Warai Onna, The Laughing Woman

 

 

 

 Warai onna
The Laughing Woman.


Long ago, a samurai named Higuchi Kandayū ignored the villagers’ warnings and went hunting with his retainers on Mount Tōkō on the ninth day of the month. On the trail, a beautiful woman around seventeen or eighteen years old appeared before him. She pointed a finger and laughed at him. 

As she laughed, her voice grew higher, and louder, and fiercer. Soon it seemed to Kandayū that the entire mountain was laughing at him. The trees, the rocks, the rivers, and even the wind seemed to echo her laughter. Kandayū and his retainers fled in terror, and when they finally exited the mountains, his retainers all fainted. Although he escaped successfully, Kandayū was haunted by that laughter, which echoed in his ears until he died.





The  Warai onna or Laughing Woman is a Yokai that resides in the mountains of the island of Shikoku.

The legend of the Warai onna come's from the folklore of Kōchi Prefecture. 

 

They only appear in the mountains on certain days: the first, ninth, and seventeenth days of every month. Because of this, locals will warn others to stay out of the mountains on those days.

As far as appearances, she looks just like any other average young women in her late teens or very early twenty's.

Her laughter can be heard late into the night by travelers who find themselves in the mountains after sunset.


Those that dare to tread into her mountains take thire chances and hope for the best. Those unfortunate enough to meet a warai onna run thr rist of
permanent madness or even death.

She will smile and laugh at a person when they meet. 

However her laughter is infectious, and often causes those who see her to laugh along too.

 Though, even after she leaves, the people who laughed along with her will continue to do so, to the point of sever laughter leaving them rolling on the ground laughing until
they are out of breath and unable to even stand. These is followed by  a sever  fever which, after a few days, will kill the victims.


Even those who somehow resist laughing along with her are not safe. Just hearing her laughter is enough to induce psychosis.  

 

They begin to hear a mocking laughter. Those who survive an encounter are still doomed to hear her laughter everywhere for the rest of their lives.



There is a male equivalent to the warai onna , called the warai otoko. They behave exactly the same way as warai onna.

A kerakera onna (“cackling woman”) has almost the exact same features as warai onna, except she only appears in red light districts not the  mountains.

Japanese Legends: Momotaru, The Little Peach Boy.

 

 

                                 MOMOTARU: The Little Peach Boy.

 

Todays post will be a well known folkstory from Japan, Momotaro: The little peach boy.
There are a few different visions of this story that vary slightly from one region to the next.
The first  one is one of the more well know versions in modern time.

There is now a popular notion that Momotaro is a local hero of the Okayama Prefecture, however this claim is
relitivley new and was invented in the modern era, it is not accepted as fact in other rigions
...................

The tale of Momotaro has been handwritten and printed since the early Edo period leading into the Meiji era.

One significant change is that in most examples of Edo Period literature, Momotaro was not born from a peach, but born naturally
to the elderly couple who ate the peach and regained their youth. these  subtypes are classed as kaishun-gata or "rejuvenation" type,
whereas the now conventional subtypes are termed kasei-gata  "birth from the fruit" type.
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This is the offical Okayama version of the story.


Once upon a time there lived an old man an old woman in Okayama.

The old man went everyday into the mountains to cut wood, while his wife would go to the river to wash clothes.
One day, while the old woman was down at the river washing clothes, a big peach came floating down the river!
It looked so delicious, she decided to take it home for her and her husband to eat.

When the old man came back to their home, the old woman cut the peach open, and to their surprise, there was a small boy inside!

They decided to call him Momotaro, which means ‘peach boy’.

The old couple raised Momotaro to be big and strong.

One day, he decided to go and defeat the ogres living on Ogre Island that were pillaging the land.

The old woman fixed him some delicious millet dumplings, known as kibi-dango, for his long journey to the island.
On the way, a monkey, a dog, and a pheasant joined him, giving them a dumpling each in return for their help in fighting the ogres.


Once he  reached Ogre Island, Momotaro and his companions found that the gate was locked to the Ogre’s fort.

The pheasant flew inside, and grabbed a key to let the others in. Once inside, they fought the evil ogres.

The pheasant pecked their eyes, the dog bit their legs and the monkey jumped on their backs, clawing at the beasts.

Finally, the ogres cried for mercy! They gave the strong Momotaro all of their treasure, and he returned to his village triumphantly.
Momotaro and the old couple lived happily ever after.


.......................

This next version was popularized during the Meiji Period and was even printed in school textbooks back then.

Momotaro was born from a giant peach, which was found floating down a river by an old, childless woman who was washing clothes there. 

The woman and her husband discovered the child when they tried to open the peach to eat it. The child explained that he had been bestowed by the Gods to be their son. The couple named him Momotaro, from momo (peach) and taro (eldest son in the family).

When he matured into adolescence, Momotaro left his parents to fight a band of Oni (demons or ogres) who marauded over their land, by seeking them  out in the distant island where they dwelled (a place called Onigashima or "Demon Island"). On his way there, Momotaro met and befriended a talking dog, monkey  and pheasant, who agreed to help him in his quest in exchange for a portion of his rations (kibi dango or "millet dumplings"). 

At the island, Momotaro  and his animal friends managed to break in to  the demons' fort and beat the band of demons forcing those who remained to  surrendering.

 Momotaro and his new friends returned home with the oni's ' stolen treasure and the demon chief as a captive.

 

 

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In an   old version of the story written in 1753 , an old woman who did not have any children brings home a giant peach floating in the stream.
 

When the old woman ate a portion of the peach, she unexpectedly recovered her beauty and youth. Her husband was surprised to find a young,  beautiful woman when he came back from work. He did not believe her when she explained that the magical peach restored her youth. He also ate a portion of the peach, and turned young too. A boy was born after they made passionate love that night. They named the boy ‘Taro’, which is a  common name for the first sons in Japan.

There are a few variants to the story, depending on geographical area, Some say Momotaro floated by in a box, a white peach, or a red peach. 

 

Stories from Shikoku and Chugoku region muddy the distinction with characters from other folk storys, in most versions a Monkey, dog and pheasant accompany  Momotaro to the oni island in other versions he befrinds  a bee ( hachi), a crab ( kani), a mill stone ( usu), a chestnut (kuri), and cow dung ( ushi no hun). In old days, all of these animals and objects were believed to possess spirits and could move by their own will. 

The cow dung was sometimes given the honorific dono. This was to appease the cow dung spirit, so as it won’t move to be under you when you stumble  or take a step.

There are different versions of  Momotaro’s  growth; one is that he grew up to meet the expectation of the old couple to a good man.
 

Another is that he grew up to be a strong but lazy person who just sleeps all day and does not do anything.

Today, Momotaro is one of the most well kown characters in Japan, as an ideal model for young kids for his kind-heartedness, bravery, power,  and care for his parents.

In some tales Momotaro is still in his teens in other virsions he is an adult.. Grown up Momotaro goes on journey to defeat the demons (oni) when he hears about the demons of the Onigashima (oni island).

In most stories Momotaro volunteered to go help the people by fighting off the oni, but in other stories he was forced by the townspeopleor others to go on journey.

However, regardless of the variants, the ending of the story is always the same.

All the stories describe Momotaro defeating the Oni and living happily ever after with the old couple.
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the oral version of the story may have emerged during the Muromachi period (1392–1573), it may not have been set down in writing until the Edo period (1603–1867).

The oldest printed works of Momotaro known to have existed had been dated to the Genroku era (1688–1704) or possibly a little earlier.

In most of the Edo Period books, peach boy is not born from the peach but from the woman who consumes the peach and grows several  years younger.


Momotaro is now heavily association with Okayama City or its prefecture, but this association was only created in the modern era. 

                                                Momotaro Statue in  Okayama.
 

The publication of a book by Nanba Kinnosuke entitled Momotaro no Shijitsu (1930) for example helped the notion of Momotaro's origins in Okayama  to gain wider familiarity.

 

Still, even as late as the antebellum period before World War II (1941–1945), Okayama was considered only the third contender behind two other regions  known as Momotaro's homeland.


The demon island (Onigashima) from the story is sometimes associated with Megijima Island, an island in the Seto Inland Sea near Takamatsu, due to the vast manmade caves found there.

                                                             Iki Island oni statue

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One of the earlyist English translations  was called (The Adventures of Little Peachling") by A.B. Mitford's Tales of Old Japan in 1871. William Elliot Griffis published a version in 1880, which remained obscure even to researchers, even though English translations in the following decades apparently borrowed from Griffis's phraseology and use of idiom, sometimes even copying his text outright.

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An Anime version loosely based on the Momotaro story is currently airing called "Peach Boy Riverside" it is also a Manga.

My next few post will be Oni related..

American Cryptids: The Whirling Whimpus

                                                  ===The Whirling Whimpus===


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The Forest and mountains are full of strange and particular beings, cryptids, monsters
and everything in between.
===============================================


No doubt most of you know of the cranky whirling tornado of destruction
from the old loony tunes cartoon named Taz-- the Tasmanian devil ...

and

We've all heard or Bigfoot and The Yeti.

But what if you came across a creature that by all accounts is some odd combination
of the two...

Then you've just meet the strange and powerful cryptid called the Whirling Whimpus.

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 Legend's of the Whirling Whimpus come from the Lumberjacks and woodsman of the Cumberland Mountains in Tennessee.

This cryptid  is a bigfoot like  creature that hunt's the wood's of North America and
is believed to  be responsible for many of the strange  disappearances woodsman, campers and wayward hikers

 ==========================


The whimpus has been described as very  gorilla-like in appearance .

It stands at around 7 feet tall, with a black fur and a large or fat upper body.

In many accounts the whimpus legs are said to be horse-like with hooves.

It's  favorite meals seems to be people.

But it also hunts turkey, deer, cows, even bears.

 It's said to  spins at a stunning 2,150 r.p.m. and usually only dose this at sundown

.this speed also creates a humming sound and blurs the creature to the point that is is
almost entirely invisible.

---------------------------------------------------------------
--Hunting Habits--------------------------------
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When it senses prey approaching from a nearby trail or path, it hides, usually justy at the bend of the trail.

Then when the victim comes close enough, the Whirling Whimpus begins to spin around on one foot or hoof at a  rapid pace As it does this, the wind emits a low droning  or humming  sound that seems to be coming from the trees above.

As the prey looks up, trying to locate the sound, the Whimpus attacks and kills target with rapid powerful strikes, beating it into a past  and slurping up the remains !

The Whirling Whimpus is also called (Turbinoccissus nebuloides).

Monsters, Cryptid and Yokai :.. Devil Monkeys

                                        .......   The Devil Monkey .........


The Devil Monkey, is a Baboon like canin cryptid, spotted in several state's through out  the United States, most recently in  the south...
 

An eye witness account claims  that she noticed her dog was acting very agitated when they we're on they're hike through Mt. Elden forest trail, when she noticed a small group of primate like creatures scurrying through the rocks.

She described them as 4-5 feet tall, very quick and agile.

 

There have also been other sightings in other states such as New Mexico, Utah and Colorado. Unique breeds of monkey have been described as being about 3 to 4 feet tall, although some eyewitnesses have sworn that these things  can reach  a terrifying  height that is in excess of 7 feet tall.

The first reported encounter with this fast, dangerous predator occurred in 1934, in South Pittsburgh, Tennessee.


According to the reports — which were allegedly published in national newspapers — eyewitnesses described a mysterious beast that could “leap across fields” with “lightening speed.” This ability to jump great distances — up to 20 feet according to some accounts — have led some to speculate that these animals may have something in common with the Kangaroos that have  allegedly been seen throughout the United States for decades.

The suggestion is that those who think they’re seeing kangaroos from a distance are, in fact, seeing Devil Monkeys. While these 1934 encounters may or may not be associated with this phenomenon, the first “official” Devil Monkey sighting occurred in 1959, while a couple by the name of Boyd were driving through the mountains near their home in Saltville, Virginia.

According to their account, an ape-like animal  attacked their car, leaving three scratch marks on the vehicle.

The Boyd’s daughter, Pauline, described the terrifying attacker:  It had light, taffy colored hair, with a white blaze down its neck and underbelly… it stood on two, large well-muscled back legs and had shorter front legs or arms.” Boyd went on to describe a second Devil Monkey encounter that occurred just days later in the same region: “Several days after this incident, two nurses from the Saltville area were driving home from work one morning and were attacked by an unknown creature who ripped the convertible top from their car.” Luckily the nurses — though surely frightened out of their wits — were unharmed.

In 1969, esteemed mystery ape researchers Johnn Green looked into accounts of a long-tailed “monkey” beast that eyewitnesses claimed was lurking near Mamquam, British Columbia.

 This creature was said to have left a series of distinctive, three toed tracks — much like those attributed to Devil Monkeys as well as the legendary Bigfoot— in its wake.

In 1973, famed cryptozoologist and author Lauren Coleman investigated reports of three, black bushy-tailed “giant monkeys” that were said to have slaughtered livestock in Albany, Kentucky. Coleman mentioned the event in an interview with Animal Planet: “I investigated that case in depth. I interviewed the people, who were very sincere.

 In the whole context of devil monkey reports, it seemed extremely sincere.

 You have these reports of hairy, monkey-like creatures with tails, very different from Bigfoot.” In 1979, there was a spate of reported encounters with a bipedal, monkey-like critter known as the Bigfoot which hailed from the rural depths of Georgia. One female eyewitness described it as: “The ugliest looking thing I've ever seen… (it had a tail) like a beaver’s, but it’s bushy.” She also claimed in bore “a face like a dog.” These traits are all known to be Devil Monkey characteristics.

 There have been several  eyewitnesses that have describe this cryptid  as resembling a wild dog at a distance, which would suggests that they  may be capable of   both bipedal and quadrupedal movement...

Monsters, Cryptids and Yokai: the Kuchisake Onna or Slit Mouthed Woman.

 

 i love myths and folklore from all over the world.

Japan  is  full of interesting yokai, today's post will be about the Kuchisaki- onna or slit mouthed woman.


The slit mouthed woman is a well know yokai and has been seen in several popular modern shows and movies.

She can also be found in several  manga, live-action movies, anime and video games throughout Japan.

She was in the 1994 animated film Pom Poko, produced by Studio Ghibli, and would later appears in the 1996 live-action
short film titled " Kuchisake-onna", directed by Teruyoshi Ishii.
   

The 2007 horror movie "Carved" (also known under the titles Kuchisake-onna or A Slit-Mouthed Woman), directed by Koji Shiraishi  and featuring Miki Mizuno as the Kuchisake-onna,  The film was then followed by a sequal Carved 2: The Scissors Massacre  (also known as Kuchisake-onna 2) and The Slit-Mouthed Woman: The Beginning (or Kuchisake-onna Biginingu), released in 2008.

 Another movie in 2012 called Kuchisake-onna Returns,  

As well as in the occult/supernatural webcomic Mob Psycho 100.

And several other mentions and appearances in various manga's and shows.

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According to the urban legends, children walking alone at night may encounter a woman wearing a surgical mask, which is not an unusual
sight in Japan as people wear them to protect others from their colds or sickness.

The woman will stop the child and ask, "Am I pretty?" If the child answers no, the child is killed with a pair of scissors which the woman
carries. If the child answers yes, the woman pulls away the mask, revealing that her mouth is slit from ear to ear, and asks "How about now?"
 If the child answers no, he/she will be cut in half. If the child answers yes, then she will slit his/her mouth like hers. It is impossible to
run away from her, as she will simply reappear in front of the victim.

When the myth reappeared, the late 1970s rumors of ways to escape her soon followed. Some sources say she can be confused by the victim answering
her question with ambiguous answers, such as "You are average" or "So-so". Unsure of what to do, her victem will have enough time to escape while
she is lost in thought. Another way too  escape her is simply to tell her you have a previous engagement; she will pardon her manners and excuse herself.
In some variations of the tale, she can be distracted by fruit or candies thrown at her which she will then pick up, thus giving the victim a chance to run.
 

Another way is for the child to ask her if the child is pretty; she will get confused and just leave.

====================================

The Origins ===
======================
The Kuchisake-onna was a woman who was mutilated during her life, with her mouth being slit from ear to ear,and became a vengeful yokai after death.

In some versions of the story, the Kuchisake-onna was the unfaithful wife of a samurai during her life.
As punishment for her infidelity, her husband sliced the corners of her mouth from ear to ear.

Other versions of the tale claim her mouth was mutilated during a medical or dental procedure,
or that she was mutilated by a woman who was jealous of her beauty and one that stats her mouth is actually filled with several sharp teeth and her mouth
is split to accommodate them.

-------

Regardless of how her mouth became split, after her death, the woman would return as a vengeful spirit, or onryo.

As an onryo, she covers her mouth with a cloth mask  (often specified in modern tails as a surgical mask), or in some iterations, a hand fan or even just a handkerchief.  

She also carries a sharp instrument with her, in some versions  a knife, others its  a machete, or a scythe, but the most well know versions  she uses a large pair of scissors.
 

In every version of the legend, she is said to ask potential victims if they think she is pretty often phrased as "Watashi, kirei?"  (which translates to "Am I pretty?" or "Am I beautiful?").  If the person answers "no", she will kill the person with her knife,  and if the person answers "yes", she will reveal her mutilated mouth.

She then repeats her question  (or asks "Kore demo?",  "Even with this?" or "Even now?") and if the person responds with "no" or screams  in fright, she will kill the person immediately .

If the response is "yes", she will slice the corners of the person's
 mouth from ear to ear, so that they will look like her.

===========================
===escape====
=================
An individual can survive an encounter with Kuchisake-onna by using one of several methods. like the ones listed above.

In other versions of the myth, the Kuchisake-onna will leave the potential victim alone if they answer "yes" to both of her questions, though in other tales, she will visit the individual's residence later that night and murder the person  while they sleep.  

Other survival tactics include replying to her question by describing her appearance as "average", giving the individual enough time to run away;  distracting her by giving or throwing  money or hard candies (particularly the kind of candy known as bekko ame, made of caramelized sugar) in her direction, as she will stop to pick them up; or by saying the word "pomade" three times.
.
======
========
older versions
========

When rumors of alleged sightings began spreading in 1979 around the Nagasaki Prefecture, other sightings soon spread throughout Japan and  caused panic in several towns.

Though the original myth is believed to date back as far as the Edo piriod, the modern version of the  Kuchisake-onna can be  traced back to as early as 1979.

Several articles reported sightings of this malevolent yokai, the Gifu Prefecture newspaper Gifu Nichi Nichi Shinbun on  January 26, 1979,
 

the weekly publication Shukan Asahi on  March 23, 1979, and the weekly news magazine Shukan Shincho on  April 5, 1979.

With so many new sightings of the Kuchisake-onna spreading throughout Japan, mass hysteria soon followed to the point  that younger children would sometimes be accompanied by members of parent–teacher association groups while walking home from school. to keep them safe.

The police even  increasing their patrols to ease public concern.
==================

============================
==More recent sightings====
==============================
In 2004 here were many new  reports in South Korea about a woman wearing a red mask who was frequently seen chasing children, and in October 2007, a coroner allegedly found some old records from the late 1970s about a woman who was chasing young children.
 

She was then hit by a car, and died soon after. Her mouth was reportedly ripped from ear to ear.



so be weary of strangers, and maybe keep some hard candy as a decoy just in case lol..

Monsters, Cryptids and Yokai; The Hashihime

 

 

                          Pic by Grace iu on artstation..  https://grapejuice.artstation.com/projects/xJNxmW

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 Hashihime: The Maiden of the Bridge  or Lady of teh Bridge

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Hashihime (橋姫, Hashihime) is a yokai that first appeared in the Heian-period literature.

The hash'i from Hashihime means 'bridge', while hime means 'princess', therefore her name meaning "bridge princess". However, the word airashi (pretty, adorable) can also be said hashi, so her name has the second meaning of "charming princess". 

==============================

 

 

Hashihime are insanely jealous goddesses who inhabit bridges — in particular, very old and very long bridges. 

As goddesses, hashihime they can take different forms depending on the occasion, however they are commonly depicted wearing white robes, white face-paint, an iron trivet, and carrying five candles. This is a ceremonial outfit used to perform curses. 

 

Hashihime ferociously guard the bridges they inhabit. 

 

As with most gods connected to a location, they are very competitive and jealous. 

If one praises or speaks positively about another bridge while on top of a hashihime’s bridge, or if one recites lines from certain Noh plays that feature a woman’s wrath as the main theme, something terrible is likely to happen to that person.

Despite their fearsome nature, they are highly honored by the people who live nearby, and shrines are established in their honor near the bridges they inhabit. In times of war, residents will beseech their local hashihime to guard the bridge against invaders. In times of peace, hashihime are goddess of separation and severing, and are asked to aid people in things such as break-ups, divorce, and severing bad luck. So strong is their power of severing that it is considered taboo for lovers to pass in front of a hashihime shrine together, or for wedding processions to pass in front of one. If newlyweds need to cross a bridge inhabited by a hashihime, 

they will instead pass underneath it on a boat rather than risk cursing their marriage. 

======================================

 

The most famous hashihime story comes from Tsurugi no Maki, in The Tale of the Heike, and is retold in the noh play Kanawa.

A woman visited the the Kifune-jinja in Kyoto at the hour of the ox (roughly 2 am), filled with rage and jealousy towards her ex-husband who had thrown her away for another woman. Night after night she visited the shrine, praying to the gods enshrined there to turn her into a powerful demon. The woman wanted nothing else other than to see her ex-husband destroyed, even at the cost of her own life. After seven nights of pilgrimage, her prayers were answered: the gods told her that if she immersed herself in the Uji river for twenty-one nights, she would become a living demon.

The woman did as she was told. She donned a white robe and tied her hair up into five horns. She painted her face and covered her body in crimson dye. She placed an upturned trivet on her head and attached torches to each foot. She lit a torch on both ends and placed it in her mouth. She immersed herself in the Uji river and for twenty-one days she kindled the hatred in her heart. Then, just as the gods told her, after twenty-one days she transformed into a terrible kijo with supreme power. She had become the hashihime of Uji.

 

 

 That night, her husband awoke from a horrible dream with a premonition of danger. He quickly sought out the famous onmyōji, Abe-no-Seimei. Seimei recognized the dream as a sign that the man’s former wife would come and destroy the couple that very night, and promised to save them. He went to their house, recited magical prayers, and crafted two katashiro — magical paper doll representations of the man and his wife, meant to be used as substitutionary targets for the kijo’s rage. That night, as Seimei had predicted, the demon appeared. She attacked the two katashiro instead of the real couple, and Seimei’s magic worked: her power was reflected back upon her and she was driven away. The demon woman, realizing that she could not overcome Abe-no-Seimei’s magic, vanished, threatening that she would come back another time. 

Monsters, Cryptids and Yokai, Russian folklor, Alkonost, Gamayun and Shishiga

 

 ......................Today's post is mostly Russian based siren and harpy like cryptids.................

 

pic is by Viktor Vasnetsov's Sirin (left) and Alkonost (right) Birds of Joy and Sorrow (1896)

==========================

Russian myths..

The Alkonost, Gamayun and Shishiga..

================================================

 

                               

In  Russian folklore the Alkonost is a woman-headed bird similar to the Greek Sirens
dangerous creatures, who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and singing voices
to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island..

Like the sirens the Alkonost is said to have a beautiful voice and those who hear these sounds
forget everything they know and want nothing more ever again.

The Alkonost lays her eggs on a beach and then rolls them into the sea. When the  eggs hatch, a thunderstorm
sets in and the sea becomes so rough that it's impossible to traverse.
She is also related to other birds like beings in Slavic mythology, namely the Rarog and Stratim.

The name Alkonost is derived from a Greek demigoddess named Alcyone.

In Greek mythology, Alcyone was transformed by the gods into a kingfisher....
==========

          

The Gamayun...

the Gamayun is usually depicted as a large bird with a woman's head, again simiar to the sirens.

Like the Alkonost, the gamayun is believed to originate from the Greek folklore and siren mythology.

However unlike the dangerous and often malevolent sirens, the Gamayun is a being of prophecy in Russian folklore. She  is a symbol of wisdom and knowledge.

She is said to live on an island in the mythical east, close to paradise.

According to legends she spread divine messages and prophecies, and she knows everything of all creation,  gods, heroes, and man.

 

........
 and our third cryptid is the Shishiga..

Shishiga are  sometimes called leshenka .

 

She is a female swamp (or forest) creature similar to the wood-goblin.

She  is often  described as, white, nude, and has tousled  hair.

She is known to harass people and bring misfortune to the drunkards.

She is also an  important figure in the mythology of the Komi people.

The Shishiga supposedly lives in the Kama River and often goes to the shore to comb her hair.

Seeing her is considered a very bad omen, as those who do sees her will soon drown or die by another cause.


The Shishiga also shares some similarity to the story of Artemis and Actaeon from  Greek mythology..


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.....

...

American Cryptids: The Snallygaster..

Today we talk about a German inspired cryptid, The Snallygaster.
The Snallygaster is a dragon like cryptid, from the North East part of the United States seen mostly in  Frederick county , Maryland, Central Maryland and the Washington DC area...

Starting in 1730 the Maryland area was being settled  by German immigrants.

Some of the earliest sightings of the Snallygaster  describe the monster terrorizing the  community and because of it's intense speed they called it a (Schneller Geist ) That's German for "quick ghost"
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 The earliest  version of the creature seemed to describe a strange combination  of features  seeming to be  that of a  half bird  Half Reptilian like monster.

The snallygaster was was often described as a fierce Half reptile, half-bird with a metallic like beak lined with razor-sharp teeth occasionally with octopus-like tentacles.

 It swoops silently from the sky to pick up and carry off its victims.

======================================

The earliest stories claim that this monster sucked the blood of its victims. A Seven Pointed Star was apparently a good luck charm of sorts said to keep  the snallygaster at bay, and it can still be seen painted on local barns from time to time.
his string of appear
 

At one point Theodore Roosevelt   reportedly considered postponing one of his African safari's to personally hunt the beast, Even the Smithsonian Museum was offering a reward the the creature.

Much like the Jersey Devil, sightings of the Snallygaster still continue to this day,  whether this creature is physical or more ethereal in nature, or if it even exist outside of our imaginations the legends will continue for many years to come..

Demons of Love: the Kumiho / Gumiho..The Korean Fox Girl

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(Next week's post will be the Succubus, Happy early Valentines Day................
-----------------------------------

                                           Ahri League of Legends  by  ASTELTAINN


A kumiho (gumiho)
is a type of fox spirit in Korean mythology

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The Kumiho like the Japanese Kitsune is a supernatural fox creature ..

Fox spirits are popular east Asian figures Korea, Japan and China  all have ancient myths and folklore regarding them.

According to legend a  fox that manages to live a thousand years turns into a kumiho, like other fox legend's the kumiho can transform at will usually taking on a female form they  will then  set out to seduce men, and according to some versions on the myth eat there heart or liver.


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Fox spirits are in a way similar to the Succubus in that they take the form of seductive young woman....
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         Shin Min-ah plays a fox girl in the South Korean comedy romance My Girlfriend is a Gumiho  ..





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The encyclopedic Compendium of Korean Oral Literature contains a lot of story's regarding the gumiho..
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Even though the Gumiho has the power to transform into a human (Most often a beautiful woman). They  still something retain one or more fox-like features.

For example  in her human form she may still have , a fox like face or  pointed ears hidden under her hair, or maybe even  nine fox tails that only become visible when her  wedding dress is removed. Though able to change between human and fox forms, a Kumiho is very cautions and  guards her true identity.

 It is believed that a  kumiho can transform into the identical likeness of a  bride at a wedding and is only discovered when her clothes are removed on the honeymoon and her fox tail is reveled.  

Bakh Mun-su and the Kumiho (박문수와 구미호) records an encounter that Pak Munsu has with a girl, living alone in the woods, that has a fox-like appearance. In The Maiden who Discovered a Kumiho through a Chinese Poem (한시로 구미호를 알아낸 처녀), the kumiho is ultimately revealed when a hunting dog catches the scent of a fox and attacks the girl. Although they have the ability to change physical forms, a kumiho dose not change there true nature.
 However it is believed that kumiho how  abstains from killing and eating humans for a thousand days, can become human.

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Nine tailed fox myths and legends seem to have Originated  in China  centuries ago and later being introduced to introduced to both Korean and Japanese mythology.

The  Korean Kumiho / Gumiho  shares many similarities to the Chinese Huli Jing and the Japanese Kitsune  an old Chinese text, claims a fox with nine tails lives in an area called Qingqiu (靑丘).

As the kumiho and other versions of the nine-tailed fox myths originated from China, they all have a similar concept.

 The all describe  fox spirits as being the result of extreme longevity or the accumulation of energy.

Usually foxes who have lived for at least thousand years, will gain  the power of shape-shifting.

However there is still some differences between the legends , while the Chinese  huli jing and the Japanese  kitsune are usually said to have a more ambiguous moral compasses, possibly good or evil, the kumiho is almost always treated as a malevolent figure who feasts on human energy and sometimes there flesh.

                                    Ahri League of Legends  found on Wallpaper HD

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It is unclear at which point in time Koreans began viewing the kumiho as a evil creature, since many ancient texts from China mention a more benevolent kumiho helping humans (and even make mentions of bad humans tricking kind but naïve kumiho).

In later text, kumiho were often depicted as bloodthirsty half-fox, half-human creatures that wandered cemeteries at night, digging human hearts out from graves simelar to Ghoules.
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The fairy tale The Fox Sister A fox spirit preying on a family for their livers.

 However, according to Gyuwon Sahwa, kumiho is described as an auspicious fox spirit with a book in its mouth. Considering the text is thought to be written in 1675, some speculate that the modern violent image of kumiho is influenced during the Japanese occupation in Korea.

Nevertheless, foxes often contained a negative image during the Koryo Dynasty  (Shin Don)  was described as an old fox spirit due to his love for women and drinks despite his being a buddhist monk), suggesting two different views could have co-existed in ancient Korea.

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The  Gyuwon Sahwa  was written in 1675, and describes ancient Korean  history including the creation of the universe. Today, its principal value is generally seen in its role as a historical story reflecting the consciousness of the period, rather than as a historical record. Similar contents are also found in Hwandan Gogi, which is generally believed to have been influenced by the Gyuwon Sahwa
 The Gyuwon Sahwa is now kept at the National Library or Korea.

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The most distinctive feature that separates the kumiho from its two counterparts is the existence of a 'yeowoo guseul' (여우구슬, literally meaning fox marble/bead) which is said to consist of knowledge.

According to Korean mythology, the yeowoo guseul provides power to the kumiho and knowledge (and intelligence) to people if they can steal and swallow one.

The kumiho can absorb humans' energy with it. The method of absorbing energy with the "yeowoo guseul" resembles a "deep kiss" (a kiss using the  tongue). The kumiho sends the yeowoo guseul into people's mouths and then retakes it with their tongues. If that person swallows the yeowoo guseul, however, and then observes "sky, land, and people", each observation gives the observer preternatural knowledge. But the person fails to watch the "sky" in most tales, so they get a special ability but not the most important one.
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Just like Vampire's, Witches and Werewolf story's in Western folklore, there are always going to by slightly different variations on the myth depending on the person  recounting them.

In one older version of this  myth, says  that with enough will, a kumiho could ascend from its yokai  form and  become permanently human there by lose its evil characteristics.

Explanations of how this could be possible vary, but sometimes include aspects such as refraining from killing or tasting meat for a thousand days, or obtaining a cintamani   and making sure that the Yeoiju saw the full moon  at least every month during the ordeal. Unlike Yeoiju-wielding dragon  , kumiho were not believed to be capable of optioning omnipotence or creation at will, since they were lesser creatures.
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9 Tails fox's power's and abilitys----

Fox spirits can create and control Fox Fire lightning ......
Aside from heightened intelligent and extreme longevity, 9 tailed fox's are said to have  many different ability's and supernatural powers

 Include possession, generating fire or lightning, and  manifesting in the dreams of others at will.

                           

Demons of Love: the Baobhan Sith or Scottish Vampire / fairy ..

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February  is the month of love and valentines Day, so too celebrate the month of love i will be posting about the monster's  of Love and subduction ...Think of demons like  the Succubus and other's similar to her in nature...
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                         ~~~~Baobhan Sith ~~~  

                            👻☘️💕😈💕☘️👻

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The Baobhan Sith, pronounced baa’van see, also also known as the White Women of the Scottish Highlands or simply the Fairy Woman.

The Baobhan Sith is most often  depicted as  a beautiful young woman,

They are believed to be a type of fairy, though they share similarities to Succubus and Vampire's

They can be found lurking in the Highlands, waiting to seduce young travelers and drink their blood.
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Thought to be fairies. though some believe them to be a sub spices of Succubus or a type of lesser vampire... are a particularly dangerous type of vampire-spirits from the folklore of the Scottish Highlands like  the Leanan Sídhes, the Boabhan Siths are considered female but are usually temptresses who use their beauty to lure men into dance before brutally killing them


There mane concern is feeding - they will luring young hunters in by inviting them to dance until the hunter's are too tired too fight back or  overpower the Baobahn Sith.

They would then feed on their helpless victims, draining them dry of blood.




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The baobhan sith most often appears as a beautiful young woman wearing a long green dress..

She has deer hooves insted of normal human feet..

The long dress is used to conceals her  hooveed legs ..

                                      
                                             Green Dress...

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Like vampires, she drinks the blood of human victims and will leave before dawn..

She  can also transform according to some legends she may take the form of a hooded crow or raven. in other versions she will transform into a wolf..
                                      



There are numerous stories about the baobhan sith with a general theme of hunters being attacked in the wilderness at night.

                                  


                                      


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One famous legend state's that there were four men who went hunting and took shelter for the night in an old cabin.

One of the men supplied vocal music while the others began dancing.

The men wished there were woman present  to dance with, and soon after that four women entered the hut.

Three of them danced while the fourth sat beside as the vocalist.

He then noticed drops of blood falling from his companions and fled from the hut, taking refuge among the horses. His blood thusty  guests chased him but were unable to catch him, and when daylight came the woman all disappeared.

Later the man went back inside and found all three of his friends dead and  completely drained of blood.

The  baobhan sith was unable to catch the fourth man because liker other fairy's she has a weakness to iron., (iron being a traditional fairy  vulnerability.)

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In a similar tale one of the men noticed that the women had deer hooves instead of feet and fled from them. He returned the next morning to find that the other hunters had their "throats cut and chests laid open"<sup>.

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In a third story the hunters took refuge in a cave.

Each of the men said he wished his own sweetheart were there that night, but one of them, named Macphee, who was accompanied by his black dog, said he preferred his wife to remain at home.

 At that moment a group of young women entered the cave, and the men who had wished for their sweethearts were killed. Macphee was protected by his dog who drove the women from the cave^.

 
One recurring motif in these stories is that the baobhan sith appear almost immediately after the hunters express their desire for female companionship.

This is connected with a traditional Scottish belief that if one were to make a wish at night without also invoking God's protection, then that wish would be granted in some terrible manner..
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Mercy Brown: American Vampire

The Vampire of New England....

The brown family of Exeter, Rhode Island


So many cases of tuberculosis  occurred in the  Brown family that  Friends and neighbors believed this was due to the possible  influence of the undead.

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George and Mary Brown's family suffered  from tuberculosis infections hitting several family members.

Tuberculosis infections  in the later 19th century was rampant it was also called "consumption" at the time, and was a very devastating disease.

The mother, Mary Eliza, was the first to die of the disease, followed in 1886 by their eldest daughter, Mary Olive.

In 1891, Mercy and her brother  Edwin also contracted the disease.

Mercy died 1n  January 1892 at the age of 19.

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The locals  believed that one of the deceased family members was actually a vampire that had caused the rest of the family's  illness.

This belief was based on folklore  that speaks of a link between multiple members of a family dying and it's link to the  visitation by a vampire.

Tuberculosis was a poorly understood disease at the time and was followed by a lot of  superstition.


After much persuasion George Brown eventually gave  permission to exhume  several bodies of his  now deceased family members.
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This was a big event in the area drawing in  Villagers, the local doctor, and even  a newspaper reporter  to witness  the body's being exhumed  on March 17, 1892.

 The bodies of both Mary and Mary Olive showed the expected level of decomposition you would expect given the amount of time they where in the ground  so they were apparently cleared of suspicion in the vampire case....

 However, the body of a Mercy, showed almost no decomposition, and still had blood  in the heart.

The locals took this as a sign that the she was in fact undead and by that extension the cause  Edwin's current poor condition.

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Her lack of decomposition was most likely due to her body being stored in freezer-like conditions in an above-ground crypt during the first two months after her death.

An old Romanian superstition says that to cure the sickness brought by  undead, the vampires heart and  or liver must be burned, and the ashes mixed with water to create a tonic.

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Dr. Harold Metcalf, who had raised his objection to the entire affair, assured everyone that the lack of decomposition of Mercy’s body was perfectly consistent with the fact that she had been dead for less than two months. Knowing that medicine had done nothing to save the Browns, the people of Exeter ignored the doctor’s proclamations and took the presence of fresh blood in Mercy’s heart as a sign that she was undead.

They gathered firewood and kindled a bonfire on a pile of nearby rocks. Then they cut out Mercy’s heart and lungs and cremated them on the pyre.
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This was not the first time the old remedy of burning the organs of the dead and mixing the ashes into an tonic for the sick had been tried in Rhode Island, even in Exeter.

In 1799, the townspeople exhumed the body of Sarah Tillinghast, suspecting her of being a vampire. Author Diana Ross McCain reports there were 18 documented instances of the exhumation of family members in suspected vampire cases throughout New England in the 18th and 19th century, but the case of Mercy Brown would be the last.


After removing and burning her heart, Mercy Brown was re buried at the Chestnut Hill Cemetery where she now rests in peace.

Unfortunately Edwin died  just two months later<sup>.
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                      Mercy Browns Grave</sup>

Visitation is possible  look for a small white Baptist church off of Ten Rod Road, a couple of miles from I-95. A path goes directly through the center of the cemetery, about halfway down on the left is the Brown family plot.


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 Further reading......
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Bram Stoker  and H.P. Lovecraft drew inspiration from this case for there respective works..

Bram Stokers character Lucy Westernra and H.P. Lovecrafts character Mercy Dexter..
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 Mercy Brown's story was also  the inspiration for the young adult novel Mercy: The Last New England Vampire by Sarah L. Thomson.

There's also an account of the events as told by the remaining descendants of Mercy is available in Michael E. Bell's Food for the Dead: On the Trail of New England's Vampires.

Cryptids: The Boogeyman legends from around the world..

                  ===============THE BOOGEYMAN==========



No doubt you've heard of this creature of the shadows at some point or another during your lifetime.

He is the creature of nightmares, the monster under your bed, or that strange thing lurking in your closet late at night...he is the Boogeyman.

This cryptid appears in story's and myth's around the globe, here are a few of his other names ...

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Korea -

In Gyungsang province, Dokebi (도깨비)  a monster that show's up  to take misbehaving children.

 The word kokemi, however, is derived from a word Kotgahm (곶감), dried persimmon. According to Korean folklore, a woman, in an attempt to soothe her crying child, said "Here comes a tiger to come and get you.

I'll let him in unless you stop crying." Accidentally, a tiger passed by, overheard her and decided to wait for his free meal. Instead of opening the door of the house, to the tiger's disappointment, the mother offered her child a dried persimon saying "Here's a kotgahm." Of course, the child, busy eating, stopped crying.

The tiger, not knowing what a Kotgahm is, ran away thinking "this must be a scary monster for whom even I am no match." (Tigers are revered by Koreans as most powerful and fearsome creatures.) Other variations include mangtae younggam (망태 영감) an oldman (younggam) who carries a mesh sack (mahngtae) to put his kidnapped children in. In some regions, mangtae younggam is replaced by mangtae halmum (망태 할멈), an old woman with a mesh sack.



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Japan -the bogeyman is called Namahage he is a type of  demons that warns children not to be lazy or cry, during the Namahage Sedo Matsuri, or "Demon Mask Festival", when villagers wear demon masks or (Oni Mask) and pretend to be these spirits.

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Denmark and some area's of Norway --

The Boogeyman in Danish is called bussemanden. It hides under the bed and grabs children who will not sleep. It is also a slang term for nasal mucus. 



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Germany -

in Germany the Boogeyman is known as Der schwarze Mann (the black man), the "Buhmann" or the Butzemann. "Schwarz" does not refer to the color of skin but to his preference for hiding in dark places, like the closet, under the bed of children or in forests at night. There is also a children's game called Wer hat Angst vorm schwarzen Mann? (Who is afraid of the black man?).



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Norway* - "nøkken" and in some areas Busemannen , the norwaegian bogeyman is often described as a monster in the lake, he was said to come and take children which did not come in when they were told too.

                                                                 Nokken




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Netherlands - Boeman, The Dutch Boogeyman is  a creature that resembles the a adult male, dressed completely black, with sharp claws and fangs. The Bogeyman takes bad children or those who refuse to sleep and locks them in his basement for a period of time.






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 Sweden -

The Swedish  Boogeyman is most often called the  Monstret under sängen which basically means "the monster under the bed".


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France-


In France the Bogeyman is le croque-mitaine ("the mitten-biter" or rather "the hand-cruncher"—mitaine means mitt in an informal way) 

Another version of a Boogyman like bing from french mythology is called Bonhomme sept heures or (Seven o'clock man) he was said to take children who stayed outside past 7pm. He is described as an old man wearing a hat and cape, and having a cane and a bag full of sand that is uses to throw in the eyes of the children he targets....





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 Russia, Ukraine and Belarus-

 Here the Boogeyman is usually said to be hiding under the bed, babay ("бабай") or babayka ("бабайка") this version of teh story is used to keep children in bed at night  or stop them from misbehaving. 'Babay' means 'old man' in Tatar. Children are told that "babay" is an old man with a bag or in some versions a monster, and that it will take them away if they misbehave.

The eastern part of Ukraine has babay as well, possibly due to Russian influence. Slovenia

 The Slovenian Bogeyman is called Bavbav. It doesn't have a particular shape or form. often it isn't even defined as a man or anything human. It can be thought of as a kind of sprite or spirit.


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Romania -

In Romania the Boogeyman is called a bau-bau (pronounced "bow-bow"). Bau-bau stories are used by parents to scare children who misbehave. The babau (babao or barabao) also appears in Italy.


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The Boogeyman can be found in many places world wide so behave yourselves or you just may meet him lol and don't forget to check under your bed...

Kentucky Blue People...The Fugate's.

 

 

Today we talk about The Fugate's. Not cryptids or paranormal but still a very interesting case...

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The Fugate's are a family from  the hills of Kentucky  known as the "Blue Fugates" or the Blue People of Kentucky, They are the  carriers of a rare  genetic trait  that led to the disease, methemoglobinemia this disease causes a  blue-tinged to the skin.

Methemoglobin is a nonfunctional blue version of the healthy red hemoglobin protein that carries oxygen. In most Caucasians, the red hemoglobin of the blood in their bodies shows through their skin giving it a pink tint.

For the Fugate family, the excessive amount of blue methemoglobin in their blood turned their skin color blue.

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===Blue People of Kentucky ===

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In  1820 Martin Fugate a french orphan became the first Fugate in the US.

He later settled in Troublesome Creek, in the hills of East Kentukey.

He eventually met Elizabeth Smith and was soon engaged..

Martin Fugate and Elizabeth Smith married and settled near Hazard, Kentuky  However they were both carriers of the recessive methemoglobinemia (met-H) gene, as was a nearby clan with whom the Fugates descendants intermarried. As a result, many descendants of the Fugates were born with
met-H.

Descendants with the gene continued to live in the areas around Troublesome Creek  and Ball Creek into the 20th century, eventually coming to the attention of the nurse Ruth Pendergrass and the hematologist Madison Cawein III, who made a detailed study of their condition and ancestry.
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===1960's  Oward...

 By the  1960s, some members of the Fugate family had begun to resent their blue  skin.

Not only did their skin mark them as different, but by that time, people had already begun to associate their skin color with the family’s history of inbreeding.

It was then that two Fugates approached Madison Cawein, a hematologist at the University of Kentucky’s medical clinic at the time, in search of a cure.

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“They were really embarrassed about being blue,” Cawein remembers. “Patrick was all hunched down in the hall. Rachel was leaning against the wall. They wouldn’t come into the waiting room. You could tell how much it bothered them to be blue.”

Using research collected from studies of isolated Alaskan Eskimo populations, Cawein was able to conclude that the Fugates carried a rare hereditary blood disorder that causes excessive levels of methemoglobin in their blood.


Cawein treated the family with methylene blue which seemed to decrees some of their symptoms and reduced the blue coloring of their skin.

 He eventually published his research in the Archives of Internal Medicine  in 1964.

As travel became easier in the 20th century, and families spread out over wider areas, the prevalence of the recessive gene in the local population reduced, and with it the probability of inheriting the disease.

 -----------Fugate Family Tree---------



^{------------------------------------}

Benjamin Stacy, born in 1975, is the last known descendant of the Fugates to have been born with blue skin, and lost his blue skin tone as he grew older.

Having this recessive gen on both sides of the family combined with isolation and the fact that   many of the Fugates began to marry and have children within their own bloodline led to the bluse ting.

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“It was hard to get out, so they intermarried,” says Dennis Stacy, an amateur genealogist, and descendant of the Fugates. “I’m kin to myself.”

Benjy is descended from a line of this family that began when Martin’s son, Zachariah, married his mother’s sister.

  Today Benjy and most of the Fugate family descendants have lost their blue coloring and look like anyone eles you would see out n about...

                                                          Benjy at age 37
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It has been speculated that some other American sufferers of inherited methemoglobinemia may also have had Fugate ancestors, but searches for direct links have so far proved inconclusive.