his 2-year-old sister Okiku. The girl loved the doll and played with it every day, but the next year she unexpectedly died of a cold. The family placed the kitchen on the home altar and prayed to it every day in memory of Okiku.
After a while, they noticed that the doll's hair began to grow. This was considered a sign that the girl's restless spirit had taken refuge in the doll.
5. Kaori-san
This legend consists of two parts - an eerie background and a completely chilling continuation. The funny thing is that, if only gullible kids believe in the second part of the horror story, the first has become a very popular myth, which many Japanese teenage girls piously trust.
One girl decided to celebrate her high school entrance by piercing her ears. In order not to waste money, she did not go to the hospital, but pierced them herself at home, and immediately put in earrings.
A few days later, her ear itched. She looked in the mirror and saw that a white thread was sticking out of the hole in her ear. She thought it was because of the thread that the ear was itching, and pulled at it.
What is it? They turned off electricity?
The girl's eyes suddenly darkened. It turned out that this white thread is the optic nerve. She tore it open and went blind.
The story of the blind Kaori-san does not end there - she went mad and began to bite off the ears of her more successful companions.
High school student A-san went for a walk in Shibuya. She went down the hill, turned a corner where there were few people, and suddenly heard a voice behind her:
“Are your ears pierced?”
She turned around and saw a girl about her own age.
“Are your ears pierced?”
The girl's head was lowered, her face was almost invisible. She said it over and over. She was kind of gloomy, there was something oppressive in the tone of her voice. A-san's ears were pierced, she would have seen if she looked at them. She continued to follow A-san's heels. She quickly replied: "Yes, pierced," and was about to leave.
But the next second, the girl pounced on her and bit off her earlobes along with the earrings. A-san screamed. The girl looked down on her and ran away.
6. Sennichimae
Sennichimae is an area in Osaka where a fire broke out in 1972 that killed 117 people. To this day, there are legends about this terrible place, telling about the spirits of the dead. In principle, legends about the spirits of the dead, which to this day walk the earth, are not uncommon, but it is something new for ghosts to simply walk in crowds around the city in broad daylight.
One company employee got off the subway in Sennichimae. It was raining. He opened his umbrella and walked, dodging the people scurrying to and fro. For some reason, this street was very unpleasant. And the passers-by were somehow strange. Although it was raining, no one had an umbrella. Everyone was silent, their faces were gloomy, they looked at one point.
Suddenly a taxi stopped not far from him. The driver waved his hand at him and shouted:
- Go here!
“But I don’t need a taxi.
- It doesn't matter, sit down!
The persistence of the driver and the unpleasant atmosphere of the street forced the employee to get into the car - just to get out of this place.
They went. The taxi driver was pale as a sheet. Soon he said:
- Well, I saw you walking down an empty street and dodging someone, so I decided that I needed to save you ...
7. Mr. Shadow and Hanako-san
A separate group of urban legends - legends about ghosts-inhabitants of schools, or rather, school toilets. I don't know why exactly toilets, I suspect that this is due to the element of water, which the Japanese have a symbol of the world of the dead. There are a great many legends about those who are waiting for schoolchildren in the toilet, below are the most common of them.
At 2 am, come to the northern building of the school, on the stairs between the 3rd and 4th floors. Take a candle and some sweets with you. You must put them behind you and sing, addressing your shadow from the candle: "Mr. Shadow, Mr. Shadow, please listen to my request." And then say your wish.
Then "Mr. Shadow" will come out of your shadow. If nothing happens at this time, you will remain intact, and your desire will be fulfilled. But there is one thing that should never be done. You cannot extinguish the candle. If the candle goes out, Mister Shadow will get angry and take some part of your body.
Another one:
But there is a way to stay alive - to say "yellow paper". Then the toilet stall will be filled with feces, but you will not die ...
And another one:
In one school there was a rumor about a red cloak and a blue cloak. If you go into the fourth stall of the men's room on the fourth floor at night, you will hear a voice: "Do you want a red cloak or a blue cloak?" If you say "red cloak", a knife will come down from above and stick in your back. Saying "blue cloak" will suck out all your blood.
Of course, there were those who wanted to check whether this was true. One student went to check ... That night he did not return home. The next day, his bloody body was found in the toilet on the fourth floor. His back was covered with a red cloak.
And further. Hit about Hanako-san:
1. If you knock three times on the door of the third stall of the ladies' room and say: "Hanako-san, let's play!", You will hear: "Yeah ...", and the girl's ghost will appear. She has a red skirt and a bob hairstyle.
2. One person enters the second toilet stall from the entrance, the other stands outside. The one who is outside knocks 4 times, the one who is inside 2 times. Then it is necessary that more than two people say in chorus:
- Hanako-san, let's play! Do you want a rubber band or a tag?
A voice will be heard:
- Good. Let's go tagging.
And then the one who is inside will be touched on the shoulder by a girl in a white blouse ...
8. Cow head
Just an enchanting example of how literary fiction becomes a full-fledged urban legend. The "duck" launched by Komatsu Sakyo in the novel "Cow's Head" took on a life of its own and became an element of urban folklore. In fact, this horror story itself does not exist, but the knowledge about it lives on.
This story has been known since the Edo period. During the Kan-ei period (1624-1643), its name was already found in the diaries of various people. But only the title, not the plot. They wrote about her like this: "Today they told me a horror story about a cow's head, but I cannot write it down here, because it is too terrible."
Thus, it is not in the books. However, it was passed from mouth to mouth and has survived to this day. But I will not post it here. She's too creepy, I don't even want to remember. Instead, I'll tell you what happened to one of the few people who know Cow's Head.
This person is an elementary school teacher. On a school trip, he. The children, who used to make noise, listened to him very attentively today. They were really afraid. It was pleasant to him, and he decided at the very end to tell the best horror story - "Cow's head".
He lowered his voice and said: "Now I will tell you a story about a cow's head. A cow's head is ..." But as soon as he started talking, there was a disaster on the bus. The children were horrified by the transcendental creepiness of the story. They shouted in one voice: "Sensei, stop!" One child turned pale and covered his ears. Another roared. Even then, the teacher did not stop talking. His eyes were blank, as if he was possessed by something ...
Soon the bus stopped abruptly. Feeling that trouble had happened, the teacher came to his senses and looked at the driver. He was covered in cold sweat and trembled like an aspen leaf. He must have pulled up because he could no longer drive the bus. The teacher looked around. All the students were unconscious and frothing from their mouths. Since then, he has never talked about "Cow's Head".
9. Woman with a Slit Mouth or (Kushesake Onna)
Based on this urban legend, a fairly solid horror film was shot. In principle, in the story itself, almost everything is clear, it is not clear only, whose sick fantasy was able to create the image of a woman, with a torn mouth, crippling children?
There is also a variation of the Mouth Slit - Atomic Girl, disfigured by an explosion and asking children the same question.
Kutisake Onna or Woman's Mouth-Split is a popular children's horror story, especially famous due to the fact that the police found many similar reports in the media and their archives. According to legend, an unusually beautiful woman in a gauze band walks the streets of Japan. If a child walks down the street alone in an unfamiliar place, then she can approach him and ask “Am I beautiful ?!”. If he hesitates, as in most cases, then Kutisake rips off the bandage from his face and reveals a huge scar that crosses his face from ear to ear, a giant mouth with sharp teeth in it and a tongue like a snake. This is followed by the question "Am I beautiful NOW?" If the child answers no, then she will cut off his head with scissors, and if so, she will make him the same scar. It is generally believed that the only way to be saved in this case is to give an evasive answer like "You look average" or ask a question before her.
Variation on a theme:
From my great-great-grandfather's notebook:
“I went to Osaka. There I heard a story about an atomic girl. She comes at night when you go to bed. She is covered with scars from an atomic bomb explosion. If you heard this story, she will come to you in three days.
Three days later I was already in my city. The girl came to me.
- I am beautifull?
- In my opinion, you are rather pretty.
- ...... Where did I come from?
- Probably from Kashima or Ise *.
- Yes. Thank you, uncle.
I was very scared, because if I had not answered correctly, she would have taken me to the next world.
... August 1953 ".
The story, which has an American counterpart Clack Clack, tells of the revenge of a woman who died under the wheels of a train to the whole world. Tek-Tek often scares children playing at dusk. There are a lot of variations in the story of a severed woman walking on her elbows in Japanese folklore. Here I will give a classic example of Kashima Reiko and one quite interesting variation on the theme.
Tek-Tek or Kashima Reiko is the ghost of a woman named Kashima Reiko who was run over by a train and cut her in half.
Since then, she wanders at night, moving on her elbows, making a tek-tek sound. If she sees someone, then Tek-Tek will pursue him until he catches and kills. The method of killing is that Reiko will cut him in half with a scythe and turn him into a monster like her. According to legend, Tek-Tek hunts children who play at dusk. Tek-Tek has analogies with the American children's horror story called Clack Clack, with which parents frightened children walking until late.
It also happens:
One person went skiing. It was a weekday, there were almost no people around. He rode with pleasure, and suddenly he heard a voice from the forest next to the ski track.
What is this, he thought. When he got closer, he heard clearly: "Help!" There was a woman in the forest, she fell waist-deep in snow and begged for help. She probably fell into the hole and couldn't get out.
- Now I will help!
He took her hands and pulled her out of the snow.
- What?
He hadn't expected her to be so light — he was able to lift her almost effortlessly. The woman did not have the lower half of the body. There was no hole under it - only a ring of piled snow.
And then he chuckled ...
Who knows the Japanese horror story "Cow's Head"? and got the best answer
Answer from HEROR VIP [guru]
They wrote about her like this: "Today they told me a horror story about a cow's head, but I cannot write it down here, because it is too terrible."
Thus, it is not in the books. However, it was passed from mouth to mouth and has survived to this day. But I will not post it here. She's too creepy, I don't even want to remember. Instead, I'll tell you what happened to one of the few people who know Cow's Head.
This person is an elementary school teacher. During his school trip, he told scary stories on the bus. Children, who used to make noise, listened to him very attentively today. They were really afraid. It was pleasant to him, and he decided at the very end to tell the best horror story - "Cow's head".
He lowered his voice and said: "Now I will tell you a story about a cow's head. A cow's head is ..." But as soon as he started talking, there was a disaster on the bus. The children were horrified by the transcendental creepiness of the story. They shouted in one voice: “Sensei, stop it!” One child turned pale and covered his ears. Another roared. Even then, the teacher did not stop talking. His eyes were blank, as if he was possessed by something ....
Soon the bus stopped abruptly. Feeling that trouble had happened, the teacher came to his senses and looked at the driver. He was covered in cold sweat and trembled like an aspen leaf. He must have pulled up because he could no longer drive the bus.
The teacher looked around. All the students were unconscious and frothing from their mouths. Since then, he has never talked about "Cow's Head".
HEROR VIP
(3622)
the bottom line is that there is no story about the "cow's head" itself, there is only this reference to it
Answer from Porcelain akira[guru]
her, I only heard about Kuchisake-onna, I will probably subscribe
look in the comment link
Answer from Tomisaburo wakayama[guru]
The real text of the story does not exist, just according to the legend that whoever hears it will die.
The references date back to the 17th century (Edo period).
Answer from Nadezhda Kainova[guru]
"In fact, there is no horror story about a cow's head. What is this story? How terrible is it? This interest is spreading it."
- Listen, do you know the scary story about the cow's head?
- What's the story? Tell!
- I can't, she scared me too much.
- What are you doing? Okay, I'll ask someone else on the Internet.
- Listen, a friend told me about the story about the cow's head. Don't you know her?
So "a very terrible non-existent story" quickly gained wide popularity.
The source of this urban legend is Komatsu Sakyo's short story "The Cow's Head". Its plot is almost the same - about the scary story "Cow's Head", which no one tells. But Komatsu-sensei himself said: "Tsutsui Yasutaka was the first to spread the rumor among the publishers of science fiction about the story of the cow's head." So, it is known for sure that this legend was born in the publishing business. "- another version.
Answer from _ _
[guru]
It doesn't exist: 0
Answer from ????? MI? U Hats? Ne?[newbie]
This is just a Japanese legend, it tells how a school teacher told the scary, terrifying story "Cow's Head".
I searched for her on the Internet, I did not find anything so terrifying there.
Most likely a horror story called "Cow's Head" is either very old that you can't find it anywhere, or it doesn't exist at all and it's a simple legend.)
Here is a link to one story also titled "Cow's Head" link.
Well, of course, this is not the original, it most likely does not exist at all.
Answer from Daria Bachinina[newbie]
I don't know for sure, but there were apparently tortures in this story, about a cow or a person who was tortured with a cow's head, or the cow was tortured and the head was cut off, and everything is foaming from my mouth!
Lonely clatter of heels on a deserted night street. A piercing wind ruffles your hair and crawls into your bosom. I turn my collar up and close the hem of my coat tighter. It seems that someone is looking at me. Looking around, I notice a dark figure walking slowly along the road. White dress, long dark hair, no face visible. It seems that this is just a traveler going about his business, but I know for sure that she is following me. I quicken my step. Here is my entrance, the required floor, the door of the apartment. With shaking hands I try to insert the key into the keyhole - nothing happens. And then I hear footsteps behind my back ...
Urban legends of Japan. Part II
- Yes, I've heard a lot of scary stories,
I read a lot of scary stories ...
Sake Komatsu "Cow's head"
Urban legends are a very popular topic both in Japan and around the world. People love to be afraid, which is why Europe loves Asian horrors so much. After all, who, if not they, can scare us to trembling knees and stuttering. The Slit-Mouth Woman, Tek-Tek, Tomiko and other characters are now widely known abroad. Residents of the Land of the Rising Sun shared their horror stories with us.
The previous article looked at some of the urban legends about revenge, cursed places, deformities, ghostly school dwellers, stories of technological innovation, and dolls. Now we will tell about other scary stories that came to us from Japan.
Messages from the other world
One very popular story tells of an old house where a married couple is moving.
The area was beautiful - quiet, calm, close to a school and a supermarket. And the house was sold for a cheap price. Ideal for a young family. Friends came to help with the move, and at the same time they celebrated the housewarming. As it was already late, friends stayed overnight. But at twelve o'clock everyone was awakened by the sound - "top-top-top". As if someone was running through the corridors with bare feet.
The next night, when the couple went to bed, they were awakened again. This time they heard a child's voice. The child was saying something, but it was impossible to make out the words.
The couple decided that someone was joking at us, frightening and imitating a ghost. Having decided that there was someone in the house, the couple began to examine the dwelling. The search yielded nothing. Home is like home. Nobody here.
Going down from the attic, where the newlyweds were looking for a joker, they saw a blue pencil. Of course, it did not belong to the spouses. At that moment, when they went upstairs, nothing was lying on the floor. And they had no colored pencils at all.
Later, the couple noticed something odd about the layout of the house. If we look at the building from the street, then next to the bedroom, in which the new residents are located, there was another window. Consequently, there was another room nearby. But in the corridor there was no door at this point, only a flat wall. Having peeled off the wallpaper, the couple still found another room.
The newlyweds cautiously opened the door. There was nothing in the room, just bare walls. At first it seemed that the wallpaper was dirty, but after looking closely, the couple saw that all the walls were covered with blue pencil. Two phrases went from top to bottom, streaking the entire space of the nursery:
"Dad mom I'm sorry, leave here please
get out of here get out of here get out of here get out of here
get out of here get out of here ... "
Stories like this are often played with various insignificant variations. Either they come to the house on vacation, or a film is being filmed there. In the manga and anime "Triplexaholic", Yuko arrives at a lonely cottage with all the honest company. Wanting to prank Watanuki, she persuades the others, and they stage a scary story. At the end, even the ghost himself appeared, making the inscriptions. But Kimihiro Watanuki revealed the plan, although he was quite frightened at the same time. Friends, having rested, leave the house that has sheltered them. They are escorted by a lonely ghost, who really lives in a walled up room and writes messages in ink on the walls.
This story has been known since the Edo period. But only its name is mentioned, but not the plot. They wrote and said about her like this: "Today I was told a terrible story about a cow's head, but I cannot write it down here, because it is too terrible."
The story was passed from mouth to mouth and has survived to this day. But we will not retell it in this article. She's too creepy. Even remembering her is scary. We'd better tell what happened to the elementary school teacher who knew this story.
During a typical school trip, the teacher decided to entertain his students and began to tell scary stories. Children loved horror stories, so they listened carefully. The teacher, seeing that the students calmed down and stopped making noise, decided to tell the very terrible story that he knew - "Cow's head".
As soon as the teacher began to talk, the children were horrified. They shouted in one voice: "Sensei, stop!" Someone turned pale, someone covered their ears, someone cried. Even then, the teacher did not stop talking. He spoke and spoke. His voice sounded regular and monotonous, and his eyes looked into the void with an unseeing gaze. It was as if someone else was uttering the words of history. As if the teacher was obsessed with something ...
The bus braked sharply, pulling over to the side of the road. The teacher came to his senses and looked around. The driver was covered in cold sweat and trembled like an aspen leaf, and the students were unconscious. Since then, the teacher never even mentioned the story of the cow's head.
The author of the novel Komatsu admitted: "The first one who spread the rumor among the publishers of science fiction about the story about the cow's head was Tsutsui Yasutaka." Here it turns out who is the culprit for the birth of another horror story.
These are the urban legends, artificially created, but revived.
Water element
Here is one of them. Once a group of friends went to the sea, deciding to take a break from the stuffy city. They checked into an inexpensive hotel and immediately went to the beach. The hotel employees secretly said that one of the guests, an elderly woman, had drowned yesterday. Her body has not yet been found. The guys felt creepy, but this did not stop them. After all, they were at sea. Sun, good weather, great company. How can you think about terrible things in such an environment ?!
Towards evening, when it got dark and the whole group gathered in the hotel lobby to chat and drink refreshments, they discovered that Koichi had not yet returned from the beach. They immediately raised the alarm, but they never found him.
The next morning, the police found the body, and friends were called in for an identification. While the medical experts worked, the body was left on the beach. Friends of the deceased identified him. Without a doubt, this was their comrade.
- And yet, it's hard to say it, but .... - one of the policemen hesitated. - See for yourself, - and he removed the sheet from the corpse.
Everyone was numb. An old woman grabbed onto the lower half of Koichi's body.
“This is the woman who drowned before your friend. Her nails are sunk too deep into the guy's body. She could only do this if she was alive ...
Another horror story also tells about a group of students who decided to relax at sea. They found a rock of a suitable height and began to jump from it into the water. One of my friends, who was fond of photography, stood down on the beach and took pictures of the others.
One of the guys jumped, but never appeared on the surface. His friends called the police and started looking for him. A corpse was found a few hours later. The young man drowned.
A few days later, the student who was taking the photographs looked at the printed photographs. One of them showed his drowned friend. He laughed carelessly, and from the water countless white hands were reaching out to him, wanting to get him into their arms ...
Borrowing from the West
Some plots, firmly entrenched in the minds of people, are repeated in different variations, adapted to a particular country. For example, a lot of Japanese horror stories have something in common with American stories. This is not surprising, the USA is a very young country. It does not have a multi-thousand-year history like China, Russia or Japan. America has created its folklore on the basis of those already existing in other states.
So, a very popular horror story about an incident in a student dormitory. This is how the story is told in Japan.
One day, a student Asako came to visit her friend Sakimi. They chatted late into the night about little things, drank tea and ate sweets. Asako looked at her watch - the last train on which she could go home was about to leave. Halfway through the journey, the girl suddenly realized that she had forgotten her friend's assignments that had to be completed by tomorrow.
When Asako returned to Sakimi's house, there was no light anywhere. But since tomorrow a good job was to correct a bad grade, the girl decided to wake her friend up. But the door was not locked, and the girl entered the house without hindrance. Asako remembered leaving the assignment sheets on the nightstand by the door. She did not turn on the light, felt the papers and quietly closed the door behind her.
The next day Sakimi did not come to school, did not answer calls, and after class Asako went to find out what had happened to her friend. Police cars, an ambulance, reporters and a crowd of onlookers were parked outside the house. Asako pushed her way to the fence and told the police that she was a friend of the girl who lived in the house. The detectives let Asako into the house and reported that Sakimi had been killed at night. They began to ask the girl: when she left her friend, did she say that someone was following her ...
Finally, the shocked Asako was led into the room. Next to the bloody bed was an inscription in blood: "It's good that you didn't turn on the light."
The girl turned pale as a sheet. So when she returned for her homework, Sakimi was already dead and the killer was still in the room. If Asako had turned on the light, she would have been killed too ...
Sound familiar? That's the same, we told you.
In Japan, horror stories associated with stalkers are very popular. Such horror stories are ubiquitous, but they can be heard especially often in America. True, instead of a stalker, a killer maniac is wielding there.
One woman was pursued by a stalker. He stood under the windows of her house, keeping watch when she went to work or went on business. There was nothing the police could do about him. As soon as the guardians of the law arrived, the pursuer went into hiding. It was also impossible to catch him.
The woman was worn out by the constant stress. She could not sleep well, could not work normally. But it soon got worse. The stalker found out the woman's phone number, and silent calls rained down on the unfortunate woman. The phone constantly rang, but if the woman nevertheless picked up the phone, in response she heard only hoarse breathing.
Unable to withstand such abuse, the woman asked the police to trace the call. The next time the stalker called, the police tried to figure out his number. For this, the woman was asked to talk to the persecutor as long as possible so that he would not hang up. But this time the criminal behaved differently than usual - he laughed. The woman could not stand it and still hung up. The police called her cell phone.
- We are visiting you! Go outside immediately! The phone from which you have just been called is in your home!
The laughter that the woman heard came from behind her, but no longer on the phone ...
Urban legends in Meiji Japan
Cow blood chocolate ... In the Meiji era, chocolate production was born. Although Japan, of course, got acquainted with the taste of chocolate much earlier - back in the 18th century. Dutch traders brought the gourmet sweet to Nagasaki. In 1878, the candy maker Fugetsudo made the first Japanese chocolate. The new taste became popular, but despite the success, the goodness caused some doubts among the population. And when the rumor spread at the end of the century that chocolate was made from the coagulated blood of cows, sales of the sweet fell. Nowadays there is no such attitude towards chocolate. The Japanese love it very much and give chocolate made with their own hands on Valentine's Day and White Day.
Ghost trains. In 1872, the first trains began to run. A network of railways has spread throughout Japan, linking all corners of the country into a single chain. They played an important role in the modernization of the Land of the Rising Sun, so a lot of popular attention was paid to the innovation.
In addition to regular trains, ghost trains could also be found at that time. Most often they were seen by drivers working late at night. The ghost train looked just like a normal train, even making the same sounds. He suddenly appeared out of the darkness, causing an emergency braking of a walking locomotive and a pre-infarction state of the driver.
The reason for the appearance of ghost trains was considered to be the tricks of a kitsune - a fox, a tanuki - a raccoon dog and a mujin - a badger. Animals changed shape and frightened people.
According to one of the old Tokyo stories, a ghost train often appeared on the Joban Line. One night, driving through the Katsushika district of Tokyo, the driver saw a ghost train flying towards. The man guessed that this was just an illusion and did not slow down. The trains collided, and the real one went through the ghost.
The next morning, many of the mutilated bodies of badgers were found around the tracks on which the collision occurred. They were lying around, covering a huge space with carcasses. Locals suspected that the badgers got together and changed shape into a menacing-looking train in retaliation for being kicked out of their burrows. A burial mound was made for the badgers at the Kensho-ji temple in Kameari. A stone monument marking the site of a burial mound for badgers can still be seen by the curious in the temple.
Power lines. During the Meiji era, not only railways, but also power lines became widespread. At that moment, many looked with suspicion at the new additions to the landscape that brought light to the houses. Various rumors spread.
Coal tar was used to insulate electrical wires. A legend has spread among the people that the fatty black substance covering the wires is made from the blood of innocent girls. In the midst of the spread of these rumors, many girls were afraid to leave the house. Quite brave and savvy girls, sometimes they dressed like married ladies. They wore simple kimonos, blackened their teeth, and styled their hair in marumage-style hairstyles - a rounded knot at the crown of their heads. Resourcefulness will lead out of any situation, even help to get around the urban legend.
The power lines scared not only young women, but everyone else. If the blood of innocent girls is needed for isolation, then the wires themselves could infect anyone with cholera. One had only to pass under the wires hanging overhead. But one could protect oneself from a terrible disease: if you hold an open fan above your head, then nothing bad will happen.
Saigo Star. In 1877, the Satsuma anti-government armed uprising took place. It ended in complete failure and death of the leader Takamori Saigo. A rumor immediately spread that the fallen hero could be seen in the night sky.
It so happened that the Earth and Mars converged at a minimum distance, which is why Mars was especially large and bright. Unaware that the red star was another planet, people mistook it for a star - an ominous prediction for Saigoµ's enemies. It was said that if you looked at the luminary through a telescope, you could see Saigoµ himself in full combat gear. At that time, woodcuts depicting the so-called Saigo Star were popular.
These are outdated horror stories that frightened people in another time, completely different from ours. Many years will pass, and what once frightened us, for other generations will seem funny. Stories live only thanks to the memory of the people, and the scientists who wrote them down.
Scary Scary Stories
There are many more urban legends that are interesting to lovers of horror stories, ethnographers, and philologists. For example, the story "Woman on all fours" or "Spider woman" tells the story of an encounter with a terrible woman walking on all fours. Sometimes it's just an unusually creepy girl, and sometimes the story is about a woman growing extra limbs at night, like a spider. Its bite is fatal to humans. But sometimes she can transform her victims into her own kind.
A gripping and scary story happened to a young man, tormented by the riddle of a red scarf. His childhood friend wore it without taking it off. Even when they grew up and went to high school, the scarf always remained tied around the girl's neck. Entering the institute did not change anything, and only when the young man married a fashionista, he found out why she always wore a red scarf. As soon as the young wife untied the jewelry, her head rolled to the floor. The scarf held her in place. They say the woman in red and the man in the blue scarf still live happily ever after.
There is also a story about Hyotoko's mask, and about a running ghost, and about the reincarnation of an ugly child. And more, and more, and more ... There are a lot of urban legends, told in whispers and frightening people to convulsions. You just have to find out the rest.
Authors: Great Internet and HeiLin :)
