A TO Z CHALLENGE 2016 -- GASHADORKURO

Your heart pounds in your chest as a chill crawls up you spine.  You didn't want to to travel this road tonight, but there was no other choice.  Message of the slaughter has to reach the shogun.

The night falls silent.  Gaichi Gaichi.

Silence.  Gaichi Gaichi.

Silence.  Gaichi Gaichi.

Your guts churn in terror at the unnatural sound.  You will your legs to move, but they are jelly.  You wait for it again even as you continue down the road.  Nothing. You take a deep breath when the sound doesn't repeat again.

SNAP!  You cannot scream as your chest is crushed.  A flying sensation as you are lifted from the ground.  Your last image is the giant creature's skeletal mouth.


In Japanese legend, a Gashadokuro (or ōdokuro (giant skeleton)) is created from soldiers that have rotted on the battlefield or from those who die of famine and do not receive funerary rites.  They are reborn as hungry ghosts and resenting humans.  They grow stronger as their hate grows until it becomes a supernatural force.

Their bones will mass together to form this monstrous creature full of malice and hate.

It will wander the countryside and will crush their victim or rip off his head.  Some stories suggest that the monster will drink the victim's blood and may even add it's victim to their body.

There is no way to kill such a monster.  Its rage must abate, but with hundreds of dead amongst the the Gashadokuro's body, that is not very likely to happen.

A TO Z CHALLENGE 2016 -- FURUTSUBAKI NO REI

The woman standing under the shade of the camellia is beautiful.  She draws you in with  saying a word.  it's as if you are pulled toward her with a string.

Slowly you approach; your heart thumping in your ears.  You know something is not human about her, but you can't stop yourself.

Her hand rises ever so slowly.  You watch with sick facination, wanting to run, but you can't move.  Then, she touches you and you know nothing more.

The Furutsubaki no Rei is a Japanese yokai that is created from a the tsubaki tree, which is also called the rose of winter and Camellia japonica.  The yokai is the spirit of the tree that has reached a certain age and can manifest itself as a beatuiful woman outside the host tree.

One legend has her transforming a merchant into a bee and killing him.
Another legend has the spirit as a Yonaki Tsubaki (night-crying tsubaki) that foretells misfortune. At a shrine in Akita prefecture, the temple Kanman-ji has such a tsubaki, which supposedly has stood for 700 years.

This evergree is known for an unusual ability.  Instead of having petals fall off individually, the flower will fall off all at once. Thus associating them with death and taboo to give to sick people.

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.

A TO Z CHALLENGE 2016 -- DULLAHAN, DRY HANDS

Your stomach ties into knots as you rush down the deserted road.  The midnight hour is nigh. Galloping hooves approach. A cold breeze sweeps over you.  A rider in black draws near enough to see his cloak dancing behind him.

You want to run, but your body betrays you.  The rider has no head. Staring helplessly, your heart stops as the last thing you see is the flash of his whip.

The Dullahan is considered to be an Unseelie fairy.  He rides with his head (full of razor like teeth and complete with creepy grin) under his arm and a whip made of a spinal column.  His is sent to collect souls of the dead (and/or to kidnap them and bring them into the realm of the fey.)

This dark creature will only stop to kill.  He does not like to be witnessed and will blind a person (whiplash . . . heh heh heh) or splash them with blood as punishment.  Some believe those marked will be the next to die.  And if he calls out a name --BAM! History. Gone. Dead. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

No locked door or bar across the road can stop a Dullahan.  He only has one weakness.  Gold.  Gold frightens him. Toss a bit of gold at him and run like the devil is after you . . .  because he is.

At one time, it was believed that he was under the command of the queen of the fairies.  She would send him to wither a limb or blind a person who betrayed the secrets of the fey court (aka those lucky few that escaped back to the human realm).

His severed head is described as to be like moldy cheese and sometimes glows like phosphorous.  Hie eyes are supposed to dart like flies.

Also called Gan Ceann, Durahan, Dark Man.  He is associated with the Celtic god Crom Dubh.  This god wanted human sacrifice each year.  When his worship dwindled it is believed he became the Dullahan to continue receiving souls.

The Dullahan is also said to be the driver of the Cóiste Bodhar. A great example is the Disney movie Darby O'Gill and the Little People.

gh

"I never liked him," your friend says as she works a ripe corn cob from the stalk. "He wanted to marry me, but I did not want him.  His hands were cold and clammy.  They made my skin crawl."

Your gaze does not move from your own plant. "You should not speak ill of the dead.  It will bring trouble."

Something flashes into your view.

Her scoffing noise turns into a frightened squeal.   You look to her. Your scream echoes through the field.

A disembodied hand grips your friend withering face.

Dry Hands or Fingers is a legend from the Seneca, Cayuga, and Iroquois. Oniate (oh-nee-ah-ten) is a mummified hand that will come to punish a person who behaves badly, which includes speaking ill of the dead, is a busy body that can't stay out of people's business, or tries to sow discord within the tribe.

It is an appartion that can fly.  It's withered finger can blind, give illness, or kill a person.

Maybe Oniate is Thing's zombified cousin?

A TO Z CHALLENGE 2016 -- CÓISTE BODHAR

The night is still.  An inhuman wail echoes over the land, sending a chill through your body.  A second wail freezes your muscles as if plunged into ice.

A low vibration sounds. It's almost as if hearing the rattling of bones. What is it?

You recognize the sound.  Wheels.  Not wheels from a car.  No.  This sound is too hollow and higher pitched.  Coach wheels. Their rumble grows louder, more menacing.  The wailing intensifies.  Your name echoes across the land.

And then you see your demise.

The Cóiste Bodhar (Koe-shta bower) also called Coach-Abower, Silent (Deaf) Coach is an Irish folk legend. The black coach is said to be draw by six black horses (sometimes headless).  The name that is called is the name of the soul the coach has come to collect.

It is believed that when the coach appears and drives across the land it cannot leave again until it has a soul.

There are links to other creatures of Irish lore associated with the coach.  One is the bean sidhe (banshee).  Banshees wail out warnings to the families they are attached as they fly alongside the coach.

The other will make its appearance tommorrow.  Heh, heh heh.

gh

These were my other choices for today.  The Churel and the Chindi.

The Churel is a vengeful ghost from India. This spirit is created by the death of pregnant or during childbirth.  She wants revenge for her unborn child's death. Her feet, flipped 180 degrees, allows her to walk backward.  Her eyes mesmerize.  and she will drain a victim of their blood.

The Chindi (chʼį́įdii) from Navajo legend.  It's a spirit that is made from all the bad from a person.  They can be called down by a family with a curse. They are associated with dust devils.  And have the ability to cause illness, which is called 'ghost sickness'.  They can be connected to objects owned by them.  

A TO Z CHALLENGE 2016 -- BUS 302 OR THE MIDNIGHT BUS, BOROBOROTON

It's late at night, you're on the bus minding your own business.  The bus let's on some passengers, but you don't pay attention. Suddenly, an elderly man gets up from his seat and starts yelling at you for no reason.
He gets physically violent.

The bus driver kicks you both off the bus, leaving you stranded with the old man. Angry now, you confront the old man, and he has the audacity to say that he saved your life.  How? you ask.

This is the urban legend Bus 302 from China.  Also called the Midnight Bus.

It has various versions, but in all of them the bus is doomed.

The young man learns from the old  man that the passengers that got on the bus had no feet.  They were spirits. The young man then learns that the bus had disappeared just after midnight and was never found again.

In a similar version, it was drunk man and an old man with all the other passengers being spirits.  The last version I found, had a female bus driver, three nasty robbers, and a poor guy who couldn't fight to save the woman's virtue.  The bus on this one is driven off a cliff.

Chinese ghosts are believed to flow when they walk, and that their heels don't touch the ground.  So, they have 'no feet'.

gh

 A slight movement wakes you.  The small shift of bedding closer to your face.  You think that it was only whimsy and you close your eyes to go back to sleep.  Then you feel it again.  The bedding is moving on its own.

You try to escape but it's no use. You are thrown out of bed and crash to the floor. Then, the blanket wraps around your neck to strangle you.

This, my friends, is the Boroboro-ton, which basically translates  to tattered futon from the Japanese.

It appeared in 1781 in the Hyakki Tsurezure Bukuro, which was one of the books in the Gazu Hyakki Yagyō. This set of books featured spirits, ghosts, monsters, and beasts in folklore, art, and literature.

It is a Tsukumogami (artifact spirit).  Usually these yokai are objects that have been possessed by ghosts or spirits, or have been in use for 100 years.  It is believed by many that the object will then receive a soul. They then will look pristine despite its age.

If they feel ignored or neglected, that's when they will come alive and become monsters.

So, next time you wake up with the blankets wrapped tightly around you suffocatingly  . . . Beware! It might not be your imagination.  They really might be out to kill you!

A TO Z CHALLENGE -- AKA MANTO

So, you have to go to the bathroom.  You enter a stall and do your business.

A frigid draft floats over the stall wall.  Goosebumps rise on your arms.  Your heart skips a beat as the lights above flicker and die.

 An inhuman voice speaks. "Do you want a red cloak or blue cloak?"

Chills crawl all over your body at the disimbodied voice.  You have to make a choice.  Which one will you choose?



And that my friends is the basis of the urban legend from Japan called Aka Manto, which translates to Red Cloak.  It has many names Red Mantle, Red Cape, Red Paper Blue Paper, and more.  In Romanji they are: Aka Manto Ao Manto, Aka Hanten Ao Hanten, or Aka Kami Ao Kami.

And sitting alone and vulnerable, you contemplate them.  Only, either choice is dismal.

With red, you end up being beheaded and your blood runs down your body in a grotesque mock cape, your flesh is ripped from your back (and some versions have the ghost tying it around your neck), skinned alive, or slits your throat (again mocking a red cape).

With blue, your blood is entirely drained, or you are suffocated by choking. Either of which will leave you a sick shade of blue.

If you think choosing another color will get freed.  Sorry. Not happening.  Any other color gets you sucked into a vortex to some netherworld. . .
Well, that is if you can believe the last version of the story.
If you say yellow . . . yellow may let you live.

Yellow gets you a swirlie in your own filth.

Lastly, you might get away if you chose no color at all.

This modern day urban legend has its roots starting around 1935.  There are variations of who started it.  There was a rumor that a to-die-for handsome man wore a white mask to cover his face and he hung out in shoe lockers.  Another is a banker wanted to cause a panic. He didn't start hanging out in girl's bathrooms until the 1980s.

In any case, this urban legend may have even older roots.  The Kamishibai (kah-mee-she-bye, 'paper theater'), a traditional storytelling method, has mention of a gentlman in a red cape said to be magical.