OoOoOo... Yūrei! Fantasma! Ghosts! This Monday Thursday (sorry), my Monster and Mythology Monday is all about ghosts, so I'll be scaring myself with this one. 😅 To give you an example of my fear of ghosts, I was playing Animal Crossing and Wisp was on my island...
In Japanese traditional beliefs and literature, onryō (怨霊, literally "vengeful spirit", sometimes rendered "wrathful spirit") refers to a ghost (yūrei) believed to be capable of causing harm in the world of the living, injuring or killing enemies, or even causing natural disasters to exact vengeance to "re-address" the wrongs it received while alive, then taking their spirits from their dying bodies. - Wikipedia
I've never read the novel but I reallyyyy want to. Kayako had a tough life growing up and an even worse life once she was married. The reason for her croaking sound is tragic and while most people have probably seen Ju-On, I won't ruin anything with spoilers!
By tradition, production crews adapting the story for film or stage visit Oiwa's gravesite in Myogyoji Temple in Sugamo, Toshima-ku, Tokyo to pay their respects, as an urban legend states that injuries and fatalities will befall the cast if they do not. - Wikipedia
But I won't talk about just Japanese ghosts, as there are so so so so many more and I can't possibly talk about all of them right now and there are even more legends around the world! Such as...
The Grey Lady of The Willard Library staff in Evansville, Indiana! I was very little when I first heard about the Grey Lady. I remember reading about her before finding out that there was a webcam set up in the library that I could watch - and watch I did! She's been seen since 1937, way before the webcam was ever thought of. Some occurrences that let people know she is around is the smell of her perfume and cold spots.
The Strigoi of Romania tie in with the vampirism I talked about last week, but they're actually ghosts. Ghosts of those who've died from suicide or have a reason to come back and haunt the living. Like a vampire, some Strigoi survive by drinking human blood. They're said to have red hair and bluish-purple eyes. There are also other kinds, such as the Strigoi who calls. If you hear your name called by a Strigoi and answer, you will die. But! They can only call once. So, wait before you answer the next time you hear someone randomly calling your name!
And finally for now, the Myling of Scandinavian legends are the ghosts of children who were left to die by their mothers. They are known for singing in the night. Even though they can fly into a rage, most Myling simply want to be found, given a name and given a proper burial. But in order to do that, they need to find a living human who can carry their weight (as it's said that Myling are quite large.) If the human who they jump on cannot bring them to a graveyard, they kill them.
And now some spoOoOoky products!
