This week on MangoBot, my Asian futurism column on io9.com, I wrote about 5 Japanese monsters I encountered before I turned 20. An excerpt:
When I was in elementary school somebody told me the story of Kuchisake Onna, a superhuman madwoman who lurks in dark alleys and asks you death trap questions. The former beauty wears a surgical mask to hide an Ichi-the-Killer-esque gash on both sides of her mouth inflicted by a crazed relative when she was a kid. She spent her whole life in utter misery and gradually developed a serious complex about her appearance. Eventually, she turned into a monster. Legend has it that she asks passersby if they think she's pretty. It's a trick question—if you say YES, she takes off her mask and says "Even now?" and kills you. If you say NO, she gets mad and kills you. If you run away, she'll run after you at lightning speed and kill you.
Ha! These are great. I'll give 'em a go with the gf. Hanako? That's a new one and I forgot about old Kuchi Onna. I have to close a closet door at night because she's afraid of obake! I should buy her a red coat and have her throw on a mask for fun this winter.
Sure I'll end up in the dog house for a while, but life is worth living. :)
Posted by: vagrant | October 24, 2008 at 02:52 PM