Chibilicious - Having my own small, cute world is great

The hot summer months are driving my crazy. The intake of anything cold and edible is not taking any effect. Even the nights are warm, bordering on being sweat on the bed (eek!)

I want to dip my feet on a basin of ice-cold water, sip lemondade, have someone fan me while lazing on an easy chair outside the house wearing an almost bare-it-all dress. Really, who cares about mode of clothing at this kind of heat?!

Then I remembered Youko of xxxHolic, who was in the same predicament as I am in episode 10. Much as I prefer summer over the rainy season, the heat could really seep out all my energy and I could imagine myself literally melting like ice cream in hot midday.

Youko being Youko, she easily proposed a group date to her store helper, Watanuku, together with his school companions, on a night of Hyaku Monogatari, or 100 ghost story-telling in an old temple, guarded by a monk’s grandson, Domeki, who happens to be Watanuki’s so-called friend.

Hyaku Monogatari immediately garnered my interest, especially since I am very much into anything paranormal and related to Japan. The game starts with each player lighting a candle. Each player tells a ghoulish story, whether a known urban legend or personal experience. After telling the story, the player blows out his candle. This process continues until the room gets darker and only one candle is left. It was believed the ritual makes the circle a beacon of death and when the last candle dies, a spirit will show up or something tragic will happen.

You can imagine the tension in a group especially since this game was initially thought of as an invocation for spirits during Japan Edo period. It was also stated it was a challenge for soon-to-be samurais to test their courage. The origin of the game is unknown and it is not done often nowadays. But Hyaku Monogatari is not dead with the aid of media publications and internet channels to propagate ghost stories for everyone to gain access.

I want to try this game out with my friends. I hope they will agree to this though as I can’t seem to find a ready group of friends agreeing to this. XD

As of now, I found a few stories to satisfy my cravings for ghost stories. This stories could be good for your own Hyaku Monogatari games in the future.

Hope you enjoy these stories.

NOTE: These stories came from seekjapan.jp. If you know any other sources of Hyaku Monogatari stories, please share them with me. It’s hard to find these. ^^

Under the Peony Lantern – A Cautionary Tale of Sex with the Dead

Long ago, on the first night of Obon, a widowed samurai named Ogiwara Shinnojo sat on his porch, watching the day fade into night. To his surprise, a beautiful young woman and her maid, who was carrying a lantern emblazoned with a peony, walked near. The pair paused to speak with Ogiwara, and he found the young woman’s name to be Otsuyu. An instant attachment was formed, and Otsuyu promised to return the following night, at the same time.

From that night onward, always at dusk, she would arrive with her maid, carrying the same Peony Lantern. Ogiwara and Otsuyu rapidly progressed in their affair, and she took to sleeping with him, always leaving before dawn. This relationship continued for some time, and both were happy.

However, a suspicious neighbor, wondering at Ogiwara’s new habit of staying awake all night and sleeping the day away, hid outside his house, peeking through a small hole in the wooden wall in order to observe the old man’s nighttime shenanigans. Much to his surprise, he uncovered the widowed samurai passionately entwined with a skeleton, packing only scarce, clinging bits of rotting flesh and cobweb-infested long black hair. Half-mad, the neighbor fled screaming from the scene.

The next day he confronted Ogiwara, bringing with him a Buddhist priest who warned of the danger facing his soul. One cannot dally with the dead. Ogiwara took this to heart, and vowed to free himself from the spell of Otsuyu. With the priest’s help, he surrounded his house with ofuda, strips of paper upon which are written Buddhist sutras, offering protection from the supernatural.  That night, Otsuyu and her maid came as always, but they cried at the steps of his porch, unable to enter the house.

Night after night she returned, begging Ogiwara to remove the ofuda so that they may be lovers again. Slowly, the lonely old man’s resistance slipped away, and one night he left his house to join his beloved.

The next morning, he was nowhere to be found. His friends looked far and wide, until the neighbor suggested they search the cemetery. At long last, they found the graves of Otsuyu and her maid, emblazoned with the same peony pattern. Opening the crypts, no one was surprised to see the corpse of Ogiwara, still passionately entwined with his skeletal lover.

So they say.

With this tale told, wet your fingers and pinch out the fire of the first candle.

The Kiss of the Kuchisake-onna

One night, not so long ago, salaryman Taro was flushed with sake and success, having closed a deal that ensured money for his company and promotion for himself. In celebration, he had been drinking with his co-workers, and had more than his usual share.

In the bar, there was also a woman sitting alone. She was elegant and beautiful, with captivating eyes and glimmering black hair. Not unusually for the season, she wore a surgical mask that covered her lower face, as a protection from the various pollens and pollutions that tainted the air.

Salaryman Taro, feeling braver than usual, sat next to the woman and talked away at her, buying her a drink which she never touched and boasting of his success and promising future. She answered demurely but interested, and he suggested that they move to a more private bar that he knew, not so far away. She nodded, and with a wink to his co-workers the two moved out into the street.

Taro was quick to hurry her to a nearby, darkened alley, where he pulled her close and stared into her enchanting eyes. “Am I beautiful?” the woman asked, in a quivering voice, muffled behind the surgical mask. “Very beautiful,” he replied, moving his face closer. “Am I beautiful?” she repeated, reaching behind her head to undo the barrier between their mouths. “Most beautiful.” he said again, anticipating the kiss that was his.

The mask slipped from her face and Taro froze, unable even to scream. The woman’s mouth spread from one ear to the other, consuming her lower face. From the nose down, it was split, with two flaps of skin spreading to show her rows of sharp pointed teeth. Her hinged jaw opened impossibly wide, and her misshapen mouth somehow managed to form the words again: “Am I beautiful?”

Salaryman Taro, aged 30, was never heard of again.

So they say.

Another candle goes out, and the shadows around your home begin to resemble a long, gaping smile…

The Rule of the Dead

Perchance, with the extinguishing of your final candle, you should find that the evocation of Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai has worked its magic, and a yurei has taken an interest in you and settled in your house. A word of caution: fear the dead, but most of all, respect them.

In Japan, the dead can be dangerous, and make demands on the living. These demands must be met with the utmost care. It is said: “To ignore tradition is foolhardy; to anger the dead by not providing for them tempts fate; to be in a place where others have died subjects you to forces beyond your control. Avoidance, care, ritual, respect, tradition. These are your bywords.”

Keep this in mind as you wet your fingers one last time, to protect them against the burning fire of the solitary candle illuminating this story. Keep your mind clear and your soul calm, ready to face that which is revealed by the encroaching darkness. Avoidance, care, ritual, respect, tradition.

Do you know where else I can find such stories? ^^ Please do share!

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