Does anyone remember the specific genre that took over in 2009 and 2010? The one were classics, both real persons and books were rewritten with a supernatural twist? It was one of those crazy frenzies that took over bookshelves and then disappeared. It happened so quickly and was over before another took over with a new super niche genre like dark fairy tale retellings, pale vampires and sulky angels saving people. But this particular genre lingered in my mind. It was something delicious in those years for me when two of my passions collided. My love for classic literature and gory horror.
It all started for me when I saw Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Even though Pride and Prejudice and Zombies came out before, this one was the one I read first. The writer, Seth Grahame-Smith was sort of the Buddha of gory classics and the author that really got this genre published. Yes, there was some movies based on these, but I personally only liked the Pride and Prejudice one.
So without further ado, if you haven’t yet jumped on this train, and you definitely should! Here I have compiled a guide of the different ones found on Audible, so you can listen to. Bear in mind, the links provided, are affiliated links, and if you decide that audible is something you are interested to, I get a small commission from it. The opinions of these particular books though, are definitely my own! So here we go!
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Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains.”
This is sort of what started it all for me, also a book written by Seth Grahame-Smith. I do love Jane Austen and her humor, but sometimes, gosh, I wish something actually happened in these books. Then came this. I think it is hilarious, and well written and a fun listen, check it out!
Summary: As our story opens, a mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton – and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she’s soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy. What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers – and even more violent sparring on the blood-soaked battlefield as Elizabeth wages war against hordes of flesh-eating undead. Can she vanquish the spawn of Satan? And overcome the social prejudices of the class-conscious landed gentry?
if you like this, the continuation of the universe, written by Steve Hockensmith is the next step.
Summary: In prequel, we witness the genesis of the zombie plague in early 19th-century England. We watch Elizabeth Bennet evolve from a naive young teenager into a savage slayer of the undead. We laugh as she begins her first clumsy training with nunchucks and katana swords and cry when her first blush with romance goes tragically awry.
There is also a sequel to the story, Dreadfully Ever After, that is about Mr Darcy being bitten by a zombie on their honeymoon.
Don’t like Pride and Prejudice? That’s fine, because the publishers thought is was a good idea to publish more of Jane Austens work with a twist. The result was Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monster by Ben H Winters.
Summary: Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters expands the original text of the beloved Jane Austen novel with all-new scenes of giant lobsters, rampaging octopi, two-headed sea serpents, and other biological monstrosities.
As our story opens, the Dashwood sisters are evicted from their childhood home and sent to live on a mysterious island full of savage creatures and dark secrets. While sensible Elinor falls in love with Edward Ferrars, her romantic sister Marianne is courted by both the handsome Willoughby and the hideous man-monster Colonel Brandon. Can the Dashwood sisters triumph over meddlesome matriarchs and unscrupulous rogues to find true love? Or will they fall prey to the tentacles that are forever snapping at their heels?
There are two type of readers. the Wuthering Heights lovers and the Jane Eyre lovers. One can love both, but the rivalry is vicious. I am definitely a team Jane Eyre and was delighted when they turned her into a bad ass slayer of vampires, zombies and werewolf.
Summery: Raised by vampire relatives, Jane grows to resent the lifestyle’s effect on her upbringing. No sunlight, nighttime hours, and a diet of bloody red meat is no way for a mortal girl to live. Things change for Jane when the ghost of her uncle visits her, imparts her parents’ slayer history, and charges her with the responsibility of striking out to find others of her kind and learn the slayer ways.
Any of this seem interesting for you? How about getting into the listening train of audio books. Now, get 50% off for the next 3 months. I’ve checked and I am now firmly sure these are the one that can offer most horror titles of the audio book platforms.
This is a collection of movies that really have that nice sublime gothic feeling about it, with all the elements that makes something gothic and would make Ann Radcliff proud.
Stiff British people unable to communicate, an overgrown and cursed house out in the marches, creepy kids? An unpleasant village in the countryside unwelcoming to strangers? Yes, yes, yeeees.
The plot, set in early 20th-century England, follows a young recently widowed lawyer who travels to a remote village where he discovers that the vengeful ghost of a scorned woman is terrorizing the locals. And as the lawyer he is, he will battle this ghost with: PAPERWORK!
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The Awakening (2011)
A tormented soul, pining for her dead boyfriend. A house too big for anyone, creepy kids and the reason why we fear to take a bath in old creepy houses. This is a twisty story that honors and mocks the time and the culture that surrounded the paranormal community at the start of the new century. Beside, Rebecca Hall is just the bonafide gothic queen. directed and co-written by Nick Murphy and starring Rebecca Hall, Dominic West, Isaac Hempstead-Wright and Imelda Staunton.
In 1921, Florence Cathcart is a published author who works with the police to debunk supernatural hoaxes and thus to expose charlatans. It is revealed that she lost her lover in the war and that she “hunts” ghosts in an attempt to see if it is possible to bring him back. She receives a visit a teacher from a boys’ boarding school in Cumbria. There have been sightings of the ghost of a child at the school and that such a sighting might have been the cause of the recent death of a pupil. And she goes to expose the hoax.
This movie shows, that gothicness didn’t die in the late 1800s. Pulling with all of its tropes into the modern world, this take on the woman in white legend, will linger.
The film follows two young girls abandoned in a forest cabin, fostered by an unknown entity that they fondly call “Mama”, which eventually follows them to their new suburban home led by two adults after their uncle retrieves them.
A woman who lives in her darkened old family house with her two photosensitive children becomes convinced that the home is haunted.
Talk of a remake is just the most unnecessary. This is an all time favorite. A balance of the drama and the horror is just, sublime. sublime is the word. Also it ticks all the boxes, you guessed it, big mansion too big for just three, creepy kids and sorrow, just so much painful sorrow.
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The Orphanage (2007)
Also a modern take, but inspired by the classics. This is also set in an orphanage, so that means, creepy kids, so already points, points, points. The house is big, and the trauma runs deep. The unholy gothic trinity.
This movie was the debut feature of Spanish filmmaker J. A. Bayona. The film stars Belén Rueda as Laura, Fernando Cayo as her husband, Carlos, and Roger Príncep as their adopted son Simón. The plot centers on Laura, who returns to her childhood home, an orphanage. Laura plans to turn the house into a home for disabled children, but after an argument with Laura, Simón goes missing.
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 the ghosts of Japan.
There are a lot of creatures, entities that haunts in Japanese culture. But yūrei is probably one of the more classic Ghosts of Japan and its legends and differs slightly from the others entities. They are for example the only ones haunting at a specific time, with the hour of the ox as a preference, which is from 2 to 2:30 am. This is when the veil between the dead and the living, the different worlds is at is thinnest.
The yūrei is also more geographical bound than other entities, and with a specific purpose for the hauntings. Unfinished business or vengeance, being the most common perhaps. The real tragedy is when a spirit can never find peace, because their unfinished business can never be fulfilled.
The Onryō is probably the most well known type of ghosts in Japanese culture there is. Onryō (怨霊), basically means “vengeful spirit” or “wrathful spirit” in Japanese and is a very iconic image with her white kimono and long black hair in modern ghost stories.
This particular ghost of Japan is driven by rage and consumed by revenge. This Yūrei will do anything to punish those who wronged them in life. Mostly, the spirit never starts out as evil, and wasn’t an evil person when alive. But the circumstances around their life and particularly around their death made them bit by bit as time went on and anger built up.
This type of vengeful spirit are sometimes created from the basis of love, but the jealousy perverted the love so much, it turned to hatred. In both cases, their soul are unable to pass on to be reborn and lingers in the realm of between the living and dead.
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 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.
Goryō
御霊
The Noble Ghost of Japan
The Noble Ghost of Japan
Is sort of the same av an Onryō and often a Goryō ghost story follows the same pattern. It is vengeful spirits and ghosts in Japanese legends, capable of so much destruction and with a single goal in mind. The main difference from the Onryō, is that the Goryō is mostly a noble man, not a female, and the main goal is often to restore his honour he lost in real life than revenge on those who wronged him.
This Japanese ghost known as Goryō was most often from the aristocratic or royal class when in life. The Kanji 御 (go) actually means honorable while 霊 (ryō) means some sort of soul or spirit. And it is especially the case when those people were martyred or wronged, loosing their honor etc.
This is the Japanese ghost of those dying at sea. It literally means boat spirit and is the same as an Onryō, only out at sea. Often fishermen, sailors and the likes, people dying in shipwreck and want other to join them in the deep sea.
These types of ghosts in Japanese legends are described as being surrounded by an atmospheric light, so you can see them, even when they turn up on dark, foggy nights, rainy days and under the full or new moon. They can be described as ghost haunting the rivers and lake as well. At times, these ghost are shown as scaly fish-like, and pictures of them might be confused with mermaids or mermen.
UBUME
産女
The Mother Ghost of Japan
The Mother Ghost of Japan
Ubume: うふめ from Bakemono no e (化物之繪, c. 1700), Harry F. Bruning Collection of Japanese Books and Manuscripts, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University. source Date: circa 1700
This is the Japanese ghost of a mother who died in childbirth. It could also come if she died leaving very young children. This ghost differs a lot from the Onryō for example, for its purpose. It is not after revenge, but stays out of compassion, giving sweets and looking after her children she left behind.
Those seeing her will see what looks like a pregnant woman pass by. Or she will approach you, telling you to hold her child, only for you to realize there isn’t a child, just a bundle of rocks or leaves.
Zashiki-warashi
座敷童子
The Child Ghost of Japan
The Child Ghost of Japan
This is what happens when children becomes ghosts in Japanese legends. They are not really depicted as dangerous, but at times mischievous. They would do pranks, leaving prints in the kitchen and the likes, but it also meant good fortune for them who saw them. But what are these Japanese ghosts? Strange otherworldly child-like creatures, or spirits of children?
It has been theories that they are the spirit of children that were killed when there were too many mouths to feed. It was back in the day a rather gruesome tradition to be killed by a stone and buried in the dirt floor room called doma or in the kitchen.
Fuyūrei and Jibakurei
浮遊霊
The Wandering Ghost of Japan
The Wandering Ghost of Japan
These two Japanese ghosts are very similar to each other. They are both spirit with no purpose, wandering aimlessly around, earthbound, often just going in circle and in a loop. Unable to find peace.
Ikiryō
生き霊
The Living Ghost of Japan
The Living Ghost of Japan
This is a very peculiar one and a bit on the side from the other ghosts in Japanese culture. It is when a part of the living soul or spirit leaves the body to haunt people or a specific place. Often across distances as well.
One of the more well known ghost stories in Japan is of the poor servant Okiku in the ghost story Banchō Sarayashikihas become the very image of a Japanese ghost story.The girl that died in the well and comes back, forever counting the plates of her master, hoping that one time, she won’t be missing any.
Okiku Well: by Katsushika Hokusai, most known for making the The Great Wave off Kanagawa, painting. From the one hundred ghost tales series. depicting the Banchō Sarayashiki
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.
Banchō Sarayashiki is a tale of dying unjustly and the haunting of righting a wrong. The story always revolves around Okiku, a servant, who was killed by her master. Not to be confused with Okiku, the haunted doll which is equally terrifying, but a different tale altogether.
It has had many adaptations and different variations of the legends exists. Here in this article, we are trying to focus mostly on the folktale the stage plays and books are based on.
This old Japanese ghost stories called Kaidan (怪談,) meaning “strange, mysterious, rare, or bewitching apparition” and “talk” or “recited narrative“. In its broadest sense, kaidan refers to any ghost story or horror story, but it has an old-fashioned ring to it that carries the connotation of Edo period Japanese folktales.
The type of storytelling was especially popular in the Edo period with parlor games like Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai that focused in telling ghost stories.
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.
Okiku and the Nine Plates
So what happened to the poor Okiku in the story of Banchō Sarayashiki that was so tragic and terrifying that it is still talked about today?
Banchō Sarayashiki:The print depicts the ghost of Okiku appearing by the well in which her master, Aoyama Tessan, murdered her. From the Thirty-six Ghosts series by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi 1890.
There once was a servant Okiku working for a samurai named Aoyama Tessan in his mansion in Japan. Okiku was a beautiful girl and Aoyama, her master fell in love in her, and told her he wanted to marry her. However she did not feel the same and had to refuse his advances again and again. Her master started to grow tired and angry at her refusals. To make her follow his will he made a plan to trick her.
The family had at that time, ten precious Delft plates, a type of glazed porcelain. Very valuable and pretty. Losing one of them would be a crime punished by death. As a servant, Okiku was in charge of taking care of these plates and she knew very well the consequences if she messed up.
The master of the house knew this as well and used this and he tricked her, thinking she had lost one of them by hiding it.
Okiku counted, and recounted the nine plates, over and over again. But it was never enough. She could’t find the tenth plate and she went to her master, pleading for forgiveness. He said he would overlook the mistake she thought she had done, if she only became his lover. But to his surprise she refused, again. And Aoyama couldn’t take no for an answer.
Enraged, he threw her down a well were she died. In some version, she threw herself down the well to escape the torment from her master. In either cases, she died in that well. Perhaps quickly, hitting the stone walls, perhaps slowly, drowning in the dark water.
It is said she became an onryō, a vengeful spirit, back for revenge of those who wronged her. The ghost of Okiku tormented her murderer, every night, rising from the well and coming up to the mansion again, making him go insane in the end. Okiku was still counting the nine plates, one by one. Only reaching nine everytime, then making a terrible shriek when she again missed the tenth plate.
According to legends, an onryō is very difficult to get rid of. In this case, no one built a shrine in her honor to appease the spirit, however, some say that a Buddhist monk or a neighbor appeased the ghost by shouting ten to her, making her believe all of the plates were finally there, but then again— Some says she still haunts the castle she used to work in, unable to ever move on.
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…
Banchō Sarayashiki Stage Play Adaptation
In some versions of the tale it is the mistress of the manor that breaks one of the dishes making Okiku commits suicide because of the mistress torment because she is jealous of Okiku. Similar to the other versions, Okiku is heard counting the nine plates, but in this version it is the mistress who goes insane and dies.
The Banchō Sarayashiki story was first seen as a bunraku, a type of puppet show, way back in 1741, based on the legend of the Manor of the Dishes and the poor servant. It was then turned into a kabuki play. But perhaps the most popular adaption of the legend is a play written in 1916 by Okamoto Kido, a modern version were the horror elements of the tale was turned into a psychological drama between the two characters.
Today the most famous adaption of this legend though is The Ring franchise with the vengeful spirit Sadako climbing out from the well to haunt the living and get her revenge.
The Okiku Insect Haunting the Wells in Japan
The haunting of Okiku’s ghost told in the Banchō Sarayashiki story, have been widely reported on for centuries, so exactly when it started to circulate as a ghost story before getting on the stage is unclear. Today the image of the young girl haunting and ascending from a well is such an iconic image.
But her haunting the wells in Japan was a well known motief long before the rise of J-Horror, and much of it was actually because of actual events in the 1700s.
A thing about these types of vengeful spirits like the onryō in Asia is their supposed forces to affect more than the ones who hurt them.
Vengeful ghosts often got blamed when there were peculiar natural disasters, accidents or even illnesses that could be linked to the ghost stories in some way. This was the case with the haunting of Okiku in the Banchō Sarayashiki.
All back in 1795 the old wells in Japan got a larvae infestation that were blamed on the ghost of Okiku. It was later known as the “Okiku insect” (お菊虫, okiku mushi).
This larva that was actually a type of butterfly larva called Chinese Windmill, covered with thin threads making it look as though it had been bound, was widely believed to be a reincarnation of Okiku when it covered the old wells and became a part of the legend of the Banchō Sarayashiki.
People in Japan that had heard and believed in the ghost story thought for a long time that the infestation was a reincarnation of Okiku and the cause of the infestation.
Haunting The Himeji Castle
Most of the legends claim that the hauntings of the Banchō Sarayashiki legend are in Edo (Tokyo). But there is a claim that the location of where it happened, is at the beautiful Himeji Castle, one of the biggest sightseeing places in Japan. It is claimed as the location in the Banchō Sarayashiki retelling in Ningyo Joruri’s version of the play. According to the legends, she is not th only ghost that are supposed to haunt the place.
The location: One of the stage adaption places the legend of Banchō Sarayashiki isat the wonderful Himeji Castle and the well on the castle ground known as Okiku Well attracts tourists as well as the beautiful white castle and cherry blossoms does. Photo by Nien Tran Dinh on Pexels.com
One the spots to see at Himeji Castle is the Okiku-Ido, or the Okiku Well were her ghost still lingers. There is also a well in the garden of the Canadian embassy in Tokyo, supposedly built on land bought from the Aoyama family, that claims this is the well she died in. In both versions though, the story is the same:
At night, Okiku comes out from the well to count the nine plates. One plate, two plate …’ ‘Nine plate, … one is missing …’ she goes. According to the some variations to the ghost story, you will die if you stay to the end with her reaching the tenth plate. If you manage to flee before her reaching the seventh, you may live, although you may lose your mind.
What is even more creepy is that this exact well fount at Himeji Castle to this day has bars all over it as some type of security measurement. Keeping the tourist out. Or.. perhaps keeping something in?
From a classical folklore motif to the black haired lady dressed in white in Kabuki Theatre and Japanese horror movies, this ghost called Onryō is still haunting Japan. Clad in her distinct white kimono and long black hair, she will stop at nothing to get her revenge.
In many cultures, ghosts are put in different categories such as the case with Onryō (怨霊), basically means “vengeful spirit” or “wrathful spirit” in Japanese. It is a mythological spirit of vengeance from Japanese folklore. The Onryō is a type of yūrei, meaning ghosts. But these are ghosts with a purpose and as opposed to the yūrei, these ghosts doesn’t just get over their revenge thoughts.
Even though the modern world reject things like ghosts i most cases, Japanese reverence for onryō spirits endures, notably illustrated by the case of Taira no Masakado’s head mound, Masakado-zuka. Even though urban redevelopment projects relocated it several times, each move resulted in accidents and a construction worker’s death. The mound, situated amidst Tokyo’s skyscrapers, remains intact while surrounding buildings have undergone frequent reconstruction. It continues to be meticulously maintained in respect for onryō spirits.
Let us have a closer look to the famous ghost that has a long and varied history from being the main antagonist in movies to women with a tragic fate.
The Origins Of The Onryō
The origins of the Onryō is a bit unclear but can be traced back in written records since the 7th or 8th century in Japan in the late Yamato period when Buddhism were introduced to Japan and the vengeful spirit of an Onryō reminds quite a bit about the hungry ghosts from Buddhism or Preta as it was known as in Sanskrit.
The Ghost: The Onryō has long roots in Japanese ghost mythology. // Photo: Sawaki Suushi (佐脇嵩之,)
The vengeful spirit manifests when someone is either killed or driven to their death. The person died so filled of rage over the ones that either killed or betrayed them in some way, they will stop at nothing to avenge themselves.
Mostly, the spirit never starts out as evil, and wasn’t an evil person when alive. But the circumstances around their life and particularly around their death made them bit by bit as time went on and anger built up. This type of vengeful spirit are sometimes created from the basis of love, but the jealousy perverted the love so much, it turned to hatred. In both cases, their soul are unable to pass on to be reborn and lingers in the realm of between the living and dead.
In traditional beliefs and literature in Japan and similar spirits across Asia, they causes harm to the living, killing its enemies or in some cases, been blamed for causing natural disaster to get revenge. It feels it was wronged in life and now they have a change to correct that in their afterlife.
Usually it was a victim when alive, but in death, it doesn’t discriminate passing judgment to others, making them their victims.
It is said that the Onryō don’t know how to differentiate between the guilty and the innocent victims, making them dangerous for the living. They also have a tendency to make their victims suffer for as long as possible before murdering them as the torture itself seems to be the goal.
The Female Onryō and the Male Goryō
The term Onryō is almost exclusively a title that refers to a female ghost today although some of the first example of this type of vengeful spirits were male. There are also cases of the male Onryō told today, but they mainly focus on the topic of restoring their honor after death than the revenge the female spirit often are after.
The term Onryō overlaps somewhat with Goryō (御霊), another type of yūrei, except that goryō is not necessarily a wrathful spirit and is often an upper-class nobleman. The Kanji 御 (go) actually means honorable while 霊 (ryō) means some sort of soul or spirit.
In broad strokes we can generalize the female spirit is an Onryō in most ghost stories and literature, and is after revenge because of a betrayal, while the male spirit, the Goryō, is after revenge because of his honor and he wants to restore it.
Similar Spirits Around the World
As mentioned, the Onryō is similar to many vengeful spirits, especially from Buddhism, but this type of ghost is filtered through Japan’s indigenous nature religion, Shinto. It is not only in Asia we can find ghost stories about a woman dressed in white that comes back after death to haunt the place she died or the people that wronged her.
This type of vengeful ghost is also similar to the Poltergeist in the English and Germanic language that are highly dangerous and can cause physical harm to the living people according to some ghost stories. It is also somewhat similar to the Lady in White we can hear stories from all across Europe and also South America (See La Llorona).
In Asia as a whole the vengeful spirit like the Japanese Onryō is found in many lores, both Chinese, Korean and Thai for example. Most notably perhaps is the Asian Hungry Ghost particular from Chinese folklore and the Korean Virgin Ghost that over the years seems to be merging more and more towards the Onryō.
After the Chinese nobleman Tu Po was betrayed by his own king and fellow nobles, he became a vengeful ghost, or Hungry Ghost as it is known as in Buddhism. Even in his afterlife he sought revenge on those who betrayed him and fought to restore his honor.
The Korean virgin ghost may be based on the ideals that all a woman needs is a husband, but the anger of these spirits tells of a woman with another purpose. And that is mostly vengeance.
When unexplained deaths of seemingly healthy and young men occur around the same time and same place there are many Thai people who believe it is the Widow Ghost who is after their men, and they have their own way of holding the seemingly paranormal death at bay.
The Onryō is not only dangerous to individuals, but are also believed to be capable of causing extreme havoc. Many plagues, earthquakes, famins, fires, storms and the likes have been connected to the vengeful ghosts. This type of revenge with natural forces are called tatari (祟り) Something that we see in the story of Nagaya’s curse.
Nagaya was a prince that died wrongfully. A ghost most called a Goryō, because of his stature and gender. He died in 729, and is one of the earliest records of this type of vengeful spirit.
This was also the earliest case were a cult was formed to show respect and reverence to the dead and to help appease the vengeful spirits. And also, perhaps a bit out of fear that they would feel the wrath of the vengeful spirit. There are several instances were cults for the Onryō were made.
This is not to be confused with the ghosts that comes after a big natural disaster though, as with the case of the Ghosts of the Tsunami for instance, where the ghosts are mostly just trying to get home.
You also have the case of Okiku that died in the well on the property and was said to haunt it and her vengeful spirit was the cause of some natural disasters that affected the wells.
The haunting of Okiku’s ghost told in the Banchō Sarayashiki story, have been widely reported on for centuries. All back in 1795 the old wells in Japan got a larvae infestation that were blamed on the ghost of Okiku.
The larvae infestation on the wells was later known as the “Okiku insect” (お菊虫, okiku mushi). They long thought that the infestation was a reincarnation of Okiku and the cause of the infestation. It is not uncommon that disasters and accidents were the works of vengeful ghosts throughout Asia.
The Kabuki Onryō from the Japanese Theatre
Many of the Japanese ghost stories are built upon the legend of the onryō. From the early ghost stories to pop culture movies and books. What most people today think of when thinking of the Onryō is the scorned woman, much like the Lady in White type of ghost in western lore. This is very prominent in the Myth of Oiwa, who was left by her husband or in the case with Banchō Sarayashiki — the Ghost of Okiku who were wronged by her master she was working for.
Today, the image of the onryō is a quite specific one, clad in all white with loose black hair. This image came with the rise of the dance theater Kabuki in the Edo period in the 1600s, and a specific costume was developed for the onryō to make it recognizable on the stage. Before this time, the ghosts had no particular look. After however, it is a well known sight:
A white burial kimono known as shiroshōzoku (白装束),
Long, loose and messy hair.
Powdered white face with dark eyes
The Onryō look: The Kabuki theatre formed the visual we know today with the long black hair and the long white dress. Here from the movie The Ring that shows the iconic Onryō Sadako from The Ring (リング) (1998), that reinvented the vengeful ghost on TV for the modern audience.
The Modern J-Horror Onryō
Today the Onryō is mostly known from the modern Japanese horror films as a next step from the Kabuki theatre from the edo period. Perhaps in today’s society the Onryō is mostly known for its appearance in Japanese horror films and books that built upon the lore that was already there.
Most known is the Onryō spirit of Sadako and Kayako from the Ring and The Grudge franchises. So populare are they in fact that they even have their Hollywood remakes from the source material. This goes to show that the story of the scorned woman dressed in white works globally.
And although based on centuries old legends, the fear of this special vengeful spirit still goes on. And with the visuals from the Kabuki make-up department, they also incorporated the specific jarring movement of the crawling out from the TV and twisting inside the cracks of a house.
Ringu Japanese Horror Movie: One of the more famous Onryō today is found in iconic horror movies like in Ringu from 1998.
How To Exorcise an Onryō
So how do you get rid of an Onryō when one is created according to traditional belief? After all, not all ghost stories can end with the ghost just lingering in the living world forever.
Many theories about how you get rid of a vengeful ghost exists. Since it is such a prominent figure in the Shinto religion, the native spiritual religion of Japan, much of the rituals comes from there. Unlike Buddhism’s thoughts that deceased will be reincarnated within 49 days, the Japanese mix of both Buddhism and Shinto, is slightly different. Often certain measures is needed to get rid of an Onryō.
Can you get rid of an Onryō: According to legend it is very difficult to appease the vengeful spirit and most ghost stories need some religious intervention to get rid of the spirit. //Source: Anela/flickr
They are said to be very hard to get rid of though. While most yūrei only haunt a person or place until they are exorcised or placated, an Onryō’s grudge-curse continues to infect a location long after the ghost itself is gone. So can one ever get rid of them according to folklore?
Mostly though the trick is just about to find a way to please the spirit. Such was the case with Sugawara no Michizane. He was a vengeful spirit that didn’t leave the capital alone before they built a shrine in his honor. But like the case with Okiku, most measurements are taken to just get out of the Onryōs way alive rather than get rid of the ghost for good.
The Vengeful Spirit of the Onryō
The Onryō continues to haunt Japan’s folklore, literature, and pop culture, captivating audiences with its vengeful spirit and chilling presence. From its mysterious origins in ancient Japanese records to its portrayal in Kabuki theater and modern J-horror films, the Onryō has become an iconic figure in the realm of ghosts.
Although categorized as a specific type of yūrei, the Onryō stands out due to its relentless pursuit of revenge. Born from a tragic fate and consumed by rage, these spirits stop at nothing to avenge themselves against those who wronged them in life. Their vengeful nature transcends boundaries, making them dangerous to both the guilty and the innocent.
The Onryō’s legacy continues to fascinate and frighten, serving as a reminder of the power and intensity of human emotions and the lingering impact they can have beyond the grave. As long as there are tales to be told and fear to be felt, the Onryō will forever haunt the imagination of those who dare to delve into the realm of the vengeful spirits.
So, tread carefully in the darkness, for you never know when the vengeful spirit of the Onryō might appear, driven by an insatiable thirst for revenge that transcends time and space.
Articles on Moon Mausoleum about the Onryō and some similar ghosts:
Explore the supernatural stories of Japan’s Magnificent Haunted Himeji Fortress and find out why this iconic castle is said to be haunted by both monsters and tragic ghosts.
In the dimly lit alleys in urban Japan, a woman wearing a mask is terrorizing the children walking home from late school. When she reveals her carved up mouth, it’s over. Kuchisake-onna, or The Slit-Mouthed Woman will get her revenge.
On the foundation of old land with a lot of history, a new park was built called Pasir Ris Park. But the legends surrounding the mangrove forest followed into the modern day busy Singapore.
The new Netflix TV-series Ju-On: Origins gives a new spin on the franchise. From going from classical jump-scares to an actual social commentary installment.
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 the ghosts of Japan.
From the ancient writings of Plutarch, we can find a greek ghost story of the ghost of a young orphaned boy named Damon haunted a bathhouse in Chaeronea in Greece. According to the legend, the ghost haunted the place for centuries, perhaps even to this day?
Many of the oldest ghost stories sounds eerily alike to those of today, showing that the concept of ghost have been fairly consistent across time and place. Although most ghost stories from the ancient world is found in mythology and fairy tales, there are those ghost stories that comes from more historical records. Like this greek ghost story about a haunted bathhouse from the writings of Plutarch.
Plutarch (AD 46–after 119), was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo. He also served his last thirty years a priest in Delphi. He also was a part of The Eleusinian Mysteries for the cult of Demeter and Persephone based at Eleusis in ancient Greece. They are the “most famous of the secret religious rites of ancient Greece“. So a man of the spirits, to say the least.
Temple of Delphi: This area of Greece have always been steeped in mystery and this greek ghost story happened not far from the mystical temple of Delphi.
Plutarch is known primarily for his Parallel Lives, a series of biographies of famous men from that time. Although the writings is mostly about vices and virtues and about philosophy about moral, he managed to put in a couple of ghost stories here and there as well.
Ghosts in Ancient Greece
So how did the typical ghost in ancient Greece look like? Back then it was closely linked to Greek mythology as it was the go to for explaining the unexplainable.
In ancient Greece there was two underworld goddesses the restless spirits belonged to: Melinoe and Hecate. Both were associated by wandering at night, with a trail of ghosts behind them, striking fear in anyone who saw them and their train of restless spirits following them to the underworld as their hounds barked with them. The two goddesses were also the ones that oversaw the burial rituals, something that was very important for the Greek and their ghost stories.
The Spirits of the Underworld: This greek ghost story and most other stories was deep rooted in the Greek mythology. Here depicted in: Souls on the Banks of the Acheron by Adolf Hirémy-Hirschlin 1898.
There were three main categories of ghosts in ancient Greece that restless spirits could be divided into: the ataphoi, the aoroi and the biaiothanatoi.
The ataphoi was the spirit of those who had not had a proper burial and their mission haunting was to get the living to bury them properly so they would be able to move on. This was mostly an easy fix as long as you could find the body, and after they had a properly burial they would mostly just disappear to the afterlife.
The aoroi was ghost of those that died too young and had led an incomplete life and was a bit more tricky to deal with. This type of ghost could possible become vengeful after death because of the regret of dying before its time.
The biaiothanatos however was the ghost that died a violent death, either murdered or in war. Like the two other categories it was highly important with the proper funeral rites for the dead so they would not awake as ghosts and haunt the place and possible harm the living.
A Greek Ghost Story
One of the ghost stories we find in the biography is about Cimon (510-450 BC). The ghost story is set in Chaeronea in Boeotia in Central Greece, just east of Delphi. It was also the birth town of Plutarch and it is said this was a ghost story he personally knew off as the ghost was still about in his day and age.
This greek ghost story tells the story about Damon Peripoltas, an orphan boy, living in Chaeronea. At this time, the city was ravaged by war and poverty, making it a breeding ground for violence like this story turned out to be.
Damon was said to be a beautiful boy, more so than the rest. He was a descendant of Peripoltas, the ancient seer that led his people to Boeotia. The descendants of the seer were held in high esteem, but it all changed after Damon though.
Although he was deemed to be a beautiful boy, he was also regarded as a dangerous one. He was poor, untrained and filled with rage and had no problems with violence. Something the whole city was about to know the hard way.
The Roman Commander’s Advances
A Roman commander was wintering in Chaeronea with his unit. One day, the young Damon, just past his childhood, caught the commander’s eyes and the commander decided he wanted him. The Roman commander claimed he fell in love with the beautiful orphan boy and made a pass on him. He tried to shower Damon in presents and gifts to woo him over, but Damon refused and was offended by the grown man’s advances.
This made the commander angry and his approach towards Damon changed. He threatened the boy with violence and said he would send Damon into obscurity and poverty if he did not give into him.
Damon got afraid of the repercussions he would suffer at the hands of the Roman commander and fearing exactly this, as he had seen what poverty could do to a man, Damon plotted against the man before he was the one suffering. But he had no intention of giving into the commander.
Smeared With Soot and Drunk on Wine
Damon had grown up in the rough city on the streets and a violent end was all he knew off. He gathered sixteen of his friends to help him see the plot towards the Roman through. They smeared their face with soot one night and got drunk on wine to gather the courage to get on with it.
Just before the break of dawn they attacked the Roman commander as he was sacrificing to his gods in the marketplace. The crew of youngsters killed the Roman then and there, and together they left the city before getting caught.
A Tragic Greek Ghost Story: This story ended in blood as almost everyone in the story ended up murdered. Here a depiction of the assassination of the Roman emperor, Julius Caesar who also were murdered by a group in a public place.
According to Roman law presiding in the city, this was punished by death, and this was the sentence the counsel of Chaeronea gave them. So, as the council sat to supper in the evening, Damon and his men broke into the town-hall were they were dining and slew them all. And yet again, they flew the city.
Hunted by the Romans
An investigation was done and they asked Damon to return, noticing the city also had been wrong. Damon was ravaging and pillaging the countryside with his accomplices, having fallen to poverty as he desperately didn’t want to. He was even making threats to the city that had cast him out. They lured him back by appointing him gymnasiarch, a high honor as an official, that would lead to respect and riches. He couldn’t refuse.
But when he came, he was having a vapor bath in the bathhouse and was slain. But they would never silence him as it was said that the ghost of Damon haunted the bathhouse.
His ghost roamed the bathhouse and the phantom of him appeared in it, sighing and groaning of his life that was cut short and from the betrayal.
The Haunted Bathhouse
Because of the ruckus from the ghost in the bathhouse, the citizens walled the bathhouse shut, trying to keep him inside, trying to put a lid on the past and their deeds. And it was said that still in Plutarch’s time, neighbors could still hear him inside, trying to get out again, to flew the city once more and finally be free.
Haunted Bathhouse: The greek were famous of their advanced public bathhouses. In this greek ghost story, the locals had to close up the bathhouse as the ghost of the murdered Damon kept crying and trying to escape.
Descendants of Damon’s family still lived at that time, near Stiris in Phocis. They are called Asbolomeni, or Besooted because of how Damon smeared himself with soot before committing his crimes.
What happened with the bathhouse and this greek ghost story if the place ever got quiet is uncertain, as ghost that met a violent end had a habit of holding a grudge for a long time.
A ranger was patrolling alone in the car. It had been a quiet night, and not a single soul was out. No hikers getting lost, no campers in need. He hadn’t seen anyone his whole watch. He was sipping his coffee, and watching the night sky over the beautiful forest.
Suddenly, his peace is over. Voices on his radio is screeching, a machine like sound, covering over the human voice. Thinking it is just a bad signal and that his colleagues’ is trying to reach him, he picks up the radio. He waves it around, cursing and hoping they soon will get some better ones to their work place. These things never work as they should.
When he holds it out, the voice manages to pierce through. The voice is weak, the signal flaking, almost a whisper. He listens intently, it’s not his colleague.
“West,” he hears, before it fades away again. He turns it to get a better signal. A series of numbers follows.
Coordinates! That must be it.There must be hunters hunting nearby. They’ve had troubles with that before. He calls it in.
“Hi Jimmy. I picked up something on the radio. Might be hunters. I’ll go check them out. Of west from where I am now.”
He can hear Jimmy thinking at the other end.
“You sure you want to go alone in? I’ll be there in a couple of hours max.”
“Yeah, it’s fine. Probably just Earl and his boys, trying to be smart.”
“Heh, yeah, must be. Crazy Earl. Smart, he’s not.”
“Haha, no. Well, see ya in a bit.”
So he gets out of the car and start walking towards were he thinks it can be. As he moves through the dark forest, he can make out low voices, speaking in a muffled sound, trying to make as little sound as possible. He is getting closer and can see faint lights in the distance. Now, he’s got them. Red handed, finally.
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A sudden shot in the dark is heard, and he throws himself on the ground. Shocked, he is too frozen to scream out. Enraged voices are heard, a big commotion is in the works. Too much for small prey? He wonders. Figures it’s best to just stay still, wait for backup.
He signals back to his colleague. No words, just clicking. Code for get more backups. Hours, it seems like, he lies there, the voices dying down, only the wind in the bushes, the howling from the trees is alive in the forest now. And he lies there, perfectly still. Not moving a muscle. This is not crazy Earl. This is something more.
Familiar voices finally breaks through the silence. Moving lights from flashlights and the shouting of his whole team is heard through the forest. He doesn’t get up before seeing Jimmy in the darkness.
“Thank God, Jimmy!” he says, getting too his feet. Jimmy grabs him, holding him tight. Not the reaction for the back up call.
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“Jesus, I’m fine. Jimmy, calm down.”
“Calm down?” Holy fu- You don’t know?”
“Don’t know what?” He asks. Jimmy is white as sheet, trembling the ranger notices. He’s never seen him tremble.
“I brought the police. They found a body.”
“What?”
“Holy, I thought it was you, I just. God, I’m glad to see you.”
“A body? Where?”
“Just over here. They are digging it up now,” Jimmy says. The lone ranger is led back to the clearing were the police and the rangers have set up camp. A police officer is approaching them. She takes off her gloves when she stops in front of them.
“Hey, you the ranger that called it in?”
The ranger look over her shoulder. In a shallow grave they have dug out a body. A white sheet is covering it.
“Gunshot?” he asks, not answering the question. He is too shaken to focus. The police officer nods. She looks at him, and how disheveled he look,s having been on the ground for who know how long.
“And the shooters? Did you find the shooters?” he asks. Now they just look confused.
“What do you mean?”
“The shooters. I heard them, not too long ago.”
She exchanges looks with Jimmy. He looks at me, takes his shoulder.
“Dude. We found no one,” he says. The police officer takes another step towards him.
“This person has been dead for a long time now. There is nothing but a skeleton left.”
The ranger leaves them there. He walks over to where the body, or skeleton is being carried away. He checks his GPS. Right were they are now, is the same coordinates that he heard over the radio not so long ago.
One of the more haunting and mysterious ballads of the middle ages is the ballad of the Maiden in the Moor Lay.
The poem of the moor lady has only been preserved in one manuscript found in the Bodleian library in Oxford and tells the strange tale of something that can remind of a haunting of a maiden. The ballad was once set to a melody that are now forever lost along with the name of the author. Probably we will never know what the song is really about and who this lady can be. It is probably from the fourteenth century and this is the lyrics:
Old English
Maiden in the mor lay– in the mor lay– Seuenyst fulle, seuenist fulle. Maiden in the mor lay– in the mor lay– Seuenistes fulle ant a day.
Welle was hire mete. wat was hire mete?
The primerole ant the– the primerole ant the– Welle was hire mete. Wat was hire mete? The primerole ant the violet.
Welle was hire dring. wat was hire dring? The chelde water of the– the chelde water of the– Welle was hire dring. Wat was hire dring? The chelde water of the welle-spring.
Welle was hire bour. wat was hire bour? The rede rose an the– The rede rose an the– Welle was hire bour. wat was hire bour? The rede rose an the lilie flour.
English Translation
Maiden in the moor lay, In the moor lay– Seven nights full, seven nights full. Maiden in the moor lay-
In the moor lay– Seven nights full and a day.
Good was her meat. What was her meat? The primrose and the– The primrose and the– Good was her meat. What was her meat? The primrose and the violet.
Good was her drink. What was her drink? The chilled water of the– The chilled water of the– Good was her drink.
What was her drink? The chilled water of the well spring.
Good was her bower. What was her bower? The red rose and the– The red rose and the- Good was her bower. What was her bower? The red rose and the lily flower.
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Who was the maiden, or rather what was she? Christians claim her as Virgin Mary to make it more holy, folklore claim her as something older. Perhaps a germanic water sprite, a fairy. Some interpret the maiden as an ordinary girl, perhaps even a ghost? That is probably lost to history and both the origin of the song as well as the original melody is something we can only guess.
There are countless, countless, COUNTLESS ballads, songs, poems and plays about ghosts and hauntings throughout history. Here are a collection of some songs about ghosts that have a connection or is about an actual ghost legend or a haunting.
Murder of Maria Marten (1971) by Shirley Collins and the Albion Country Band
This modern folk ballad is actually inspired by the real Red Barn Murder. Maria Marten supposed eloped with her lover, William Corder in 1827, in Polstead, county Suffolk, England. He wrote back to her family, claiming they were fine. But then, Maria started appearing to her stepmother in her dreams. The ghost of Maria told she was dead and were they would find her.
They found her body in the barn and Corder was found and executed. Corder’s skeleton was reassembled, exhibited, and used as a teaching aid in the West Suffolk Hospital. The skeleton was put on display in the Hunterian Museum in the Royal College of Surgeons of England, where it hung beside that of Jonathan Wild until 2004. The murder inspired plays, songs and movies, one of them sung by Shirley Collins, with her voice echoing the ye’ old England ballads.
Read more about Maria Marten and The Red Barn Murder:
The murder of Maria Marten, a case called The Red Barn Murder got a lot of media coverage in England because of the strange circumstances. The murder was allegedly solved by the appearance of the ghost of the victim, haunting people’s dreams.
Few voices are as haunting than Alison Krauss. And the song, Jacob’s dream, even more so because of its backstory of The Lost Children of the Alleghenies. It’s a well known folk story from the Appalachia region of the United States. George and Joseph Cox, then aged seven and five , disappeared from their home in Pavia on April 24, 1856.
The legend tells that the night after the disappearance a local farmer, Jacob Dibert dreamt he walked a path through the woods past a dead deer, a child’s shoe and a fallen birch tree and eventually to a copse of birch trees in a small ravine. Here he found the bodies of the Cox boys. The dream recurred on the two following nights. He and his brother in law decided to make a search, culminating in the discovery of the bodies just as the dream had described – under birch trees in a small ravine reached along a track with a dead deer, a child’s shoe and a fallen birch.
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The Ride (1983) by David Allan Coe
The writer, Gary Gentry swears the ghost of Hank Williams appeared to him in his darkened house one night. Gentry says he tried to summon Williams for a little inspiration. And he supposedly came. The ballad tells the story of a hitchhiker’s meeting with the ghost of Hank Williams, Sr. in a ride from to Nashville, Tennessee. The mysterious driver, “dressed like 1950, half drunk and hollow-eyed” and driving an “antique Cadillac” (referring to the baby blue 1952 Cadillac convertible that Williams died in), questions the narrator whether he has the musical talent and dedication to become a star in the country music industry.
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Elizabeth (2010) by Ghost
The Swedish occult rock band could have had many listings on this particular list of songs about ghosts. Especially since they have dedicated their carrier to warn about the coming of the devil and other satanical topics. The song “Elizabeth” is about Elizabeth Báthory, not exactly a ghost, but who is remembered as one of the deadliest women and well… a vampire. In 2010, the band produced a three-track demo and the vinyl-only single “Elizabeth”, before releasing their first studio album, Opus Eponymous, on October 18, 2010.
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Angels (1997) by Robbie Williams
Yes, that is correct, a songs about ghosts. The romantic breakout hit of former Take That singer and solo singer, Angels, was actually inspired by paranormal occurrences that Robbie Williams experienced himself as young. “There hasn’t been a moment of my life when I haven’t been aware of the presence of something unseen,” he said. “The very first song I wrote was Angels and it’s about actual angels.”
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Here is our list of songs about ghosts and hauntings. Do you know of anyone else? Feel free to notify us about it.
A Moonmausoleum original writings based on the Urban Legend – The Vanishing Hitchhiker
I was driving back home after a work seminar out of town. It was a long stretch, and I thought I would just drive through the night to get back. It was a narrow road, hardly any lights along the road. It was still a couple of hours until I would reach home, and I was listening to the weird night radio at the local radio station. It was mostly static.
Suddenly, I almost had to weer off the road. Right there, right by the side of the road, a girl was standing, her hands out, hitchhiking. I didn’t see her before my headlights shone right at her, making her appear out of nowhere.
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I floored the breaks. When the car stopped, my pulse was going off the charts, my breathing uneven, Shaken, but unharmed, I looked back to the girl. She was still standing there, unharmed as well. I exhaled, happy I hadn’t run her over. She was standing so still, just looking at me, her thumb, still held high in the air, waiting on a lift. I opened the door and stepped out.
She turned her head and meet my eyes. She was wearing a white summer dress in the chilly night. Only a rugged denim jacket, filled with patches of bands and slogans shielded her from the unforgiving autumn wind.
“Are you ok?” I asked, now beginning to fear I had scared her with the car. She was still standing at the side of the road, not moving.
“Can you give me a ride?” she asked then, her voice was just a weak shiver. I looked around. There was nothing here. I had hours left before I reached home and was going to work tomorrow. But I couldn’t leave her here. Not when I also almost ran her over.
“S-sure. Jump in. Where to?”
She started to move, she came towards me, not making a sound as she walked over the road. She got in the backseat. I thought that was a bit weird, but didn’t say anything. Perhaps she felt safer at a distance. I got back behind the wheel and started the car.
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“Where do you live?” I asked. She didn’t answer at once. She was looking out the window, the moon hitting only half her face.
“Take me home,” she said, just a breathing. I wondered if I should call the police then. Clearly, something had happened. I had chills, and looked around. There was nothing coming out from the surrounding trees but the wind’s whisper.
“Where is home?” I asked, just driving, looking in the mirror, trying to figure out what to do. She sighed.
“The blue house. The blue house at the right turn after the old bridge,” she said.
I had no idea where we were, but just continued forward, hoping to reach the bridge soon. I looked back again. She was beautiful, pretty in this sad way. Her face was pale though, and she looked out the window, staring at something in the distance.
“Did something happen? Tonight I mean?”
She turned her head and met my eyes in the reflections in the mirror. She nodded.
“Yes,” she said.
“Do you need to call someone?”
“Just drive me home.”
We continued in silence a couple of minutes. Every other time I checked in the mirror, she was staring out the window in a daze, other times, she was staring right back at me, her gaze direct.
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After driving for a while we reached a bridge.
“Hey, is this it? Is this the bridge?” I asked and turned. It was like she woke from a slumber, she sat up and got sight of the bridge.
“Yes, that is it, that is where it happened,” she said, her voice low, getting closer to me as she leaned forward to the drivers seat to get a better look. I could sense a smell, something sweet, something familiar. We were approaching the bridge.
“Where what happened?” I asked, the smell getting stronger, that familiar smell. That sweet smell. The smell of rot and decay.
“This is were I died,” she said, and I jumped. Her mouth right next to my ear, her low voice loud because of it. Again, I floored the breaks. The wheels spun, leaving a black mark on the road right by the bridge.
When I got control of the car again, I turned around. But she was gone. Only her denim jacket was left. I got out of the car, but saw nothing of her. The forest around was dark, the water under the bridge darker. The night grew colder. I got in my car and hurdled out of there, not stopping before I reached home.
Days went by, by I couldn’t get that lonely, pretty girl out of my head. I drove back and reached the bridge. In daylight I was able to find the turn she talked about and made it. When I saw the blue house, I sighed with relief. I wasn’t going crazy, she had really been there.
The garden was overgrown, the blue paint weathered and needed another coat. I rang the bell and waited with the denim jacket in hand, hoping to return it to the strange girl I had met.
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But it was an old woman that opened. She peered out at me, looking at me suspicious.
“Yes?”
“Ah, yeah, hallo, so… I met a girl a couple of nights ago, she said she lived here.”
“No girl lives here, it’s only me,” the old lady said. I was left standing there, confused and lost. The woman was about to close the door again when she stopped dead in her tracks. She opened her mouth, her eyes shocked.
“Why do you have that?” the lady asked, looking straight at the jacket I was holding in my hand.
“Oh this? It’s the girl’s, she forgot it in my car when I gave her a lift.”
The woman before me turned white. She had to support herself to stand upright. The door creaked and opened as she leaned on it. And when it did, I saw the picture. A faded picture of the pretty girl, smiling.
In a whisper the old lady said:
“No, no, that is my daughter’s. She died in a car accident on the old bridge over ten years ago.
An online magazine about the paranormal, haunted and macabre. We collect the ghost stories from all around the world as well as review horror and gothic media.
