Friday 20 April 2012

A-Z Challenge: R is for...Rokurokubi

R is for...Rokurokubi
Stills from 'Yôkai hyaku monogatari' (1968)
Rokurokubi are a type of demon in Japanese mythology belonging to the same group as futakuchi onna. They are former humans (usually women) who, either by way of a curse or due to their desires / lifestyles, grow their necks to an extremely long length at night. They are often tricksters who revel in the fear they instill in others. They can kill humans by either scaring them to death or tightly winding their necks around the victim and crushing them. 

Stills from 'Yôkai hyaku monogatari' (1968)
However, some rokurokubi aren't intentionally malevolent, being unaware of their affliction and assuming that they have simply experienced strange dreams, in which they view the world from unusual angles. The experiences of this type of rokurokubi are similar to descriptions of out of body experiences.



This post is part of the A-Z Blogging Challenge

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