The Obon Celebration – The Ghost Festival
The Obon festival is a three day celebration of the dead in Japan. Every summer, families reunite to honor the family members no longer alive.
A Woman Scorned
The grey lady of Stavern is a tragic tale, but not a very unique one. She stand together with the rest of the weeping women, filled of grief after being left by a man.
An Icelandic Ghost Story
In the cold and desolated coast of Iceland, a ship wrecked crew is trying to find the way back home.
The Night Marchers of Hawaii
The night marchers are holy spirits of ancient warriors still marching on the islands of Hawaii.
Most Haunted Village in Norway
In an old iron foundry settlement, the once upon the time leader cannot find any rest in death.
The Ghosts of Japan
In Japan, the ghosts are called Yūrei (幽霊). The word means faint or dim and soul or spirit. And as well as language and cultures divides different types of ghost in different categories, so does the Japanese. Here are some of those.
Banchō Sarayashiki – the Ghost of Okiko
The tale of Banchō Sarayashiki (番町皿屋敷, The Dish Mansion at Banchō) is a well known Japanese ghost story (kaidan). It was popularized in the kabuki theater tradition, and lives on in popular culture and folklore alike.
The Myth of Oiwa – the Paper Lantern Ghost
Once upon a time, there was a beautiful young woman who died. She went on a murderous rampage and she forever haunts the place of Yotsuya. The end.
Onryō – the Vengeful Japanese Spirit
In many cultures, ghosts are put in different categories. Such is the case with Onryō (怨霊 onryō,) It basically means “vengeful spirit” or “wrathful spirit” in Japanese and is a mythological spirit of vengeance from Japanese folklore. They also have ghosts, called yurei, but these differ in the will of the ghost. As opposed to the yurei, these ghosts doesn’t just get over their revenge thoughts.
A Haunting in Ancient Greece
A ghost story from ancient Greece about the ghost in the bathhouse
How the TV-series Penny Dreadful is Influenced by Old Literature
Penny Dreadful is an old term used during the nineteenth century to refer to cheap popular serial literature. Sort of like pulp fiction. It was also called penny blood, penny awful, or penny horrible. It means a story published in weekly parts, with the cost of one (old) penny. The main plot of these stories were typically sensational, focusing on the adventures of detectives, criminals, or supernatural entities.
This is exactly what Penny Dreadful was, and what it payed homage to. So we found some old stuff the series borrowed or was inspired by. And there is A LOT.
The Plague of the Past (?)
In these strange and scary pandemic times, its nice to live in a world of modern health care, science and the wide spread information about the internet. But pandemics and epidemics have always been a part of the human experience through history, and it’s really just in the last couple of centuries, we’ve really been able to combat the spread of viruses. So in that regard, we took a look at past pandemics and epidemics and how they affected the society and how they at that time, tried to combat it.
The Legend of the Mothman
A haunted town, or just a townie with the biggest hoax of all time? The legend of the Mothman reached a craze in the small town of Point Pleasant in West Virginia in the 60’s. It has everything from a classic pulp science fiction movie from that time. UFO’s, monsters in the sky, an abandoned chemical plant from the war and a Black 57′ Chevy. This is the story of the Mothman that terrorized the people of the small town. And… today?
Ghost of Tu-Po
China has such a varied an long history, diverse culture, with different regions, religions, and translations. Most ancient countries has. Sometimes things change over time, like in this case with […]
The Ghost of Theban Necropolis
An ancient ghost stories from the time and place of the great pharaos and dark tombs.
Sailors Superstitions
Perhaps none are more superstitious than the sailors. Or at least, what the old sailors used to be. Rolling clouds or roaring waves means little to us on land, but in the 18th century New England, it meant bad luck. Some of them are plain ridiculous, like having an umbrella on the ship means bad luck, or even saying the word horse because it can mean death.