October

So, Halloween is coming and you are getting ready to dust off that old ghost, vampire or witch costume that you wear every year. But this year why not try something different, something that takes its inspiration from the local folklore? Below are some ideas for spooky Halloween costumes that come from Japan’s scary movies, stories and legends, both urban and historical that you may not have considered! Sadako Taken from the movie Ringu (later adapted into the English language movie The Ring), Sadako is the vengeful spirit of a young girl killed by her father. She takes her revenge on the general populace  by making, from the afterlife a VHS movie and literally frightening to death those who watch it (proving that VHS is, in very literal terms, a dead media) While the movie was made in 1998, it has its origins in a folktale from the 1700’s in which a servant throws herself down a well rather than be tricked into accepting the amorous advances of her samurai boss, and returns to haunt him. Oni Gigantic ogre-like creatures with sharp claws, wild hair, and two long horns growing from their heads, oni were originally invisible spirits or gods which caused disasters, disease, and other…