🎃👻Happy Halloween 👻🎃

🎃Happy 👻Halloween 🎃 

Thanks for the views and shares, have a safe and fun night.🦇🌕🦇

Yokai, The Gotoku neko

 

Cats are often associated with superstitions especially black cats (thought to bring bad luck)  though they are just as sweet as any other cat.

Another superstition about cats is they cause fire .

For example, if you let a cat sleep near the fireplace, your house will burn down. An old belief is that the sparks from the fireplace would light the cat’s tail, and then the flaming cat would run around the house igniting everything it touched. Although Sekien does not mention it, the flames on gotoku neko’s tails might be a reference to this superstition.

This fire cat is a type of nekomata A large  yōkai cat or (monster cat) with two tails. They wear an upside-down iron  trivet on their heads like a hat and the tips of their twin tails burn like firey  torches.

This fiery feline enjoys it's time around the  fireplaces. It uses bamboo pipes to blow air on the fire and stoke the flames they also enjoy warming themselves by the  fireplace like any normal cats would.

The first literary reference to the Gotoku neko was by  Toriyama Sekien in his book Hyakki tsurezure bukuro (“An Idle Bag of One Hundred Vessels”). Its name comes from the gotoku–or trivet–that this yōkai wears like a hat. A gotoku is an iron ring with three or four legs used to hold a tea kettle or pot in a fireplace. It heats vessels while keeping them out of the ashes. Gotoku have occult connections of their own: a famous curse in Japan is known as the shrine visit at the hour of the ox , it requires wearing a gotoku upside-down on your head.

Gotoku also refers to the five virtues of Confucianism: benevolence, honesty, knowledge, integrity, and propriety. It is somewhat odd for a yōkai to be associated with virtues, but Sekien makes a joke of it by referring to a story from Tsurezure gusa (“Essays in Idleness”). 

There was once a nobleman named Shinano no Zenji Yukinaga, who was set to perform shichitoku no mai (“the dance of seven virtues”). Though, as he danced before the court, he forgot two of the virtues. As a result, he jokingly became known around the court for his dance of five virtues (gotoku). Sekien connects this wordplay to the yōkai by explaining that gotoku neko are often forgetful.

Next time you see a kitty all warm and cozy by the fireplace it may more then it seems.. 

🔥🔥🔥😼🔥🔥🔥

The NASA Gargoyle

 

..The NASA Gargoyle..

Frank Shaw - a NASA archivist at Houston's Johnson Space Center - claimed to have had a terrifying night time encounter with an ominous creature . 

 There is very little information available for this encounter, however Shaw's daughter, Desiree, would eventually reveal  details of her father's sighting  to author Nick Redfern in 2004. Desiree testified that she first realized that something was dreadfully wrong when her father returned home late one night after working at the space center. While neither Desiree, nor her mother, were particularly alarmed by Shaw's tardiness - as he often was required to work into the wee hours - they were both dismayed by his alarmingly apprehensive demeanor. The pair attempted to comfort Shaw, who was eventually able to compose himself enough to regale them with a terrifying tale of his brush with the unknown. ...

...  ........

The Interview..

April  9 2004..

Redfern interview with  Desiree Shaw, Frank’s daughter. According to Desiree, her father (who was an archivist, not an engineer), saw the gargoyle in 1986. Redfern described the encounter in his book based on Desiree’s recollections of her deceased father’s tale.

While walking to his car that night, he had seen, to his complete and utter horror; perched on a nearby building, a large man-like figure that was utterly black in color, and that seemed to have a large cape draped across its shoulders and back, with two huge wing-like appendages sticking out of the cape. Looking more bat-like than bird-like, the wings made a cracking noise as they slowly flapped in the strong howling wind. The creature . . . had clearly realized it had been seen. Not only that, Shaw gained the very distinct impression that the beast was actually relishing that it had been noticed, and was even seemingly deriving pleasure from the fact that it had struck terror into the heart of Shaw.

Thought not surprisingly NASA claims to know nothing about this sighting..

...Sorry, never heard of it, and I’ve been here 37 years (since 1986),” read the one-sentence reply from Kelly O. Humphries, Johnson Space Center News Chief....

As Frank crossed the parking lot on the way to his car when he happened to throw a glance at one of the nearby buildings. Sitting on top of the building was a monstrous creature which Shaw could only describe as resembling one of the gargoyles which adorn many churches and other buildings dating from Europe’s medieval period. Shaw quickly realised that the gargoyle was staring directly at him, and had the distinct impression that it was taking great pleasure in the terror that it had instilled in him.

After a few moments of staring at each other, the gargoyle began to slowly unfurl its large wings with a sound like dried paper; this act seemed to break the almost hypnotic state that Shaw had been in, and he ran to his car and fled the scean.

Although initially reluctant to report what he had seen to his superiors, the effect of this encounter on Shaw began to get the better of him, and he eventually told  his story to one of his supervisors. Though to his surprise, he  was informed that the gargoyle had been sighted by other employees at the Johnson facility, and was in fact believed to have been behind the brutal mutilation and exsanguination of a pair of the bases’ German Shepherd guard dogs. He was also told that a secret file had been opened on the entity, but if such a document exists it has never been made available to the public.

After making his report and moving on with his daily life,he believing this to be the end of his ordeal, So it came as a surprise when he was called  in for a Talk with "NASA security people flown in from somewhere in Arizona,” who proceeded to interrogate him intensively on his experience and make it very clear that he and his family would do well to keep the matter to themselves (see "Men in Black"). This may be the reason why this encounter has taken so long to come to public attention.

To this day, NASA have neither confirmed nor denied the existence of the creature sighted by Shaw and the other employees.

Russian myth: The Lake Baikal Swimmers.

 

Did the Soviet Union discover strange lake monster .

Lake Baikal is the deepest rift lake in the world. It is located in southern Siberia, it's home to all I ngs of aquatic life thriving in it's chilly waters. 

But what else could possibly be lurking in the depth of the vast lake?

Lake Baikal is often called the “Galapagos of Russia,” and for a good reason. Thousands of species of animals and plants can only be found in this lake or the surrounding area.

The Swimmers...

According to the legend, in 1982 a team of Russian Navy divers set out to  explore Lake Baikal when, to their surprise and  amazement, they encounter large, humanoid beings possibly as tall as nine feet in hight.

They procided to  try and capture them with nets! This deadly ecounter would eventually be known as The  Swimmers of Lake Baikal.

,........

In 1982. During a regular military dive exercise and working at a depth of 50 meters (164 feet), the divers noticed something strange in the water with them.

The divers reported sightings of humanoid-shaped creatures that had bodies that stretched out 3 meters (9ft) in length..

The divers described these beings as having silver silhouettes, and some had transparent spheres on their heads. These spheres have also been described as looking like an open umbrella being held over the creatures’ heads.

Once the divers surfaced, they reported the sighting to a commander who ordered the men, back into the ice cold lake  and told them to catch one of these strange swimmers.

 Seven divers reentered the water and again encountered the Swimmers, which forcefully threw the soviet divers to the lake’s surface.

There were not enough  decompression chambers on the shore for all seven of the divers, and three unlucky divers were left to die from the caisson disease, aka decompression sickness or “the bends”. The attempt to contact the Lake Baikal Swimmers had turned deadly.

.... 

First telling.. 

The story of the Swimmers first appeared in a book written by Soviet/Russian UFOlogist named Vladimir Azhazha. He has been studying UFOlogy for  decades but is also know for making alleged  false claims about aliens in Russia.

.....

Many people especially those in the government claim this story is nothing more then an urban legend.

The city of Severobaikalsky, near the port of Baikal, did have a special base where dives were conducted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

However managers of the base have all said the story of the swimmers is utter  nonsense and that there has never been a single death of a diver at the base, and the town of Severobaikalsky formally became a town in 1984, two years after the supposed navy exercise in the story occurred.

Though if the military had actually encountered otherworldly creatures at the bottom of the lake especially one's that killed some of their personal, do you really think they would admit it?

So what do you think, are the swimmers real or just a cool urban legend?

    

Dogman in the US. 🐺

 

Dogman Encounters October 5,2016 in Nebraska. 

First hand account.

My brother and I were waiting for our bus, at our usual corner stop. It’s about 3 blocks away from our house and there’s a pretty densely wooded creek nearly 1-2 blocks behind our bus stop. The first thing I noticed that was off was that my brother was standing completely rigid, staring intently down the long road (there are only two street lights and a few automatic porch lights down there). I shook him a little bit and asked what he was looking at. He shushed me almost immediately. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a large, black shape darting on 2 legs across the street, to the line of houses on the other side, before disappearing. Thankfully, our bus arrived soon afterward, so we got out of there...

.......   

Encounter number two 

New York, October 2000 - 

First hand account.

It was later in the evening, when i was driving back to my in-laws house, by myself and was going down a dirt road. I saw something in the ditch up ahead and on the right and didn't really know what it was, until I got up far enough so that my head lights could catch it. I didn't know anything about Dogmen, until a couple of years ago. This thing had an outline of a huge dog, but when I got closer, it turned and looked at me. I just floored it. It didn't really bother me, until I noticed it looking at me and I saw that it was actually grasping what it was eating. I got back and didn't say exactly what I saw. I just asked them if there were any big dogs or wolves up where they lived. My father in-law just laughed and said, "No." Then he asked why. I didn't say anything. The thing I will NEVER forget are the reddish, orange eyes, that just kept staring at me!

Encounter number three.

Lehigh Acres, Florida.

First hand account 

"I had my doubts of what it couldve been. Thought it was a bear at first glance. but the aggressive behaviors, and foot prints dont lie. All of the evidence ive found points at dogman.

so the 1st night this all started was a few months ago. I was woke up one morning by something tapping on the window to my bedroom, sounded like a fingernail on the glass. Light tapping, but enough to wake me. I woke up, made some coffee, and grabbed a glass of water and went outside. i sat down and had a smoke, and heard some odd noises. weird like clicking sound, not cicadas or grasshoppers, im use to those. then about 5 minutes later a growling sound. very deep but short. This was around 3am.

coffee was done about 20 minutes later, so i grabbed a cup and went back outside to my porch, i took my first sip and i heard this blood curdling scream about 150ft behind my porch, maybe the next block over.

I finished my coffee and im walking inside, just as i open my glass slider, something attacks my porch door, beat the hell out of it for almost 5 minutes straight. scared the hell out of me. i rushed inside, got another cup of coffee, and waited about 20 minutes looking out the kitchen window to see if anything was there. being that my back yard is completely dark, im not sure what i expected, but i gave up waiting and went back outside. i sit down, and im drinking my coffee and i hear what sounds like my neighbors new aluminum fence getting the crap beat out of it. im looking on my side and nothing, my guess is, it went to the other side of his property, to beat the hell out of the panels. it stopped quickly. and that was that. no noise for the rest of morning.

fast forward 2 months, thanksgiving 2020.

im woken again at 3am, same nails on the window event. my dogs havent barked either time, so im suspiscious. make my way outside, coffee ready, iphone up incase there is something there, and nothing. Im talking on the phone with my trucker buddies about what happened before thanksgiving and they dont have a clue. mind you, we all grew up in these woods, well before the internet was invented. so we naturally played in the woods. about 2 hours goes by, and the sun is up enough that i can kinda make out this shape in the woods behind my house. its about 5'5 and just standing in this position for a good 45 minutes. i managed to get a picture of it, but its poor quality. the rest of the day, and that night, will live with me forever. not 2 hours later, i heard this tree branch snap off and something crash to the ground, something heavy. no mistaking that sound for a tree falling over. turns out, a tree on the edge of my neighbors property, about 25 feet up, a large branch about 5 inches diameter is just twisted off and snapped like a twig. its still hanging there. it doesnt even touch the ground but its about 12 feet long. I did have a look in the woods for abit to see if i could find anything, its its mostly 1 obvious human trail that is used often, 2-3 small animal trails, and a really crappy make shift trail with broken trees littering the outline of the sides of the trail. quite abit of big stuff to climb over, logs piled like ive seen and heard about odd like teepee shape, and several grass beds throughout the woods. 1 was recent. the others didnt look too comfortable. so i get done exploring and go inside for a drink and go out to my garage where i can work on stuff ive been doing for awhile. We recently moved to this house, so stuff isnt quite unpacked yet. As im going through the boxes and stuff i hear this loud ruckus coming from the small .25 acre plot across the street from me. something big is moving the palmetto bushes, and there was a large dead tree knocked down before, but something cracked it open and was eating the grubs, i assume. the sound quickly went away. i heard whatever it was, run north towards the canal which is super close. maybe 90ft from my driveway. fast forward to 10pm, im still in my garage, but the door is closed this time. i accidentally banged on the garage door, and i heard something on the other side bang back, me thinking its my kids being the teenagers they are, i bang again, i heard this really loud growl. i run out of my garage and through the house to the outside part, the trash cans are open, and my thanksgiving turkey carcass, which was in a box, had been taken. but the rancid smell stayed. i followed the smell to my backyard and called a buddy whos seen stuff in the woods, and he tells me to be calm, and move slow."

I turn off my porch light, and im sitting out there smoking a cigarette, i hear my bushes on the corner of the house being brushed loudly, i turn around and i heard something large trample the grass down the side of my yard. the neighbors dog is going crazy barking at it. so im not stupid enough to chase it into the street, wheres it gonna go? i stayed on my porch and waited. this big 6ft+ blackish thing runs by from the other side of my house and runs behind my neighbors house. His security lights kicked on, and it ducked behind their above ground pool. its crouched over and i can see it. twice the width of me, easily 400-500lbs.

the following day i found a foot/paw print in a abandoned ant hill in my yard that i had exterminated weeks prior. the morning dew ruined the foot print the next morning, but i have a picture for size comparison.

What makes me think its a dogman? we have a marsh close by thats about 20x20 square miles in size with no trails or roads in or out. there is a waterway within 100 feet of my house that is 12-15ft deep. i grow alot of my own vegetables and fruits, and some have come up missing. As far as the woods behind my house go, there are several trails, some are obviously human as they are used frequently by neighbors, however there are small animal trails which are obvious, and then there are the trails that dont make any sense. they zigzag through bramble vine areas, they are hard to navigate, the trees surrounding the trails are all mostly broken off or leaning like a bigfoot would do. i havent found any structures yet or any markers, no bones. I have recieved a "gift" a pile of leaves on my doorstep one morning. the leaves are from plants in my backyard and have no possible way of magically appearing there.

........

Because I could not stop for Death ...

 

Because I could not stop for Death

BY EMILY DICKINSON

Because I could not stop for Death –

He kindly stopped for me –

The Carriage held but just Ourselves –

And Immortality.

We slowly drove – He knew no haste

And I had put away

My labor and my leisure too,

For His Civility –

We passed the School, where Children strove

At Recess – in the Ring –

We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain –

We passed the Setting Sun –

Or rather – He passed Us –

The Dews drew quivering and Chill –

For only Gossamer, my Gown –

My Tippet – only Tulle –

We paused before a House that seemed

A Swelling of the Ground –

The Roof was scarcely visible –

The Cornice – in the Ground –

Since then – 'tis Centuries – and yet

Feels shorter than the Day

I first surmised the Horses' Heads

Were toward Eternity

Japaneses myths: The Vampire Cat

    

                         The Vampire Cat             

            The Cat of Nebeshima..  

The Prince of Hizen a distinguished member of the Nabéshima family, lingered in the garden with O Toyo, the favorite among his ladies. When the sun set they retired to the palace, but failed to notice that they were being followed by a large cat.

O Toyo went to her room and fell asleep. At midnight she awoke and gazed about her, as if suddenly aware of some dreadful presence in the apartment. At length she saw, crouching close beside her, a gigantic cat, and before she could cry out for assistance the animal sprang upon her and strangled her. The animal then made a hole under the verandah, buried the corpse, and assumed the form of the beautiful O Toyo.

The prince, who knew nothing of what had happened, continued to love the false O Toyo, unaware that in reality he was caressing a foul beast. He noticed, little by little, that his strength failed, and it was not long before he became dangerously ill. Physicians were summoned, but they could do nothing to restore the royal patient. It was observed that he suffered most during the night, and was troubled by horrible dreams. This being so, his councilors arranged that a hundred retainers should sit with their lord and keep watch while he slept.

The watch went into the sickroom, but just before ten o'clock it was overcome by a mysterious drowsiness. When all the men were asleep the false O Toyo crept into the apartment and disturbed the prince until sunrise. Night after night the retainers came to guard their master, but always they fell asleep at the same hour, and even three loyal councilors had a similar experience.

During this time the prince grew worse, and at length a priest named Ruiten was appointed to pray on his behalf. One night, while he was engaged in his supplications, he heard a strange noise proceeding from the garden. On looking out of the window he saw a young soldier washing himself. When he had finished his ablutions he stood before an image of Buddha, and prayed most ardently for the recovery of the prince.

Ruiten, delighted to find such zeal and loyalty, invited the young man to enter his house, and when he had done so inquired his name.

"I am Ito Soda," said the young man, "and serve in the infantry of Nabéshima. I have heard of my lord's sickness and long to have the honor of nursing him; but being of low rank it is not meet that I should come into his presence. I have, nevertheless, prayed to the Buddha that my lord's life may be spared. I believe that the Prince of Hizen is bewitched, and if I might remain with him I would do my utmost to find and crush the evil power that is the cause of his illness."

Ruiten was so favorably impressed with these words that he went the next day to consult with one of the councilors, and after much discussion it was arranged that Ito Soda should keep watch with the hundred retainers.

When Ito Soda entered the royal apartment he saw that his master slept in the middle of the room, and he also observed the hundred retainers sitting in the chamber quietly chatting together in the hope that they would be able to keep off approaching drowsiness. By ten o'clock all the retainers, in spite of their efforts, had fallen asleep.

Ito Soda tried to keep his eyes open, but a heaviness was gradually overcoming him, and he realized that if he wished to keep awake he must resort to extreme measures. When he had carefully spread oil-paper over the mats he stuck his dirk into his thigh. The sharp pain he experienced warded off sleep for a time, but eventually he felt his eyes closing once more. Resolved to outwit the spell which had proved too much for the retainers, he twisted the knife in his thigh, and thus increased the pain and kept his loyal watch, while blood continually dripped upon the oil-paper.

While Ito Soda watched he saw the sliding doors drawn open and a beautiful woman creep softly into the apartment. With a smile she noticed the sleeping retainers, and was about to approach the prince when she observed Ito Soda. After she had spoken curtly to him she approached the prince and inquired how he fared, but the prince was too ill to make a reply. Ito Soda watched every movement, and believed she tried to bewitch the prince, but she was always frustrated in her evil purpose by the dauntless eyes of Ito Soda, and at last she was compelled to retire.

In the morning the retainers awoke, and were filled with shame when they learnt how Ito Soda had kept his vigil. The councilors loudly praised the young soldier for his loyalty and enterprise, and he was commanded to keep watch again that night. He did so, and once more the false O Toyo entered the sickroom, and, as on the previous night, she was compelled to retreat without being able to cast her spell over the prince.

It was discovered that immediately the faithful Soda had kept guard, the prince was able to obtain peaceful slumber, and, moreover, that he began to get better, for the false O Toyo, having been frustrated on two occasions, now kept away altogether, and the guard was not troubled with mysterious drowsiness. Soda, impressed by these strange circumstances, went to one of the councilors and informed him that the so-called O Toyo was a goblin of some kind.

That night Soda planned to go to the creature's room and try to kill her, arranging that in case she should escape there should be eight retainers outside waiting to capture her and dispatch her immediately.

At the appointed hour Soda went to the creature's apartment, pretending that he bore a message from the prince.

"What is the message?" inquired the woman.

"Kindly read this letter," replied Soda, and with these words he drew his dirk and tried to kill her.

The false O Toyo seized a halberd and endeavored to strike her adversary. Blow followed blow, but at last perceiving that flight would serve her better than battle, she threw away her weapon, and in a moment the lovely maiden turned into a cat and sprang onto the roof. The eight men waiting outside in case of emergency shot at the animal, but the creature succeeded in eluding them.

The cat made all speed for the mountains, and caused trouble among the people who lived in the vicinity, but was finally killed during a hunt ordered by the Prince of Hizen.

The prince became well again, and Ito Soda received the honor and reward he so richly deserved.

Vampire family of North Carolina

 

 

                                      

🦇  Vampire family of North Carolina 🦇

 

Anywhere you go there are going to be other people relatively close by, but beyond the standard Hello
or other random greeting, what do we really know about our neighbors?

This  account takes place in the 1780's and involves a seemingly normal family, a doctor and his wife and son.



In the early Spring of 1788 Dr Alfort and his family moved to the small town of Dillsboro, North Carolina
and soon established his medical practice along with a pharmacy ran out of his home, within
a few months people in towns started showing up more and more for a variety of treatments however one
day a few of his patients that had just recently received treatment suddenly passed away without any explanation.


Some members of the community blamed the doctor and anger was building however the minister was able to claim down the town at least for the moment.


But one night the ministers wife well getting ready for bed, noticed the door to there young daughters room slightly open  after entering she saw a dark figure standing over the bed and began to scream for help, the figure then fled through the open window, sadly as the minister arrived  with his lantern they discovered the girl was dead with two large  puncture wounds in her neck.

During the next few nights the towns people claimed to see a large flying creature overhead, fear griped the small community and soon windows that where previously left open stayed shut and locked, well family's huddled together in one room for safety.

One evening an elderly couple were suddenly awoken by frantic beating on their front door only to find their grandson  frightened and screaming that a monster had attacked his parents.

A posse was soon formed and they left for the child's home, upon arriving they  discovered the bodies of not only the parents but also the two young sisters as well.

They had all died of blood lose resulting from wounds on their mutilated necks.

The town raised money for an extensive investigation of the home and surrounding area, but no culprit was found.

Over the next six months the situation had eased a bit and everyone had began to relax again as there had been no  further killings.

It seemed all was well in Dillsboro.

Until February of 1789, one night two brothers heard terrible screaming coming from their neighbors home, they armed  themselves with farm tools (pitchfork, an  ax etc) then made there way next door.

As they entered the home they saw a dark shape exit through a window leaving behind the lifeless body's of a young couple  that lived there.

Angered the brother's perused the creature on foot and it lead them straight to Doctor Alforts home.

The town angry and living in fear for months soon formed a large group and stood watch outside the home until morning when even more showed up from neighboring settlements to help.

Soon after sunrise nearly  one hundred men swarmed the home armed with anything they could use as a weapon..

The mob began searching the home, they found nicely made beds like no one had even sleep there the previous night.

Not yet satisfied they continued there search, until a trap door was discovered leading into a dark basement, still full of anger and now a bit of fear, they cautiously made their way down into the cellar.


The lanterns light revealed nothing at first besides an empty basement until the shown on three large wooden crates.

They where shocked to find Doctor Alford and his wife asleep in two of these large box's well the third remand empty and their 15 year old some was no where to be found.

The mob pulled the couple out of the box's and an angry Miss Alford began to hiss and scratch at the men.

The doctor remained quiet as he and his wife where brought outside, he refused to answer any questions well his wife continued to hiss and  shriek in anger.

The group soon decided to execute the couple and leave there bodies in the house they had build well it was burned to the ground.

With the deaths of the Alfort the mysterious killings stopped, there where a few reports of a shadowy figure moving through the town at night but these reports soon died down.

The son was never seen again.

The town went back to normal, but it just goes to show, there could be monsters right next door and you would never know until its to late..

                                                         Have  a fun and Safe Halloween 

Ulalume by Edgar Allan Poe

 

     Ulalume by Edgar Allan Poe 👻

.The skies they were ashen and sober;

      The leaves they were crispéd and sere—

      The leaves they were withering and sere;

It was night in the lonesome October

      Of my most immemorial year;

It was hard by the dim lake of Auber,

      In the misty mid region of Weir—

It was down by the dank tarn of Auber,

      In the ghoul-haunted woodland of Weir.

Here once, through an alley Titanic,

      Of cypress, I roamed with my Soul—

      Of cypress, with Psyche, my Soul.

These were days when my heart was volcanic

      As the scoriac rivers that roll—

      As the lavas that restlessly roll

Their sulphurous currents down Yaanek

      In the ultimate climes of the pole—

That groan as they roll down Mount Yaanek

      In the realms of the boreal pole.

Our talk had been serious and sober,

      But our thoughts they were palsied and sere—

      Our memories were treacherous and sere—

For we knew not the month was October,

      And we marked not the night of the year—

      (Ah, night of all nights in the year!)

We noted not the dim lake of Auber—

      (Though once we had journeyed down here)—

We remembered not the dank tarn of Auber,

      Nor the ghoul-haunted woodland of Weir.

And now, as the night was senescent

      And star-dials pointed to morn—

      As the star-dials hinted of morn—

At the end of our path a liquescent

      And nebulous lustre was born,

Out of which a miraculous crescent

      Arose with a duplicate horn—

Astarte's bediamonded crescent

      Distinct with its duplicate horn.

And I said—"She is warmer than Dian:

      She rolls through an ether of sighs—

      She revels in a region of sighs:

She has seen that the tears are not dry on

      These cheeks, where the worm never dies,

And has come past the stars of the Lion

      To point us the path to the skies—

      To the Lethean peace of the skies—

Come up, in despite of the Lion,

      To shine on us with her bright eyes—

Come up through the lair of the Lion,

      With love in her luminous eyes."

But Psyche, uplifting her finger,

      Said—"Sadly this star I mistrust—

      Her pallor I strangely mistrust:—

Oh, hasten! oh, let us not linger!

      Oh, fly!—let us fly!—for we must."

In terror she spoke, letting sink her

      Wings till they trailed in the dust—

In agony sobbed, letting sink her

      Plumes till they trailed in the dust—

      Till they sorrowfully trailed in the dust.

I replied—"This is nothing but dreaming:

      Let us on by this tremulous light!

      Let us bathe in this crystalline light!

Its Sybilic splendor is beaming

      With Hope and in Beauty to-night:—

      See!—it flickers up the sky through the night!

Ah, we safely may trust to its gleaming,

      And be sure it will lead us aright—

We safely may trust to a gleaming

      That cannot but guide us aright,

      Since it flickers up to Heaven through the night."

Thus I pacified Psyche and kissed her,

      And tempted her out of her gloom—

      And conquered her scruples and gloom:

And we passed to the end of the vista,

      But were stopped by the door of a tomb—

      By the door of a legended tomb;

And I said—"What is written, sweet sister,

      On the door of this legended tomb?"

      She replied—"Ulalume—Ulalume—

      'Tis the vault of thy lost Ulalume!"

Then my heart it grew ashen and sober

      As the leaves that were crispèd and sere—

      As the leaves that were withering and sere,

And I cried—"It was surely October

      On this very night of last year

      That I journeyed—I journeyed down here—

      That I brought a dread burden down here—

      On this night of all nights in the year,

      Oh, what demon has tempted me here?

Well I know, now, this dim lake of Auber—

      This misty mid region of Weir—

Well I know, now, this dank tarn of Auber—

      In the ghoul-haunted woodland of Weir."

Said we, then—the two, then—"Ah, can it

      Have been that the woodlandish ghouls—

      The pitiful, the merciful ghouls—

To bar up our way and to ban it

      From the secret that lies in these wolds—

      From the thing that lies hidden in these wolds—

Had drawn up the spectre of a planet

      From the limbo of lunary souls—

This sinfully scintillant planet

      From the Hell of the planetary souls

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.