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The Ghost In My Machine

Stories of the Strange and Unusual

Japanese urban legends

A pair of salt and pepper shakers sitting on a table.

The Most Dangerous Games: Salt Magic Ritual (Shiomajinai)

December 9, 2020 by Lucia

Previously: The Welcome Home Game. Note: Please don’t copy/paste or republish the text of this post on other websites without permission. What would you do if I told you there was a simple, Continue Reading > about The Most Dangerous Games: Salt Magic Ritual (Shiomajinai)

Filed Under: Games Tagged With: games you shouldn't play, Japan, Japanese urban legends, salt, salt magic, salt magic ritual, shiomajinai, The Most Dangerous Games

A fountain pen

The Most Dangerous Games: The Welcome Home Game

November 25, 2020 by Lucia

Previously: The One Who Answers. Note: Please don’t copy/paste or republish the text of this post on other websites without permission. Like many Japanese ritual games, the Welcome Home Game — Continue Reading > about The Most Dangerous Games: The Welcome Home Game

Filed Under: Games Tagged With: 2ch, games you shouldn't play, Japan, Japanese urban legends, summoning rituals, the internet, The Most Dangerous Games, Welcome Back, Welcome Home

A row of cubicles in an abandoned public toilet.

Encyclopaedia Of The Impossible: Aka Manto, The Red Cloak

November 18, 2020 by Lucia

Previously: Jack O’ Lantern. Type: CC (Corporeally Challenged). Period/location of origin: It is generally accepted that subject, known as Aka Manto (赤マント) or the Red Cloak, first appeared in Continue Reading > about Encyclopaedia Of The Impossible: Aka Manto, The Red Cloak

Filed Under: Encyclopaedia Tagged With: Aka Manto, CC, Encyclopaedia of the Impossible, Japan, Japanese ghosts, Japanese urban legends, public restrooms, Red Cape, Red Cloak, Red Paper Blue paper, toilet ghosts, urban legends

An old, weathered, wooden sandbox sitting in a larger desert of sand.

Encyclopaedia Of The Impossible: The Sandbox Woman

September 23, 2020 by Lucia

Previously: Crybaby Bridge. Type: PE (Preternatural Entity). Period/location of origin: 1980s or early 1990s, the northern areas of the island of Kyushu, Japan. Appearance: Subject, known by Continue Reading > about Encyclopaedia Of The Impossible: The Sandbox Woman

Filed Under: Encyclopaedia Tagged With: 2ch, Encyclopaedia of the Impossible, Japan, Japanese urban legends, PE, sand, sandbox, Sandbox Woman, Sandpit Woman, Woman in the Sandbox

The hands of a statue in a cemetery, weathered and clasped together.

The Most Dangerous Games: Oyayubi Sagashi, Or, The Thumb Game

July 8, 2020 by Lucia

Previously: The Shuffle Game. Note: Please don’t copy/paste or republish the text of this post on other websites without permission. The Japanese ritual game called Oyayubi sagashi (親指さがし) is Continue Reading > about The Most Dangerous Games: Oyayubi Sagashi, Or, The Thumb Game

Filed Under: Games Tagged With: games you shouldn't play, Japan, Japanese urban legends, Oyayubi sagashi, The Most Dangerous Games, Thumb Game, Yusuke Yamada, 山田悠介, 親指さがし

A dirty white phone on an abandoned desk

The Echo Test: Japan’s Doppelganger Phone Numbers And The Folklore Of Doubling

June 1, 2020 by Lucia

Previously: 1-800-GOLF-TIP. Supposedly "cursed" phone numbers are seemingly a dime a dozen these days. There’s at least one in almost every country and region you can think of — and, in many Continue Reading > about The Echo Test: Japan’s Doppelganger Phone Numbers And The Folklore Of Doubling

Filed Under: Tales Tagged With: cursed phone numbers, doppelganger, doubles, echo test, folklore, ikiryo, Japan, Japanese ghosts, Japanese urban legends, Koito-san, phone, phone number, technology, telephone, yurei

A clock face

The Most Dangerous Games: The Black God Ritual, Kurokami’s Technique, And How To Travel In Time

May 13, 2020 by Lucia

Previously: How To See Your Occult Twin. Note: Please don’t copy/paste or republish the text of this post on other websites without permission. When I first found this Japanese ritual game in Continue Reading > about The Most Dangerous Games: The Black God Ritual, Kurokami’s Technique, And How To Travel In Time

Filed Under: Games Tagged With: 2ch, Art of the Black God, Black God, Black God Ritual, games, games you shouldn't play, Japan, Japanese urban legends, Kurokami, Kurokami-sama, language, linguistics, The Most Dangerous Games, time travel, translation

A puzzle box

Encyclopaedia Of The Impossible: Kotoribako

May 6, 2020 by Lucia

Previously: Silverpilen. Type: MO (Malevolent Object). Period/location of origin: The Meiji era (late 1860s – 1912), Shimane Prefecture, Japan. (See: Additional notes.) Appearance: Subject, Continue Reading > about Encyclopaedia Of The Impossible: Kotoribako

Filed Under: Encyclopaedia Tagged With: 2ch, creepypasta, Encyclopaedia of the Impossible, Japan, Japanese urban legends, kotori bako, kotoribako, kowai hanashi, MO, puzzle box, puzzles, the internet

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