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 -- 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!