MASQUERADE AND THE NAMELESS WOMEN -- POPSUGAR READING CHALLENGE #4

Image from Goodreads

This one was a bit different from the rest. I didn't start to read it as one of the challenge books. I picked it up because it sounded twisted, which I admit, I needed considering all the lighthearted manga and books I've been reading.

Challenge four of the Pop Sugar Challenge is: A book you think should be turned into a movie.

I found that as soon as I got into the book, I actually said to myself (in my head) that I would love to watch this. It was then that I realized that there was a challenge that fit this idea.

I was attracted to the cover at first, but once I read the premise, I hesitated on buying it. I took the plunge and ate that puppy up in one day.

The premise isn't unfamiliar. Serial killer who works with police. The Dexter series by Jeff Lindsay is an example of this.

Masquerade and the Nameless Women was a fun read for me. I would really love to have a second book that pits the serial killer and the rookie cop obsessed with finding him together.

A to Z Challenge 2017 -- Migi, Maes Hughes #atozchallenge

Migi is the alien spore parasite that infects Shinichi  Izumi (shee-nee-chee ee-zoo-mee) right hand instead of his brain in the Science Fiction Horror Anime Parasyte. Migi (mee-gee) is ruthless when it comes to his survival and will even threaten his host and Shinichi's friends.

He and Shinichi become allies against other parasites who are human eaters as well as the government agencies trying to find and destroy infected human bodies.

Migi is not a flesh eater since he failed to attach to the head. He gets nourishment directly from the bloodstream.

Migi has the ability to morph and will turn into blades to kill others.  He is intelligent and reads extensively while Shinichi sleeps.

⽍⺞😭😭⽍⺞

Maes Hughes. One of the nicest characters I have ever watched. He loved his wife and adored his daughter to the point of obsession.  And he has one of the saddest moments to ever have been shown in an anime, in my opinion.

Maes is one of those characters you invest your heart and soul in and then said parts are torn from your body, shredded, burned, stomped on, and cast into the pits of hell.  The tiny bits of ash that are left are given back to you to only lose them to the next scenes of misery and despair.

In Full Metal Alchemist and in FMA Brotherhood, he is friends to Roy Mustang and to the Elric Brothers.  He works at Central and keeps Mustang apprised with the going on there.  He gets too close to the truth and is murdered.

His death is a driving force for Mustang to become stronger and to get to the truth behind the things not right within there government.

A TO Z CHALLENGE 2016 -- YAMAUBA

You lead them through the forest.  They have lost their way.

You open your door for them, offer them food. You give them shelter.

You wait.  Anticipation courses through your veins.  Your mouth salivates.

You gaze upon them and grin.  They are asleep.

Rising, you stalk toward the man.  He barely opens his eyes when you strike.

Ah . . . Heaven.  Hot blood of your victim stains your mouth.  Man flesh tastes wonderful.



Yamauba (or Onibaba) is a Japanese demoness or ogress that was once human.  Usually these women fled because of their wicked deeds or were abandoned in times of famine, but they survive to become yokai.

They are classified in the kijo type yokai. They are cannibalistic and will 'help' travelers and shelter them for the night in their huts. They will attack after their guests have fallen asleep.

 They usually live in isolated mountains and forests far from civilization.

Yamauba may have once been kami before being demonized.

One story has a Yamauba raising Kintaro, a legendary hero.

They can also be found in Noh plays.

A TO Z CHALLENGE 2016 -- WA NYŪDŌ (VERY DISTURBING. BEWARE!)

He is coming.  You can see the burning flames from the end of the street.  You know there is no mercy in the creature.

Don't look.  Don't look, you tell yourself as you huddle down in fear in your house.

The fire lights up the whole of the room from the window.  You can see the blazing of it even through your eyelids.

It passes by, and you relax.  You survived.  Your head rests against the wall in relief.

Screams sound.  You cringe, praying for those souls that were not so lucky as you.




The Wa Nyūdō is one of the deadliest yokai in the Japanese pantheon of them.

He's described as a flaming ox-cart wheel with a man's head at the hub.  This man was -- according to two different versions -- either a nasty daimyo or a corrupt monk that died and is serving penance.

He works for Hell and loves to haunt urban streets for whatever victims he can find.  This yokai haunts urban city streets.  To look at him will have your soul stolen and taken to Hell.  To fall into his path will have your body torn asunder.

One story had a woman looking at him.  The Wa Nyūdō yells at her that if she had time to look at him, then she had time to look after her baby.  When she turned back to the baby, its limbs had been ripped from its body by the creature.

He appears in the Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki in 1779, but may come from an older work called the Shokoku Hyakumonogaturi from 1677, which is a collection of ghost stories. Evidence suggests that this yokai goes back even farther to the Heian Period (794 to 1185).

There is a specific ofuda that protects against it.

A TO Z CHALLENGE 2016 -- TENOME

Your friend was supposed to meet you here.  He is late.  You didn't even want to come out here.

You call out his name, hoping he's playing a trick on you.

Going against your better judgment, you enter the graveyard.  Your so going to beat the crap out your friend when you find him.

A strange sound reaches you.  You jump but ignore it as you get closer to the grave you guys wanted to see.

Closer now, the sound reaches you and you swear it's an inhalation like that of a scenting dog.  Strange.

There's something on the ground before the grave.  His jacket?  You shuffle closer.  And then you see it.  It's not just his jacket.

Pained terror stabs your chest as your heart accelerates when you see it's him.  His skin puddled on the ground.

You back up to run away.  As you turn, you see the eyeless face.



This creature is found in the first book of Toriyama Sekien's series, Gazu Hyakki Yakō, which translates to basically Night Parade of A Hundred Demons.  He did not write a single thing about this creature, but his inspiration may have come from older stories of a creature that fits this description.

One version of the origin story says that a blind man was murdered.  His lasts words stated he wished he saw the one/ones who did it even if his eyes were in his hands.  

Well, he got his wish. Tenome literally translates to eyes on hands.  They hang out in graveyards and open fields and they like to eat fresh from the body bones.  

The creature looks like a blind zato, a type of guildman.  They are quick but not powerful, blind as a bat, but with a vicious sense of smell.  

One story has a priest locking a victim in a chest to protect him, but the creature somehow sucked his bones out leaving the skin in the chest.

Yes, this nasty monster did inspire that blipping freaking s.o.b. in Pan's Labyrinth.  

A TO Z CHALLENGE 2016 -- SUIKO (UTTERLY GROSS AND SICK AND TWISTED! BE WARNED)

You look over at the small hut in the field and shudder.  The villagers hated the idea, but it was the one sure way of destroying the monster.

They had forbidden anyone from entering the field except for the one who must check the area around the hut.

The stench permeated the air even this far away, which makes your stomach churn. Why anyone would go near is beyond you.

You exit your house and find the elder waiting.  You are to check the hut.

When you near the field, you cover your nose and mouth with cloth.  It will keep out the stench -- barely.  Approaching, you gag at the smell of rotting flesh.  Then you it.  Footprints circling the hut.

You rush around to the other side, and stop.  There on the ground the monster lay dead.


This is how to kill a Suiko.  They are not Kappa, but they are related to them.  Suiko translates to water tiger.

They are more aggressive and have control of kappas, sort of like a mid level boss of mafia thugs, which means they have a hierarchy as do the kappa.  They report to Ryū-ō, the dragon king.

They have growths on their knees that resemble tiger paws.

These water goblins don't go after the shirikodama, aka the human's small anus ball. (No joke. Kappa may find it in the way of getting to the liver or something.  They may even want it. Plus, waterlogged dead bodies sometimes have pooched out bumoly holes.)  Nope, these bad boys like to suck the blood out of a human and eat the  reikon (soul).

They only way known to kill them is to put the dead body on a plank and in a hut of grass and straw and let the corpse rot.  The Suiko has no choice but to be drawn to their victim and will race around the hut until the corpse rots enough that the creature dies.  It is said that it is can become invisible until it dies.

A TO Z CHALLENGE 2016 -- OSHIROIBABA

You see the old woman and sneer at her shabbiness.  Her ragged kimono and tattered, overlarge sugegasa overwhelm the hunched woman.

Distaste curls in your mind as you see the tokkuri of sake.

Light shines in her eyes when she sees you.  Leaning on her bamboo cane, she tells you she is a peddler of face powder guaranteed to make you even more beautiful.

 Inwardly preening as your ego is stroked, you know your beauty is talked about by the neighbors, but you scoff.

She offers it for half price as she tells you to think of the young man and your competition.

Your heart skips a beat as you think of Satori winning Akane's heart.

You buy the powder and rush home.  You apply it to your face and wonder what is so special about it.

Then pain.  Agony makes you scream. In the mirror, your face begins to melt away.



Oshiroibaba comes on the twelfth month on moonlit nights.  She is sometimes referred to as a servant of the Goddess of Crimson Cosmetics, but there is only one reference to this.

Her name translates to 白粉 (oshiroi; white face powder) + 婆 (baba; old woman, hag).  The face powder reference is mostly toward the specific one used by geisha and maiko.

In the Konjaku hyakki Shūi, Toriyama Sekien presents her in this third
book of the Gazu Hyakki Yagyō, which was published in around 1781.

She is supposed to have face powder slathered on her face willy-nilly and in a few stories has an invisible mirror that is dragged behind her.

Her powder is said to melt off the faces of those who use it.  Maybe it was punishment for the vain?

A TO Z CHALLENGE 2016 -- LOIRA DO BANHEIRO

You were dared by your friend to perform the ritual.  You think it's stupid.  Flush three times, kick three times.  Yeah, like that's going to do anything.

You leave the stall and turn on the tap and curse three time.

You swear this is the last time you take a dare from your friends.

A flick in the mirror has you turning around.  You gasp, startled by the girl.  Blonde hair streams down her back.  You apologize.

She says nothing.  Then she turns and attacks.


The Blonde in the Bathroom or Loira do Banheiro is Brazillan.  She is the urban legend that is similar to Bloody Mary and Hanako-san.

She is said to be either a deliquent girl that slipped, a teacher murdered by her husband for betraying him with a student, or she was a viscount's daughter that died after being forced to marry and then dying of pnemonia after running off to Europe with her lover.  Some versions have the girl raped.

No matter what version, Loria do Banheiro will terrify a person with her bloodied appearance.  She has no eyes and is cut up.

She may or may not attack the summoner.  

A TO Z CHALLENGE 2016 -- HONE-ONNA

You can't believe it. The rumors that she has died is a lie.  Greeting her with open arms, you spend all night reaffirming your love.

She's gone the next morning only to return that night.

Over and over, she comes and loves you.

Soon you feel tired, and after a while, the exhaustion takes over.

Fearful for your life, your family summons someone to help.  The monk sits and watches as your lover comes to you once again.

He tells of the sickening sight he witnessed and offers prayers and wards to protect the house, but you protest.  You love her.  She loves you.

The monk shakes his head sadly, knowing what is to come.

Your lover comes and lays with you, and you breathe your last.



Hone Onna is a Japanese spirit of a woman who returns to her lover.  She rises from the grave and appears as her young, beautiful self.  Her name translates to bone woman

They spend the night hours loving the object of their affection and stealing their life force.  The lover becomes sickly and weak with each visitation until the lover dies.

If the ghost is found out, the household can use charms and wards to protect the house, but they only work if they master of the house wills them into being.

Only those with strong religious faith and those unclouded by love can see the true form of the Hone Onna: a fetid, rotting skeleton.  As she rots, her appeal actually will strengthen.

If she is found out the lover may reject her, but she will continue to visit.

The saddest part of the entire thing is that she never realizes.  Her only concern is to continue to love the one in her heart.

gh

My second choice for today was Hitobashira, which means human pillar.

Yes, I do mean a literal human pillar -- as in person sacrificed in the constructing a building.  They are buried alive in the foundations of said building.  They were believed to protect the building by appeasing the nature spirits and warding the building from things.

There are rumors that this practice might have been still in use in the 20th century.

A TO Z CHALLENGE 2016 -- EKEK (WARNING THIS ONE IS REALLY GROSS)

"Ek. Ek. Ek."

This strange sound wakes you.  Blinking, you turn to check on your wife.

"Ek. Ek. Ek."

A horrified cry lodges in your throat.  You're paralyzed by the gruesome sight.

The humanoid creature has invaded your wife's body.

"Ek. Ek. Ek."

It has taken the most precious from you as she sleeps.  It has killed your unborn child.

This dark, vampiric creature comes from the Philippines.  It has it's origins from the Visayan culture, which is located on the southern end of the archipelago.  The Ekek is similar to the Wak Wak and the Manananggal.  They all crave flesh and blood especially from pregnant women.

The Ekek is described as being a bird like human. They have wings and a long proboscis into the woman and to the womb to drain the blood from the fetus. (think something like elephant nose or butterfly's nectar sucker!  le ick!)

They are shape shifters and have the ability to transform into bat or bird at night to prowl for prey.

Their name comes from the sound they make as they suck the blood.  Ek Ek Ek.

Wak Waks are said not to have a beak like Ekeks,  and manananggals are said to have the ability to split themselves.

In any case, they are all vampiric ghoulish creatures that have similarities to European vampires, which could come from when the Phillipines was colonized.