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Stories

Botan Dōrō – Tales of the Peony Lantern

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The Botan Dōrō or Tales of the Peony Lantern is a ghost story told since the Ming dynasty in China to today. Most popular through the Kaidan theater plays, it is now one of Japan’s most well known ghost stories.

Another dark, yet poetic love story of a ghost. The Botan Dōrō (牡丹燈籠), or, the peony lantern was a story that became popular in Japan during the 17th century in the Edo era.

The Stone Lantern: The Title refers to the type of stone lantern often found in Japan.

It was really a Chinese tale called Jiandeng Xinhua (剪燈新話,) or New Tales Under the Lamplight from 1378 by the Chinese writer Qu You. This was a collection of moralic tales and Buddhist lessons on Karma.

Japan was at the time almost entirely closed off as a country and got little to no input from the outside world. The Japanese adapted it as their own with the writer Asai Ryoi and the demand for Kaidan stories, ghost stories, especially for the parlour game Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai.

Read Also: Games to Play in the Dark – including Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai

The story of Botan Dōrō is set during Obon, a three day festival of the dead in the late summer in Nezu district in Tokyo. Kaidan (ghost stories) was immensely popular during this era, especially during Obon.

Read Also: The Obon Celebration – The Ghost Festival

Botan Dōrō is considered to be one of Nihon san dai kaidan — Japan’s Big Three Ghost Stories. It is arguably the most famous Japanese ghost story of all time and has spurned a couple of local legends of its own. The other two famous Kaidan’s is: Banchō Sarayashiki — the Ghost of Okiku and The Myth of Oiwa — The Paper Lantern Ghost.

The Story of the Botan Dōrō

A long time ago in the Nezu district of Tokyo, the first night of Obon was upon them. This is when the spirits are welcomed back into our world and guided home after three days. A man named Ogiwara was out walking. In some versions he is a young student with his whole life in front of him while in others, he is an elder widowed samurai that carries a lot of regret and grief.

Botan Dōrō Kaidan: The stage production of Botan Dōrō had many adaptations of the story. Here is an illustration of The character of Otsuyu and the titular peony lantern.

On the first day of Obon he noticed a beautiful woman with a maid carrying a peony lantern by his house and they started talking.

Her name was Otsuyu and charmed her way into Ogiwara’s heart. Over the festival the two fell more and more in love in the light by the lantern. And every night she came back to him.

A neighbor however was growing worried for the young man after having seen them meet the first day. That very night he visited the boy, peeping through the window to make sure of his suspicion. There he saw the man in the arms, not of a young and beautiful woman, but a skeleton.

Almost fainting of shook, the nosy neighbour got on his way, running to get a Buddhist priest to get help for the man. When the buddhist priest and the neighbor came the following day, they told the man about this and decided to throw a protective spell over the house. Not really believing until he saw it with his own eyes, he waited to the following night to see for himself.

When Otsuyu together with her servant came to the door she was unable to pass the protection charms the buddhist priest had put up. When she understood what was happening she was crying, banging on the door, and the man understood that it was all true. She was indeed dead and he had fallen in love with a ghost. She reminded him again and again for their love for each other, not leaving the house.

Read Also: Another ghost story where the husband finds out his wife was already dead is The Lady Nak of Phra Khanong — Thailand’s Famous Ghost Mae Nak

The man’s health grew worse and worse during the day and he only felt sorrow and a longing for the thing they had together, even though he knew about her. One night he couldn’t resist his longing anymore. He lifted the protection charm on the last day of Obon and let them in.

When the neighbor once again came to check on him, there was not only one dead person in the room, but two. His soul taken away at the end of the Obon festival as the spirits were supposed to, back to the spirit world.

Is Botan Dōrō Another Haunted Play?

Later the story has gotten many variations, on stage as well as on the screen. The story changes with the times from the closed off Edo period to the opening of western influence of the Meiji period up until modern times.

Read More: Check out all of our ghost stories from Japan

The English translation was done by Lafcadio Hearn in 1899 for his book: In Ghostly Japan. He titled his adaptation A Passional Karma, and based it on the kabuki version of the story. Read the full one Here

But just as in the Kaidan theater play of Yotsuya Kaidan, there is said to be a curse on the ones playing the parts of the ghosts. This is from an events in 1919 when the play was set up in the Imperial Theater. The actresses playing Otsuyu and her maid both became sick and died within a week of each other. They were some of the more promising actresses in Tokyo at the time, and their death were sudden and gave rise to many rumours.

It was said that before they died they had been seen nightly with pale-face and their hair worn long and dishevelled. The actress playing the maid held the lantern in hand, moving behind the willow tree following the other one.

So who is to say? Can a made up story turn into something cursed? Or was it something else than a good story that made it linger in the cultural minds of the Japanese as a ghost?

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book, horror, Review

Horror Movies Based on Books Part 2

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The creepy stuff on TV is often visual or sound based. Jump scares and scary costumes. It makes me wonder how on earth one can sustain the same type of scare in a book. But then I pick up one of these and I remember. The internal images in my head is pretty messed up as well.

In that regard, let’s have a look at the books that inspired some pretty iconic movies. The links provided are from Audible, and are affiliated links. That means I make a commission from each of the purchases coming off the links. And with that disclaimer out of the way, let’s look at the books and movies.

Part One

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

This is sort of the most well known book as well as a very iconic movie. Those thinking the horror and gore will be like in the movie, will be very disappointed, but those that wish for a deeper dive down to the psychology and way of thinking of the characters are in for a treat.

Summary

In American Psycho, Bret Easton Ellis imaginatively explores the incomprehensible depths of madness and captures the insanity of violence in our time or any other. Patrick Bateman moves among the young and trendy in 1980s Manhattan. Young, handsome, and well educated, Bateman earns his fortune on Wall Street by day while spending his nights in ways we cannot begin to fathom. Expressing his true self through torture and murder, Bateman prefigures an apocalyptic horror that no society could bear to confront.

Read it here

Listen to it here

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

What I feel the difference between the two version is that the book is just so. Lonely. It truly taps into something that the movie never manages. Even though (unpopular opinion), the movie had its own merits aside from the book.

Summary

obert Neville may well be the last living man on Earth . . . but he is not alone.

An incurable plague has mutated every other man, woman, and child into bloodthirsty, nocturnal creatures who are determined to destroy him.

By day, he is a hunter, stalking the infected monstrosities through the abandoned ruins of civilization. By night, he barricades himself in his home and prays for dawn….

Read it here

Listen to it here

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The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty

The novel was inspired by a 1949 case of demonic possession and exorcism that Blatty heard about while he was a student in the 1950’s at Georgetown University. The movie is often credited of its meticulous research to get an actual exorcism right presented. The book did the same, talking with priests, taking inspiration from actual cases and history to create a story around this factual practice.

Summary

The terror begins unobtrusively. Noises in the attic. In the child’s room, an odd smell, the displacement of furniture, an icy chill. At first, easy explanations are offered. Then frightening changes begin to appear in eleven-year-old Regan. Medical tests fail to shed any light on her symptoms, but it is as if a different personality has invaded her body.

Father Damien Karras, a Jesuit priest, is called in. Is it possible that a demonic presence has possessed the child? Exorcism seems to be the only answer…

Read it here

Listen to it here

The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin

Another entry of Ira Levin. He truly captured something about society best explained through horror books. Just like Rosemary’s Baby, the Stepford Wives challenges our perception of humanity and society.

Summary

The women of Stepford are not all that they seem…

All the beautiful people live in idyllic Stepford, Connecticut, an affluent, suburban Eden populated with successful, satisfied hubbies and beautiful, dutiful wives. For Joanna Eberhart, newly arrived with her husband and two children, it all seems too good to be true – from the sweet Welcome Wagon lady to all those cheerful, friendly faces in the supermarket checkout lines.

But just beneath the town’s flawless surface, something is sordid and wrong – something abominable with roots in the local Men’s Association. And it may already be too late for Joanna to save herself from being devoured by Stepford’s hideous perfection.

Read it here

Ritual by David Pinner

The wicker man is iconic. Both the original movie for the horror, and the remake for the memes. But the book is still this mysterious thing most people haven’t read. And we all should.

Summary

The protagonist of Ritual is an English police officer named David Hanlin. A puritanical Christian, Hanlin is requested to investigate what appears to be the ritualistic murder of a local child in an enclosed rural Cornish village. During his short stay, Hanlin deals with psychological trickery, sexual seduction, ancient religious practices and nightmarish sacrificial rituals.

Read it here

Listen to it here

And now, because I can’t help myself:

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Loftus Hall – Ireland’s most haunted

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Loftus Hall is said to be one of Ireland’s most haunted mansions. It is thought that the place is haunted by one of the daughters that had an encounter with the devil himself in disguise and never recovered from the shock after she found out the truth.

A magnificent and stately manor to look at is Loftus Hall, one of Ireland’s finer ones of the Hook peninsula of County Wexford. This area is a famous site in Irish history, known as the place “where Ireland was lost and won”. The coastline offers a beach a day for a fortnight and is one of the special attractions of this area. Pretty fishing villages and bird watching on the mudflats of Bannow Estuary.

Read More: Have a look at all of our ghost stories from Ireland.

A little aside from the shore, from the village and from people, a Hall stands. Weathered, sure, but still in all its glory a moldy, ancient place inhabits. It stands alone in the austere and rather bleak landscape. But a dark legends hangs over the old house, and it has done so, for quite some time. Rumors about the devil that roams the ground as well as the ghost of a woman haunting the place.

A Windy Place: The Loftus Hall has been withstanding the test of times, even in a weathered place like it was built on the coast of Ireland.

The Loftus Hall was built in the 1350’s, also known for being the time of the Black Death Plague, taking the lives of so many in Ireland. It was built by the Redmond family to replace their castle. Back then it was known as Redmond Hall.

The Loftus Hall has always attracted the eyes of the darker and more sinister stories, especially since the legends started to cross the sea that lies so dark and rough just ahead. It even featured as the plays were they shot the horror movie, The Lodgers.

Read the movie review:

The Lodgers

The Lodgers from 2017 is an Irish Gothic horror film by David Turpin and Brian O’Malley. It stars Charlotte Vega, Bill Milner and Eugene Simon. If you like eerily dark and hauntingly beautiful movies like The Others or newer one like Crimson Peak, The Lodgers will be an obvious next escape to a haunted house…

The Legend Behind Loftus Hall

In the mid 1700s, Charles Tottenham became Lord of the manor by marrying Anne Loftus. They had six children, one of their daughters, was also called Anne and this is her story. About her and the devil himself that knocked on her door and entered her heart.

Inside Loftus Hall: The movie, The Lodgers is worth watching just to catch glimpse of the interior of the Loftus Hall inside the three-storey, 22-bedroom Palladian mansion.

According to the legend, on a dark and stormy night, a mysterious stranger came to the house on horseback. He went straight to the hall, asking for shelter, claiming that his ship ran ashore in the rough sea. The Tottenham family, who lived there at the time, invited the strange in.

The young daughter, Lady Anne Tottenham met this stranger, and instantly took a liking to him. And he to her. And soon they became very close. In some accounts, they even became lovers.

Whatever they were he stayed for a while and no one really noticed anything strange about the stranger before one fateful evening.

On one particular evening, she played cards with the mysterious visitor in one of the rooms of Loftus Hall. In the game, each player received 3 cards apart from Anne who was only dealt 2 by the mystery man. A butler serving the Tottenham family at the table was just about to question the man when Anne bent down to pick another card from the floor which she must have been dropped.

She bent over to pick them up and that is when she saw it under the table. The man had no feet of that of a man. They were cloven hooves, like a beast and she understood he had to be Beelzebub, the devil himself.

Read more: Check out more ghost stories were the devil himself made an appearance like The Jersey Devil in the Pine Barrens New Jersey or Baron Falkenberg that were Cursed to Sail the Sea for 600 Years.

Anne screamed at the sight of the man she thought she knew. As soon as the man noticed Anne’s look on her face, he knew that he’s been found out and disappeared from the mansion in most extra way possible by shooting himself through the roof of the halls, in a ball of flames.

The Ghost Haunting Loftus Hall

Anne herself never recovered after this traumatic incident and went into some sort of shock people say that she never got out of.

Haunting the Manor: It is said that Anne is still haunting the place.//Source: Loftus Hall Facebook

Some say her family was so ashamed of her and her unladylike behaviour that they locked her away in her favorite room, called the tapestry room. She didn’t want anything to eat or drink after the shock, only staring out her window, across the sea to where Dunmore east is today.

What she was thinking about differs from who you ask. Some say that she was waiting for her mysterious stranger to return, even though she knew who he was. Others say she locked herself in the room, wanting to feel safe from the devil who had invaded her safe space, her home and her heart unknowingly.

Read More: Check out more mansions and castles believed to be haunted from all over the world.

No matter what the reason was and what happened that night at Loftus Hall we will probably never know for sure. What we do know is that Anne died in the very room in 1775. She died sitting and when she died, they could not straighten her body out, and she had to be buried in the same sitting position she died in.

After her death many talked about the place becoming haunted. Some claims she stills walks the corridors in her ghostly form, still in shock after her encounter with the devil, unable to move on, or perhaps even scared for where she would end up.

The Paranormal Reports

Now, that is one hell of a story. And a pretty crazy one at that. But the reports of strange encounters and supposed evidence of the paranormal still keeps coming, even after all this time.

Loftus Hall was after the devil incident the owners of the manor had an exorcism by Father Thomas Broaders whose powers is said to have worked and the evil that lingered went away. Father Broarders went on to become Parish Priest of the parishes of the Hook and Ramsgrange for almost 50 years.

Even the original building was almost leveled to the ground, and the manor we see today is the one they rebuilt in 1865 to 1875 were it went through extensive renovations.

But even though it is said that the exorcism worked, reports about strange paranormal activity has been reported a lot. And a lot more since it was opened to the public in 2012. And this is why some say that Loftus Hall is Ireland’s most haunted place in Ireland.

There are stuff though, that are without a question just very creepy. Like when during a renovation of the house years later in recent times, the skeleton of an infant was discovered in the walls. What the story behind this could be, only the dead knows.

One of the supposed evidence of paranormal happenings in the manor comes from a nice summer of 2014, when Thomas Beavis made a trip to the scenic place to do some sightseeing. When he looked through his pictures from his holiday after he came home he was shocked.

Picture of a ghost: This is the viral photo of the alleged ghost a visitor took when visiting Loftus Hall in 2014. What do we think? Could it be the ghost of Anne who has been rumoured to haunt the place ever since her death?

In the background there is a ghostly outline, most likely of a young girl or woman, looking out the windows of the hall. Could it just be a reflection of the tourist walking outside? Or could it be something more eerie. Could it be Anne who is said to haunt Loftus Hall?

Throughout the years, the hall has been a lot. A castle, a convent, a school and under attack from foreign invaders. Today it remains as a tourist attraction. A dark one at that, embracing its history and people travelling from all over the world to take part in paranormal investigations following Ghost Adventures with Zak Bagans, Aaron Goodwin and Nick Groff. But know, in the summer of 2020, the Hall will once again close its doors for visitors. And the answers we seek will maybe never be answered.

As of 2023, Loftus Hall is still closed down and not open to the public as it is renovated.

The Haunted House filmed: A Youtube snippet about the house and the hauntings that is rumored to be going on inside of the Loftus Hall.

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Sources:

  1. https://www.irishpost.com/news/netflix-horror-film-the-lodgers-159185
  2. https://www.loftushall.ie/about/
  3. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/haunted-loftus-hall-to-be-laid-to-rest-gdtkv05mh
  4. https://allthatsinteresting.com/loftus-hall
pop-culture

The 2020 Halloween Costume Award Show

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There has always been one or two at a big Halloween party sporting the long nose tip mask, masquerading as the classical plague doctor. The same person that are always sending invitations to a Steampunk convention. But this year, the costume is on the front on so many marketing campaigns for Costume shops.

Of course, there are other costumes showing up as well. A new Harlequin costume from Birds of Prey, because we truly need a new one every other year, a Mandalorian costume, because of course, as well as a costume for every rebooted Disney movie this year.

Iconic Halloween Costumes Throughout the Ages

It is not a new thing that Halloween costumes reflects the pop-cultural impact that year. Like Game of Thrones characters lately, the Star Wars characters when they came out, and even further back, think of when Batman, Zorro or Micheal Jackson’s Thriller hit the world. It is all reflected in the costumes.

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It’s not only fictional characters or singers inspiring them, but the society around us, the news and the happenings of the world. Like when everybody dressed as astronauts the year of the Moonlanding, a royal baby when the British Royal family gave birth to a new heir. This will of course have regional impacts as well, as the modern Halloween tradition grow global, we still have our national differences in the political landscapes.

Although the costumes are always changing, it is never the trends that really tops the most bought costumes. It is always the same costumes that overflood the Halloween parties every year: Witches, vampires, zombies, pirates and superheroes. Both the slutty and non-slutty versions. But among them, the echo of society walks among the living dead.

The Plague Doctor is in

A new corner of costumes has snuck its way into the new arrivals or made a new category in many costume shops. Like the Bio Hazard Suit, the Plague Doctor has been brushed dust from its tired look and put in showcase in front of the store. And like the Harlequin costume, there is only one reason why: It is a demand for it.

It would perhaps be weird if this costumed popped up out of no where, but seeing the global landscape and what impacted us most this year, it goes without saying this is the cosplayer’s response to 2020.

Popular: On Wish, thousands of people have already bought the costume for this years Halloween. And it appears as one of the top searches for ‘Halloween Costume’ there as well.

In many ways, it showcase the need for human kind to put our fears from the everyday world into firm material. It is an interesting thing about the human condition. And a telling one, especially in the western hemisphere that it is this particular imagery that we conjure up, every time we fear sickness we can’t control. A new sort of unconscious mythological icon to separate ourselves from a deadly disease.

In many ways we can see this as the same with the fashion face masks. You know, the one looking great, but are no were near effective to shield us from any diseases? Perhaps buy one of these plague doctor costumes instead. It kind of worked in the middle ages. It is most likely more effective than many of the fashion face masks.

But what was this Plague Doctor?

A plague doctor was a physician who treated victims of the bubonic plague. You know, from medieval times. Another case that no fashion is out forever. As they had a rather narrow understanding of how sickness worked back in those days, they seldom cured any of their patients. They served to record a count of the number of people contaminated for demographic purposes.

Vintage Costume: For the true fan of vintage and historically accurate costumes, a 17th century costume from Germany.

They wore the famous beak mask to protect them from illness which they believed was airborne. In fact, they thought disease was spread by miasma, a noxious form of ‘bad air.’ Today this practice is obsolete, although, some would say the thoughts like it is making a combat, trying to combat the bad air or energy with esoteric oils. The plague doctors themselves put sweet smells of flowers, herbs and spices to combat this illness they though lingered in the air.

The costume have changed throughout the years though. Medical historians have in fact attributed the invention of the ‘beak doctor’ costume to a French doctor named Charles de Lorme in 1619.

They were also rarely proper doctors, and there are stories that in one case, a plague doctor had been a fruit salesman before his employment as a physician.

But the strong imagery of them has lingered, long after their failed methods of treading plague patients with leeches and herbs was replaced with modern medicine. The doctors themselves morphed into a sort of dark omen, a warning of imminent death. Because if these doctors started walking your streets, it was a certain telling you probably were gonna die.

Read Also:

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…

Too Medievaly Mainstream

And don’t you worry, if the plague doctor gets too mainstream for you, there is always the Hazmat Suit option this year. For a more up to date imagery, icon and way of dealing with this fear of disease and help us social distancing at Halloween parties. If you are allowed to step outside that is. Or rather, if you let yourself.

Ah, anyway, what is the point. What is the point of acquiring a costume is all Halloween this year is sitting on your couch, skyping with friends and watching horror movies by yourself? Also, check out this list about ideas for costumes to wear on Skype or Zoom.

So what do you think? What will be the Halloween costume of the year? How about next year?

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article, Ghost

The Running Lady of Beeford

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Along the road in the English town, the ghost of a lady on the run haunts the area, allegedly causing accidents, and even deaths. This is the legend of the running lady of Beeford.

Beeford, East Yorkshire in England doesn’t sound like the most haunted place on earth. With the red bricked houses it looks like a classical quaint English town, never changing, dormant. Perhaps like the set of Midsummer Murders or the location of an Agatha Christie novel. Perhaps it indeed look a bit haunted, after all. Truth is, this place has been there even before England came to be. Mention in the Domesday Book, it has been there for a thousand years. Perhaps it will last a thousand more?

Read More: Check out all of our ghost stories from England and the UK like Ghost of Nan Tuck Haunting the English Countryside or The Ghost on the Moor.

And everyone knows that old towns must have their own local ghosts. And here, they have the legend of the running lady of Beeford that is haunting the roads leading in and out of the town.

Causing Accidents and Deaths

This particular ghost is a ghost on the road. On a stretch of road between Beeford and Brandenburton, a ghost of a lady has been seen roaming around late at night. The ghost lady is also called the Running Lady as she is seen running across the Beeford Straight toward the North Frodingham junction.

Tales of her ghost causing accidents have been told over the years in the more modern area, as it’s usually involves cars. Not only is the ghost reported on being seen, but the running lady of Beeford has also been the one to blame for several accidents on this particular road.

The Running Lady of Beeford: There is a local legend that people have seen the Runnin Lady of Beeford, haunting the road. Some of the stories about her, even hints that she was the cause of a deadly car crash.

One of these stories details the curse she has supposedly put on this place made a car crash into a three, killing six people. What made the crash? An accident caused by witnessing the running lady of Beeford, or something more sinister as some of the version of the legend hints at?

Read more: Have a look at all of our ghost stories about Haunted Roads from all over the world like The Highwayman Robbed of his Life or The Hitchhiking Woman in White in Palavas-les-Flots

There is also an anecdote about a motorcyclist picking up a female on the stretch on that road, only to find her gone when he turned around after a few miles. This story collides a bit with her habit of being on the run, but falls in line of the urban legend of a hitchhiker wanting a lift, but disappearing.

Read the urban legend of the vanishing hitchiker:

The Vanishing Hitchhiker

The Vanishing Hitchhiker is a well known urban legend throughout the world. Here is a Moonmausoleum original writings based on the Urban Legend – The Vanishing Hitchhiker

Keep reading

What’s the Truth Behind the Running Lady of Beeford?

This ghost story falls right into the White Lady legend from Europe we can read about in so many of the classic ghost stories. Also, stories about ghosts along the road is also a well documented phenomenon across the world by now. But what about this particular legend of the running lady of Beeford? How much does it ring true?

Considering that Beeford is such a small place there would be more documented that six people actually died in a car crash around that area. But as per now, we have found no such proof.

And the description of her appearance is so vague and non existing that it’s hard to make out what type of lady we are seeing. Well that is, if we see anything at all.

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Games to Play in the Dark: Part 2

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There are certain games that makes you laugh, that are just for fun. Then there are the games that makes your skin crawl, that makes your blood pumps. If you haven’t already, head over and have a look at part one of this series:

For Games to Play in the Dark: Part 1

Games to play in the dark

A collection of five games to play in the dark. Or not, depending how in touch with the spirits one feels.

This is a list of games that have been played for a long time, or new. Some are old in its new form. Many of these games are best played in the dark in the middle of the night, far from any other sounds. Some you are tired of, as we do with old games, some are always a welcomed suggestion to do.

Darumasan or The Bath Game

Darumasan ga Koronda is an equivalent to the American Red light/Green light game or the British Grandmother’s Footsteps. It literary means ‘the daruma fell over’. And like the weeping angels version on this child’s game, the Japanese version also has a more sinister version.

Traditional Toy: A Daruma doll (達磨, daruma)

A Daruma doll is a hollow, round, Japanese traditional doll. Though considered a toy by some, Daruma has a design that is rich in symbolism and is regarded more as a talisman of good luck to the Japanese. It also holds some spiritual symbolism as well. Daruma dolls are seen as a symbol of perseverance and good luck, making them a popular gift of encouragement.

The Darumesan or today known more as ‘The Bath Game’, is a sort of ritual game of summoning evil. It is said it is summoning a girl that slipped in the tub and poked her eye out. That is why the ghost of her only has one eye. It was difficult finding an original source as it is a game supposedly old, but of Japanese origin. The oldest mention on this was on certain Japanese forums from the 2011/2012 that talked about it as an urban legend. Seems like the game evolved as a sort of protection against it.

What follows here however, is how the game has been played in later years.

It is a one player game and only require on thing: A bathtub.

Part One

Before you go to bed, take a bath with the light turned off. Face the tap, close your eyes and begin to wash your hair.

While washing, repeat the words, Daruma-san fell down. Continue to wash your hair, chanting this and do not open your eyes.

This is when you will start getting a mental image of the woman in the tub, slipping ang falling face into the tap and poke her eye out. Do not turn around if you hear a noise behind you, do not open your eyes to check if you feel movement in the tub. But ask out loud: “Why did you fall in the bathtub?”

After this, get out of the tub without opening your eyes. Without draining the water, leave the bathroom, shutting the door behind you.

Now go to sleep.

Part two

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The minute you open your eyes, the game has begun. Throughout the day, you will feel a constant presence behind you. Turning to look at her will not work, but you might catch the occasional glimpses of her lingering over your right shoulder, her hair black and tangled, her eye socket empty and hollow.

As the day press on, she will etch closer and gloser to you. If she is too close shout Tomare, meaning stop and run. However, for each time you shout this at her, the less effective it will be.

Part Three

At the end of the day, it is time to end the game. Look directly at her over your right shoulder, sever the bond you have created between you two.

Shout: Kitta, meaning something along the lines of ‘I cut you loose’. While saying this, swing your arm in a chopping motion. You must have her in sight while doing this.

Done correctly, the game is now over. If not, well… it is recommended to run away.

Also:

Some claim to avoid dark and places with a lot of water.

The ending mus be done before midnight, or else, you are granting her permission to stay and enter your dreams.

When doing the game a second time, it is said she will start were you left her off. Hopefully, she was far enough away from you. It will not be as easy to escape her otherwise.

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11 Miles Game

Photo by Kaique Rocha on Pexels.com

This is also a game, of online presence and can be traced back to username Emeryy on creepypasta. The original creepypasta story has now been deleted in 2018 on the authors request. It is however narrated by a Youtube Narrator and is probably pretty close to the original creepypasta which is writte as a sort of instruction to a game.

It is a bit different game as it is clearly a work of fiction. However, there is something about the classical mythical journey that will reward all of your desires if you just stick to the rules that keeps the appeal, still after the story itself is deleted.

The game is suppose to help you get a prize after following a set of rules on a road that isn’t technically there. It is a magical story game and balances the fine line of thrilling adventure to creepy nightmares.

Before you Begin

There is some things to consider before starting the game. First, the game is about desire and finding something you are looking for. So you are suppose to have a goal or a wish before you start.

It is a game of solitude and can only be played alone. Oh, and by the way, you will be needing a car. It was specified in the creepypasta it shouldn’t be a very noticeable car.

Then there is the list of stuff you can’t do. If you do it, you will fail the test and can’t claim the prize. Besides, there is something lurking outside your car. You won’t find out what happens with those if you break the rules. They are as follows:
– Do not turn on the radio or cellphone
– Do not open the windows or try to leave your car
– Do not drive over thirty miles per hour

The Game

Fuel up your car and start driving when night falls and few people are around.

Finding the road is difficult, it isn’t on any maps, shouldn’t exist and can’t be located by asking around. You will only find it when aimlessly driving around, preferably near a forest. It will appear different for everyone.

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Once you’ve found the road, take a turn and drive it. This is were the test comes in. The air will appear colder and figures will appear in the darkness. Ignore them and keep your eyes on the road.

When you reach the dirt path of the road voices will begin whispering. Ignore them as well. When reaching a clearing you will find an endless lake with a bright moon hovering over it. Do not look at the moon.

Now the radio will start acting up, the headlights will start to fail. Ignore it all don’t look in the mirror. Eyes on the road, remember the speed limit.

When you have driven around nine miles, your car will fail. This is not something you can fix. The only thing to do is close your eyes and restart the car. Figures will surround your car, but don’t look. Just restart the car. When reaching ten miles, all will go back to normal.

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On the eleventh mile however, your car will stop again. But it will still move. Move towards a red light. Close them again, and cover your ears. The once cold air will become hot.

But don’t worry, it will end. You will reach a dead end. Then take a minute, relax, imagine what you desired, perhaps it changed during the journey. It will then appear before your eyes or happen soon enough.

After the Game

If you follow all of the rules, you will be fine, your journey will end. And you’ve overcome the tests, making you worthy of the prize.

From then on, you will suffer from terrible dreams, but it will be worth it. Or… will it?

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Books for Children on Halloween

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If you are a part of the horror community, Halloween is definitely the time of the year. Sometimes it can be a bit tricky to think that it actually is mainly focused on children, and well… I say MAINLY. But if you are a child, there is nothing more exiting than Halloween, but it can also be a bit scary. And if you are an adult into hardcore horror suddenly in charge of a child’s experience and in need for some child-friendly Halloween content, look no further than to this list right here. It is also for the adult with a bit of Halloween nostalgia.

Harry Potter

By J.K Rowling

Yes, the Harry Potter series is on the list. But have you ever thought of how perfect it is to read it out loud to children at Halloween? If just for a quick revisit, how about reading the part of the troll at Halloween in the first one, being in the Mystery Chamber in the second or how about when they have the tri-wizard tournament trial in the maze form the forth one? Perfection!

Synopsis: Escape to Hogwarts with the unmissable series that has sparked a lifelong reading journey for children and families all over the world. The magic starts here.
Harry Potter has never even heard of Hogwarts when the letters start dropping on the doormat at number four, Privet Drive. Addressed in green ink on yellowish parchment with a purple seal, they are swiftly confiscated by his grisly aunt and uncle. Then, on Harry’s eleventh birthday, a great beetle-eyed giant of a man called Rubeus Hagrid bursts in with some astonishing news: Harry Potter is a wizard, and he has a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The magic starts here!

Read it here

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The Worst Witch

By Jill Murphy

Before Harry Potter, there was the Worst Witch. And equally fun. For some reason though I always watched the TV-series in Easter, and don’t now why. But anyway, it works year round for my part.

Synopsis: ‘Mildred Hubble was in her first year at the school. She was one of those people who always seemed be in trouble.’

Hold on to your broomstick for magical mayhem with Jill Murphy’s much-loved classic The Worst Witch- the original story of life at a magical boarding school.

Mildred Hubble is a trainee at Miss Cackle’s Academy for Witches, but she’s making an awful mess of it.

She keeps getting her spells wrong and crashing her broomstick. And when she turns Ethel, the teacher’s pet into her worst enemy, chaos ensues…

Read it here

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The Witches

By Roald Dahl

Yeah, nope! This is just. I know it’s for kids, I just…. Well, I suppose I am still recovering for the sleep I lost when I first read this book. Not again. I need my sleep. But anyway. Everything from Roald Dahl will work on Halloween.

Synopsis: Grandmamma loves to tell about witches. Real witches are the most dangerous of all living creatures on earth. There’s nothing they hate so much as children, and they work all kinds of terrifying spells to get rid of them. Her grandson listens closely to Grandmamma’s stories–but nothing can prepare him for the day he comes face-to-face with The Grand High Witch herself!

Read it here

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The Chronicles of Narnia

By C. S. Lewis 

This is sort of a long one, but for the particular Halloween parts, I find that the first book were Narnia was created is a good Halloween story. It is sort of creepy and we get some origin for the witch as well as some Victorian England. I also think the Island parts in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader were they visit the different islands are good Halloween content.

Synopsis: Epic battles between good and evil, fantastic creatures, betrayals, heroic deeds, and friendships won and lost all come together in this unforgettable world, which has been enchanting readers of all ages for over sixty years.

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Kiki’s Delivery Service

By: Eiko Kadano

You might have watched the anime movie, but have you read the book from the 80s? A glorious nostalgia clash with wondrous witchy vibes.

Synopsis: Nostalgic fans of the Hiyao Miyazaki film and newcomers alike–soar into the modern classic about a young witch and her clever cat that started it all! Half-witch Kiki never runs from a challenge. So when her thirteenth birthday arrives, she’s eager to follow a witch’s tradition: choose a new town to call home for one year. Brimming with confidence, Kiki flies to the seaside village of Koriko and expects that her powers will easily bring happiness to the townspeople. But gaining the trust of the locals is trickier than she expected. With her faithful, wise-cracking black cat, Jiji, by her side, Kiki forges new friendships and builds her inner strength, ultimately realizing that magic can be found in even the most ordinary places. Blending fantasy with the charm of everyday life, this enchanting new translation will inspire both new readers and dedicated fans.

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Hvítárnes — The Haunted Hut on Iceland

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One of the more well known Icelandic ghost stories that are told over the cold and desolate island, is the haunted hut in the middle of nowhere. Here the ghost of a lady in gray is haunting the place. This is the story of Hvítárnes hut, one of the most haunted places in Iceland.

South on the Island of Iceland a small hut is placed on a field in the middle of nowhere. From it you can look far into the distance in every direction, nature, beautiful nature, lonesome nature that in the winter turns pitch black. And the legends surrounding the Hvítárnes hut, is of the paranormal sort.

The Icelandic Touring Association built the lodge in 1930 for a place off the road were one could be in peace in the southern highlands of Iceland. The turf roofed hut is protected by Icelandic law because of its old age and uniqueness. The hut is the oldest mountain hut owned and operated by the Ferðafélag Íslands, The Iceland Touring Association.

Read Also: Check out all of the ghost stories from Iceland like Apollonia Schwartzkopf the Ghost at Bessastadir or The Viking Ghost at Stokksnes Beach.

The hut, the name of it meaning white is far from everything else and the closest neighbour to the hut is some old farm ruins in the distance. Farming was a way of living here in the old days, although, no one lives there all year today, and the only true neighbours are the echos from the surrounding mountains.

The Haunted Hut In solitude: Hvítárnes hut in the wild is one of the most well known icelandic ghost stories. There are stories about a woman haunting the little hut in the wilderness and many of the guests have felt her presence.

To the north towers Iceland’s second largest glacier, Langjökull over the horizon, always reminding the passing summer there is a cold winter after it that will take over the landscape. In the winter, storms can havock the highlands for days, making the area harsh in the winter, and green in the brief summer.

The Most Haunted Place in Iceland

Today it’s those fond of nature and solitude that are drawn to this place, to Hvítárnes hut. The hut has two floors and room to 30 persons in bunk beds with a warden watching the place during the summer months. The kitchen is narrow, but has running cold water and a gas oven and the toilet is outside. In other words, the Hvítárnes hut is a place for people seeking something simpler. Although, perhaps the rumours and legends of ghosts are not really a part of that simple life.

Hvítárnes hut is said to be one of the most haunted places in Iceland, and that is saying something for a country so steeped in the supernatural ways and legends. Since Hvítárnes hut was built, the hut has had complaints about something lurking, howling as the winter storms outside, although no one can really pinpoint exactly where or from who the howling is coming from.

Read Also: Check out all of our ghost stories in haunted houses from all over the world

Story goes that when guests arrive late at night, maybe coming down from hiking the ancient Kjölur hiking trail, they have vividly seen the face of a woman inside the hut through the window, expecting to meet her when entering. But once inside, there is no one but the gathering dust and coldness of solitude. However, as the short days and long nights in Hvítárnes hut passes, the ghost of this female present won’t leave the guests alone.

The Ghost of the Woman in the Window

According to the stories, the ghost of this mysterious woman you can see through the window, is refusing the guests to get a good night sleep after a long day in the wilderness and she is persistent in making her presence become known for the guests.

What she does varies, but it is often during their sleep they can feel her presence. She is been known to almost sit on top of people chests, pressing them down so that they are unable to breathe as well as being haunted by horrible nightmares.

Sometimes she even kicks them out of the many bunk beds they were assigned to. There are particular male guests that have been tormented, some even driven out from the warm hut out in the freezing cold because of the fear of what the ghost of the woman are capable of.

Read Also: Check out ghost stories from haunted hotels from all over the world you can check in to.

There is especially this one bed in the hut that are rumoured to be the most haunted one, and if you are so unlucky to be placed on it, try to move or accept that you might not get a good nights sleep. According to the stories no one are able to get a good rest on the bed and it’s nicknamed the ‘ghost bunk’ or ‘her bed’. The bed is placed on the opposite way than the rest of the beds by the door, so it’s easy to see if you got the short end of the stick.

The Ghost in the Window: According to many of the guests staying at the hut, they claim to have seen a woman in the window. Many also reports of having their sleep disturbed by something paranormal. Who can she be, is there really a ghost haunting this place?

In all lodges with a long history as this and as many guests passing by, there must be a guest book. Guest Books are meant to leave nice messages about your stay, how the weather was, and how the days went by in the little hut. And in this one, countless of frightened visitors have scribble down how they slept in their car instead, or didn’t get a single minute of sleep because of the hauntings. Someone just scribbling down the word: Ghost. This is a very old entry as well, and it shows that the hut has been deemed haunted for a very long time.

Who is the Ghost Haunting Hvítárnes Hut

There are several theories of who this girl can be. The building was built for travellers, and no one ever lived in the hut. Perhaps it is a lost traveller that disappeared a long time ago, trying to seek shelter. Perhaps there is something about the ruins of the farm that can shed some light of this?

Just a stone throw away from the hut there have been discovered traces of the ruins of a village, at least settlements called Tjarnarkot. Could the ghost be from this time? It is said to have been inhabited as soon as Iceland was discovered, but after Hekla, the volcano erupted around 1104, the place was deserted. Was it before this? Was it after? Was it ever?

There are many theories of who she could be, and they are almost all linked to the farm ruins nearby. Some claim that there was a girl working for the farmer and his wife once upon a time. The farmer tried to sleep with the girl once, but she refused him. Angered by her refusal, he locked her outside in a snowstorm, which around these parts can rage for days. She died in the snowstorm. But the farmer didn’t live long after as his wife killed him to avenge the poor girl that was under their care.

A Country of Fairy Tales: Iceland is a highly superstitious country. Here is a little cottage made for the fairies they believe lives on the island. There are plenty of places were they think these supernatural creatures lives, and they even have the modern infrastructure like making roads go around so not to disturb them.

Another theory of what happened is that she was the farmers wife, and her husband cut of her arm and drowned her in a lake nearby. Another is that she died after being left by him while pregnant. Classic tales of female ghosts in these icelandic ghost stories. All trying to explain why she mostly goes after male guests.

Whoever she is, she refuses to leave. In 1996, there was a priest named Björn H. Jónsson that blessed the hut, but to no avail, she won’t leave Hvítárnes hut. Books, podcasts, the news and paranormal researchers of icelandic ghost stories have tried and failed to find her identity or proof of her existence for years. And she is not likely to be leaving anytime soon. She has been her long before the guests started arriving at the hut, and she will be staying long after they have gone.

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References:

Hvítárvatn lake, the haunted hut and a bed that includes a young female ghost

Hvítárnes highlands lodge: Haunted by the girl in grey

Skáli: Hvítárnes

Reimleikinn í Hvítárnesi: Sparkað úr rúminu og greinilegt kvenmannsandlit í eldhúsglugganum

Hvítárnes á Kili – Áfangar.com

Haunted Hvítárnes – Perspective Magazine

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The Evil Bishop Against the Maiden in Love – The Ghost of Haapsalu Castle

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There is a ghost story that a Lady in White is haunting Haapsalu Castle in Estonia. According to the legend, she was walled up alive inside of the walls when the Bishop discovered her true identity. Her crime? She fell in love.

The ghost of the Lady in White is a wide spread thing in Europe. Every country and even region have their own local version on it. Many are haunting the old castles, cathedrals and mansions scattered across the universe. Some are haunting the waterfalls, some haunts whole families. Estonia is no exception and according to legend, their White Lady is found in Haapsalu Castle.

Sitting in the midst at the cusp of the eastern Europe Baltic heritage as well as so far north, the culture of Estonia is somewhat of a mix of the two. Many consider themselves more Nordic than Baltic, being so influenced by both Sweden and Finland, they have a rich and varied lore still alive and well today.

The Haunted Haapsalu Castle

On the western shore, the sleepy seaside town of Haapsalu is best known for its warm seawater, curative mud and peaceful atmosphere facing the Vaiinameri Sea. Salt mud spas frequented by the Russian Romanov family still operate. Everything is made for a relaxing weekend and a nice holiday for sunny days. Just don’t go to the Haapsalu Castle, it’s haunted.

Read More: Check out all of our ghost stories from Haunted Castles around the world

In the 13th century in the coastal city of Haapsalu, a castle and a cathedral was built from 1279 and it’s the only one of its kind preserved today. It was also known as Haapsalu piiskopilinnus, or more simply Bishop’s Castle. It was to be the new seat of the Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek, were God’s law was the lands law. So it was a sort of royal as well as godly position, and the design of the castle was as well.

The Haapsalu Castle by night: The castle in Haapsalu is said to be haunted by a lady in white that still lingers long after her death. She is perhaps the most well known ghost in Estonia. Here is a picture from Haapsalu Castle in the dark, or, at least what is left, is still there. Photo:Sergei Gussev/

It was not a particular popular way of ruling as the last seat they had ruled from in Perona, where the Lithuanians burned his home down to the ground. Although he needed the place quick as his previous residence had been burned down, the whole castle took around 300 years to complete with the attached cathedral and monastery to it.

The position of Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek changed hands all up to the 1500s, and in 1279, the Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek was Hermann of Buxhoeveden. It was also then he founded the castle and probably the bishop who is talked about in the legend of the Lady in White in Haapsalu Castle.

The life there, especially in the episcopal castle, was a strict one. Every canon working and living there in the monasteries were meant to live a chaste and virtuous life according to the monastery rules.

Read Also: Check out our ghost stories from all of the churches and monasteries from around the world.

Meeting women in the Haapsalu Castle was therefore strictly forbidden and punishable by death. The castle forbade all access for women and the monks rarely ventured outside to test their vows. But all of these rules is useless, love will always find a way.

The Maiden and the Canon in Love

The Forbidden Love inside of the Castle Walls: One of the monks was on a walk outside of the castle walls when he fell in love with a woman he brought back to the castle with him.

As legend of the White Lady Haapsalu Castle tells, one of the canon working there fell in love with a girl when he was outside of the castle walls. When it was clear they had to be together no matter what, he brought her with him to the Haapsalu Castle.

As there was a strict no women allowed policy, they had to disguise her so that no one would now her true identity. She went undercover and was working as a choirboy for a while to be able to meet and have a relationship with him.

They were then able to meet and talk and be in each others lives as long as they were able to pass her off as a boy to the rest of the men living there. They had no other choice if they wanted to be together. He had taken a vow to god that couldn’t be broken, and she had no way of following him with being herself.

Read Also: Check out more ghost stories about love that goes wrong with The Lady Nak of Phra Khanong — Thailand’s Famous Ghost Mae Nak, The Hauntings of the Chute de la Dame Blanche or Botan Dōrō – Tales of the Peony Lantern.

Their little scheme worked for a while. That is, until the bishop came back to the castle and their whole world came crashing down.

The bishop had been away for some time while this was going on and when he returned, a young choirboy caught his eye. Something was off, and even though they had been able to fool the rest he caught on to the deceit.

Perhaps he wasn’t the only one who knew, but everyone else had left them in peace as long as it was discreet. These details we’ll never know for sure. The bishop however couldn’t be fooled and he ordered an investigation, finding out the singer’s gender and found her to be a woman.

Starving to Death inside of Haapsalu Castle Walls

Sightings of the White Lady: The ghost of the Lady in White in Haapsalu Castle has been spotted in the chapel for a long time. Photo: Sander Säde

When the girl was found out, the bishop summoned his council to decide on their punishment. The boy was sentenced to prison were he was going to starve to death. But the girl got the worst end of the deal according to some.

She was to be put immured inside of the walls of Haapsalu Castle. The chapel was under construction at the time and they made a space where they could wall her up. They gave her a single piece of bread and mug of water before they closed up the wall with her inside and left her to die.

Read Also: This was a crime that happened from time to time. To hear more ghost stories about women being buried alive inside the walls, have a look at The Finnish Maiden of Olavinlinna Castle or Dracula and Ghost Nuns in Whitby Abbey

For several days her cries for help, her banging on the walls rung throughout the castle. No one came to her aid and everyone just passed the wall in silence, ignoring the screams that grew fainter and fainter.

Who know what she must have been thinking. She probably didn’t know she would die the way that she had been living since she arrived at Haapsalu castle, hidden inside of the castle walls.

Eventually, she died. But her soul, according to legend, remained and came back as a ghost.

Haunting the Chapel During Full Moon

Now the White Lady can move through the walls. In Haapsalu Castle there was built a chapel still standing today, and this girl is always seen at the inner wall of it, or standing by the Baptistery window around the place she is said to have been walled up.

Read Also: Check out the ghost story of the old Japanese practice of walling people up inside of walls of buildings in O-shizu, Hitobashira — The Human Sacrifice of Maruoka Castle

Whether some have actually done some digging and looked if there actually is a walled up skeleton inside of the chapel wall, is unknown.

The sightseeing of this Lady in White are always around full moons, particularly in August, when it is said is when the Bishop returned to Haapsalu Castle and she was walled up inside of the walls. Why full moon? Did it all happen during a full moon? Perhaps because of the legends that strange things happen during full moons? Or perhaps it was the imagination of the writer Carl Russwurn who popularized the legend, or perhaps even made it up?

Full Moon Haunting: It is said that the ghost of the Lady in White comes out and shows herself during the hot August full moons. Photo by Ben Mack on Pexels.com

The Lady in White is not said to do anything in particular other than to mourn her lost love and life that were taken from her because of the verdic of one man.

Coincidentally, the sightings of her in Haapsalu Castle happens during full moon in the hot August nights. This sightings is also said to happen when a music festival is held in her honor, called: The White Lady Days.

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Anime Horror Anthology Series

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Sometimes you just need a bite size story to get your filling of dread and horror, and therefore these horror anime in anthology format is just perfect for that. Here are some of them. Some are listed as stand alone episode with nothing connecting the episodes together but the genre, and some have more of a red thread, but still have that episodic feel to it. Here are some of the anime horror stories in anthology series.

Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories | 闇芝居

Aired: 2013-2019
Episodes: Nine seasons with 13 episodes each.

This long running anime horror story anthology series covered a lot. Every week at 5 p.m. an old man in a yellow mask shows up at a children’s playground and tells them ghost stories based on myths and urban legends of Japanese origin. The man tells the stories on the back of his bicycle using a traditional kamishibai (Paper Drama) method and features a new tale each week.

A series of short horror stories, Yami Shibai begins with a bachelor who, after moving into a new apartment, immediately starts sensing a malevolent glare being pressed into him. A single talisman rests on his ceiling, but he has no way of knowing it is one of the few safeguards that separate him from a bottomless pit of suffering. Each story is more terrifying, more appalling, and more sickening than the last as the Storyteller’s audience find themselves being sucked into the vicious world of his words.

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Kousetsu Hyaku Monogatari: Requiem from the Darkness |  京極夏彦　巷説百物語

Aired: 2003
Episodes: 13

One of the anime horror story anthology series that goes a little meta is the Requiem From The Darkness series. It is about Yamaoka Momosuke, a writer that usually writes riddles for children. However, he’s tired of it and want something with a bit more action to it. He wants to write an anthology series called Hyakumonogatari (“One Hundred Tales”) of scary and macabre stories. When he goes into the world to gather these stories he encounters a strange trio that are called: the Ongyou. They are also chasing the same stories and legends, but not to write about them, but to bring justice. This is the set up for Momosuke who must face horrible truths and fight with and against his own morals each time he meets the trio of detectives.

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Junji Ito Collection |  伊藤潤二「コレクション」

Aired: 2018
Episodes: 12

A collection of animated horror stories based on the works of Japanese artist Junji Ito. And although his fans rather preferred his manga work, this is a quick way to digest his work like Tomie, an immortal girl. And don’t worry, if this adaptation is not to your liking, his work has been adapted to live action and anime series several times.

In the light of day and in the dead of night, mysterious horrors await in the darkest shadows of every corner. They are unexplainable, inescapable, and undefeatable. Be prepared, or you may become their next victim.

Sit back in terror as traumatizing tales of unparalleled terror unfold. Tales, such as that of a cursed jade carving that opens holes all over its victims’ bodies; deep nightmares that span decades; an attractive spirit at a misty crossroad that grants cursed advice; and a slug that grows inside a girl’s mouth.

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Hell Girl | 地獄少女

Aired: 2005-2006
Episodes: 26

This anime horror story series continued with four additional seasons, but the beginning is perhaps the ones with the more episodic feels. When someone wants revenge, they post about it on a special website at midnight. Then Hell Girl appears to do their bidding. Those with a powerful grudge may only access this mysterious website at midnight, allowing them to enter anyone’s name and have that person be ferried straight to hell.

Ai Enma, the Hell Girl, will not judge whether or not the chosen target deserves punishment; she will merely exact revenge on them for you. Not much is known about this young girl other than that she swiftly carries out her tasks with the help of three straw dolls. There is just one catch, however—as payment for carrying out such a request, the user must condemn themselves to an afterlife in hell.

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Mushi-shi | 蟲師

Aired: 2005-2006
Episodes: 26

This anime horror story series started out as a manga from the mangaka Yuki Urushibara. This is the adaption of the award winning manga with 26 episodes based on the chapters of the manga. The episodes of the anime aired differently than what order they were published in the manga, wich says some about how episodic it all is. One episode sequel Mushishi: Hihamukage and a ten episode series called Mushishi Zoku Shou in 2014.

Ginko is a so called Mushishi, those who research the thing called Mushi. It is a mysterious entity of ‘beings’. They are removed from good and evil, but inhabits the earth by manifesting in things like plants, animals and diseases to just mention a few things they appear as. Ginko wonders about the reason behind their existence, and in doing so, perhaps finding the reason for life itself.

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When They Cry: Higurashi | ひぐらしのなく頃に

Aired: 2006
Episodes:

This anime horror story was originally a game with several storyline and outcomes, the anime solved it by resetting the timeline again and again, it also have countless sequels, sidequels, specials, OVA’s and so on. So for this reason, let’s call it an anthology.

Keiichi Maebara has just moved to the quiet little village of Hinamizawa in the summer of 1983, and quickly becomes inseparable friends with schoolmates Rena Ryuuguu, Mion Sonozaki, Satoko Houjou, and Rika Furude. However, darkness lurks underneath the seemingly idyllic life they lead.

As the village prepares for its annual festival, Keiichi learns about the local legends surrounding it. To his horror, he discovers that there have been several murders and disappearances in the village in the recent years, and that they all seem to be connected to the festival and the village’s patron god, Oyashiro. Keiichi tries to ask his new friends about these incidents, but they are suspiciously silent and refuse to give him the answers he needs. As more and more bizarre events occur, he wonders just what else his friends might be keeping from him, and if he can even trust them at all.

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xxxHOLiC | ホリック

Aired: 2006
Episodes: 24

This one season anime horror story series centers around Kimihiro Watanuki, a boy that can see spirits and other supernatural creatures. One day he encounters a woman named Yuuko he finds in a house he can’t help but enter. She is a woman claiming to be able to help him stop seeing spirits, which is something he hates. But to help him he must work for her in her shop that grants peoples wishes, and horror ensues.

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Petshop of Horrors (ペットショップ・オブ・ホラーズ)

Aired: 1999
Episodes: 4

This short, but scary anime horror story series centers around Count D, not to be confused with Dracula. He is a pet shot owner in Chinatown that sells rare, but special pets. They come with a strict contract that the owners must follow. If they do, they’ll be fine, and if they break the rules of the contract… well, the pet shop cannot be held responsible for anything that happens. In this anime horror series The episodes leads a homicide detective called Leon Orcot, to the shop. He is following a string of strange deaths and they all seems to point to Count D and his shop.

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Ayakashi: Samurai Horror Tales | 怪

Aired: 11
Episodes: 2006

In this anime horror anthology series we find a fine selection of three classic Japanese horror stories: “Yotsuya Kaidan“, the story of a wife betrayed by her husband who seeks vengeance even in death. “Tenshu Monogatari”, the story of forbidden love between a goddess and a human, and “Bakeneko”, the story of a mysterious cat monster with a vendetta against a certain family.

Mononoke | モノノ怪

Aired: 2007
Episodes: 12

This anime horror story is a sequel to the Ayakashi: Japanese Classic Horror anthology series, were we meet Kusuriuri in the Bakano episode. He is a traveller called The Medicine Seller, a master of the occult in search of evil spirits called Mononoke to kill. But one day he encounters a spirit he cannot kill. His journey to find a way to defeat the monster, he meets Shino, a pregnant woman in an inn. There she encounters the Zashiki Warashi, the monster he is hunting down. And so the hunt begins.

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