Scary stories: 7 Japanese tales that will chill you to the bone

In old Japan, samurai would play a game: The Hyakumonogatari Kaidan. They would sit in a circle of 100 candles and every time someone told a story, one candle would be blown out. Once the final candle was blown out, the room would be plunged into darkness and a ghostly figure would appear. While I can’t tell 100, here are seven Japanese scary stories featuring female yurei (Japanese ghosts) and yokai (Japanese monsters and spirits) that you can tell your friends, maybe even your older and braver kids, as a spooky bedtime story.

1. The Secret of the Yamamba

The Yamamba look like harmless old women, but are actually terrifying mountain yokai that consume human flesh. One of their oldest legends is from the Konjaku Monogatari:

Once upon a time, a Buddhist priest was caught out in a storm but luckily passed by a lonely hut. A kind old woman invited him inside, welcoming him with food and a warm fire. As welcoming as she was, she gave the priest a strange warning: “No matter what, do not look in the back room.” 

Unable to overcome his curiosity, the priest failed to heed the old woman’s warning. As soon as she stepped out to gather more firewood, the priest peeped through a crack in the door. To his horror, he discovered the room filled with half-eaten corpses. The priest realized that the old woman was a Yamamba, luring unsuspecting travelers into her home only to shred them to pieces for her next meal. He fled from the hut as fast as he could and never looked back.

2. The Legend of the Jorogumo

The Jorogumo is a half-woman, half-spider yokai that can transform itself into a beautiful woman when hunting for unsuspecting men to devour!

A young samurai was accosted in the street by an alluringly gorgeous woman. Although she was beautiful, the samurai saw through her disguise, realizing she was not a human but some kind of yokai. He immediately drew his sword and plunged it towards her, but only injuring the strange woman before she quickly retreated. The samurai followed the scarlet trail of spotted blood, all the way to an old, abandoned house. Inside, he found dozens of bodies bound in spider silk, and a giant Joro spider, dead from the injuries it had received.

3. The Tale of Oiwa

Not all Japanese scary stories are made up—The Tale of Oiwa is based on a real event that took place in 17th century Edo:

Oiwa was a stunningly beautiful young woman who was married to the samurai Iemon, a petty man who only loved her for her head-turning looks. Another woman, Oume, was madly in love with Iemon and out of jealous rage, she tricked Oiwa into using a cream that was laced with poison. It disfigured Oiwa’s face, causing one of her eyes to droop and her hair to fall out, without her even noticing.

Disgusted with her new appearance, Iemon wished to divorce Oiwa and marry Oume. The despicable samurai hired his friend Takuetsu to rape Oiwa, so that he would have the grounds for divorce. Takuetsu was so shocked by Oiwa’s appearance, he couldn’t follow through with the orders. Instead, he told Oiwa of Iemon’s plan, and showed Oiwa her own face in a mirror. Seeing her deformed face for the first time, Oiwa was so horrified that she stole Takuetsu’s sword, killing herself. With her last breath, she cursed Iemon’s name.

On the night of Iemon’s remarriage to Oume, the ghost of the disfigured Oiwa appeared before him. A terrified and guilty Iemon quickly fled from Oiwa, but no matter how far he ran, he couldn’t escape her hauntings. After that night, no matter where Iemon looked—even in the very lanterns he used to light his path—he would see Oiwa’s face staring back at him.

4. The Woman of the Snow (Yuki-onna)

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