A man lived on the 6th floor of an apartment building and was lonely. One day he noticed the figure of a woman dancing in a swaying motion in an apartment across from his building. The curtain was drawn, so he could only see the shadow. Everyday he looked out his window, he would see her dancing. Finally, the lonely man fell in love with the dancing woman and decided to pay her a visit. He bought a bouquet of fresh flowers and went to her building, climbing the steps to her floor.
He knocked on the door but no one answered. He knocked again but no one answered. He could have sworn he had just seen her dancing in the window. Worried that something had happened to her, he kicked the door open. He was heart broken by what he saw.
The woman was hanging from the ceiling in front of the window, her body swaying from side to side as if she was dancing.
Monday, July 13, 2009
The Red Eye
This took place in the old days when the houses in Japan still used paper sheets for walls and doors. A young business man was traveling through town after a day of hard work. He though he could make it back home but it got dark before he knew it. He didn't want to waste time going back to the town for shelter and thought perhaps he could find a house down the road. Lucky for him, he saw a glimmer of light a little ways off the road and decided to try asking for shelter there. He came upon this little hut and knowcked on the door. An old man came out and asked if he could be of any help. "Would you be so kind to let me stay tonight? I will pay you for a room."
"Nonsense! I'll be happy to let you stay. I don't many visitors out here. Come on in!" Te old man said. He gave the young man food and told him he could have the spare room. While walking to his appointed room, the young man noticed another room right next to his. Saying thanks to the kind old man, the young man went into his room. After he blew out the candle to go to sleep, the young man heard a soft melodic sound from the next room. It sounded like someone singing. Being curious, he crawled to the wall, wet his finger, and poked a little hole in the wall (remember the wall was made of rice paper). He peeked into the hole and saw the most beautiful woman dancing and singing, her long black hair covered one side of her face. He looked away from the wall and thought to himself, why didn't the old man introduce them? He decided to look back into the hole but all he saw was a red glow and nothing else. Maybe he was dreaming, he thought, and decided to go back to bed.
The next morning, the young man was waken up to eat breakfast. While they were both seated, the young man asked his host who was the beautiful woman in the room next to his last night. The old man was shocked. "There's no one there. That was my daughter's room until she died. She was born with a disfigurement and could never find a suitor to marry her, so she ended her life in that room."
"What was the disfigurement?"
"She was born with one red eye."
She was staring at him with her red eye through the peep hole when he was trying to look at her a second time! The young man decided not to reveal his story. He left as soon as he was done eating and thanked the old man once again for giving him shelter.
"Nonsense! I'll be happy to let you stay. I don't many visitors out here. Come on in!" Te old man said. He gave the young man food and told him he could have the spare room. While walking to his appointed room, the young man noticed another room right next to his. Saying thanks to the kind old man, the young man went into his room. After he blew out the candle to go to sleep, the young man heard a soft melodic sound from the next room. It sounded like someone singing. Being curious, he crawled to the wall, wet his finger, and poked a little hole in the wall (remember the wall was made of rice paper). He peeked into the hole and saw the most beautiful woman dancing and singing, her long black hair covered one side of her face. He looked away from the wall and thought to himself, why didn't the old man introduce them? He decided to look back into the hole but all he saw was a red glow and nothing else. Maybe he was dreaming, he thought, and decided to go back to bed.
The next morning, the young man was waken up to eat breakfast. While they were both seated, the young man asked his host who was the beautiful woman in the room next to his last night. The old man was shocked. "There's no one there. That was my daughter's room until she died. She was born with a disfigurement and could never find a suitor to marry her, so she ended her life in that room."
"What was the disfigurement?"
"She was born with one red eye."
She was staring at him with her red eye through the peep hole when he was trying to look at her a second time! The young man decided not to reveal his story. He left as soon as he was done eating and thanked the old man once again for giving him shelter.
The Camping Trip - from Taiwan
A group of high school kids decided to go camping. The group consisted of 5 guys and 5 girls. Let's call the main character Bob, who was the narrator of the story. They rented 5 bicycles for the trip and rode up the mountain, one couple per bike. It was getting late and the sky was getting darker. Bob was in the lead of the group and saw a figure ahead by the road. It appeared to be squatting. Thinking the person was urinating, Bob thought it would be cute to scare the person.
As he rode up the person and was ready to scream at him, he screamed in horror instead. The man had turned around and had NO FACE! Where his features should have been, there was only a blank, smooth face! The rest of the group also saw and screamed, following Bob hurriedly up the road, trying to get away from the faceless "ghost". When they were finally exhausted from the get-away, they noticed flashing blue lights coming from down the road. They though it odd for a police car to be cruising the mountain road. As the car passed without stopping, they saw nothing inside the car. The police car was driving itself! The group of kids panicked, dropped the bikes, and took off in two directions: Bob grabbed 2 girls and ran one way while the others took of in another direction. Bob and the 2 girls came upon a military post where a guard was standing. Bob told the guard what had just happened and asked if they could stay and chat with him. The guard agreed until his shift was up. When time came for shift change, they asked the same of the next guard. They stayed awake until the sun came up. When it came time for them to leave, they thanked the guard and walked down the mountain. As they walked farther, they saw the rest of their companions sitting on the gound, crying.
"What happened?" Bob asked.
"You wouldn't believe what happened to us," one of them said, in between sobs. "After we split up, we saw this house with thir lights still on. We asked to stay for the night and the nice old man agreed, he even gave us food to eat and towels to get washed up. We even watched tv!"
"And?"
"This is what we woke up to this morning!"
Bob looked around and saw they were apparently sitting on ruins where there once was a building, perhaps the one his friends had slept in.
As he rode up the person and was ready to scream at him, he screamed in horror instead. The man had turned around and had NO FACE! Where his features should have been, there was only a blank, smooth face! The rest of the group also saw and screamed, following Bob hurriedly up the road, trying to get away from the faceless "ghost". When they were finally exhausted from the get-away, they noticed flashing blue lights coming from down the road. They though it odd for a police car to be cruising the mountain road. As the car passed without stopping, they saw nothing inside the car. The police car was driving itself! The group of kids panicked, dropped the bikes, and took off in two directions: Bob grabbed 2 girls and ran one way while the others took of in another direction. Bob and the 2 girls came upon a military post where a guard was standing. Bob told the guard what had just happened and asked if they could stay and chat with him. The guard agreed until his shift was up. When time came for shift change, they asked the same of the next guard. They stayed awake until the sun came up. When it came time for them to leave, they thanked the guard and walked down the mountain. As they walked farther, they saw the rest of their companions sitting on the gound, crying.
"What happened?" Bob asked.
"You wouldn't believe what happened to us," one of them said, in between sobs. "After we split up, we saw this house with thir lights still on. We asked to stay for the night and the nice old man agreed, he even gave us food to eat and towels to get washed up. We even watched tv!"
"And?"
"This is what we woke up to this morning!"
Bob looked around and saw they were apparently sitting on ruins where there once was a building, perhaps the one his friends had slept in.
Ghosts of Asia
Toyol
This is a spirit which is kept in a jar with a foetus and some special liquid to preserve it. The toyol is kept by people to do their bidding, but the price for keeping it is you HAVE to feed it your own blood EVERYDAY. Some toyols have special 'needs' as well. If the spirit is that of a child, you'd usually have to provide it with a couple of toys to play with. If money goes missing and white ants (or termites) are found where the money should have been, the toyol has just done its bidding for their master.
Pontianak
This is perhaps the most frightening of all ghosts and ghouls of South East Asia. It is said that the pontianak is the spirit of a woman who died of childbirth. Sometimes she can look very beautiful, but most of the time she has razor teeth and stalks the night in search for men or pregnant women (it is said she could not bear the thought of other women being able to enjoy motherhood)to suck blood from (sometimes eat the flesh of babies ripped out from their mothers). There are many stories of the pontianak, but perhaps the scariest is the one which happened on the Malaysian highway.
Kum Kum
The Kum Kum is an old witch who attacks young virgins in her attempt to regain her youth and beauty. According to legend, she got her name as she cannot say the whole Malay greeting and can only say these 2 syllables.
Hantu Tetek
Loosely translated from Malay, Hantu Tetek means 'Ghost Breast'. This ghost is female (DUH!) and has huge breasts, which she is said to use to suffocate her victims (who are men. DUH!)
Bomboh
This is neither ghost nor ghoul, but a man practised in the arts of magic. He is often the man locals will turn to with a 'difficult' problem to solve and he will do it, often for a small fee. Don't worry though, it's a financial fee.
Jiang-Shi
Jiang-shi is the Chinese vampire. Does the same thing as Dracula and sucks blood, but they can only hop around with their arms outstretched. They don't talk at all & you can escape them by throwing a handful of glutinous rice. The grains will hit the Jiang-shi like little firecrackers, giving you time to make your get-away.
This is a spirit which is kept in a jar with a foetus and some special liquid to preserve it. The toyol is kept by people to do their bidding, but the price for keeping it is you HAVE to feed it your own blood EVERYDAY. Some toyols have special 'needs' as well. If the spirit is that of a child, you'd usually have to provide it with a couple of toys to play with. If money goes missing and white ants (or termites) are found where the money should have been, the toyol has just done its bidding for their master.
Pontianak
This is perhaps the most frightening of all ghosts and ghouls of South East Asia. It is said that the pontianak is the spirit of a woman who died of childbirth. Sometimes she can look very beautiful, but most of the time she has razor teeth and stalks the night in search for men or pregnant women (it is said she could not bear the thought of other women being able to enjoy motherhood)to suck blood from (sometimes eat the flesh of babies ripped out from their mothers). There are many stories of the pontianak, but perhaps the scariest is the one which happened on the Malaysian highway.
Kum Kum
The Kum Kum is an old witch who attacks young virgins in her attempt to regain her youth and beauty. According to legend, she got her name as she cannot say the whole Malay greeting and can only say these 2 syllables.
Hantu Tetek
Loosely translated from Malay, Hantu Tetek means 'Ghost Breast'. This ghost is female (DUH!) and has huge breasts, which she is said to use to suffocate her victims (who are men. DUH!)
Bomboh
This is neither ghost nor ghoul, but a man practised in the arts of magic. He is often the man locals will turn to with a 'difficult' problem to solve and he will do it, often for a small fee. Don't worry though, it's a financial fee.
Jiang-Shi
Jiang-shi is the Chinese vampire. Does the same thing as Dracula and sucks blood, but they can only hop around with their arms outstretched. They don't talk at all & you can escape them by throwing a handful of glutinous rice. The grains will hit the Jiang-shi like little firecrackers, giving you time to make your get-away.
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