scary-corner-blog

[scary-corner-blog]

My father's family home was just a little under two hours away by car from where we lived, a small village surrounded by farmland. I often stayed with my grandparents during my summer vacation and winter breaks from school, and they were always happy to play with me... but the last time I visited them was over ten years ago now, when I was still in my third year of high school. It was my Spring break and I had been invited to visit; and since the weather was good, I rode my bike out to their house. After I got there I was a little cold, so I stretched out for a moment in a warm sunny spot off the road. Then I heard something strange... "Popo, Popoppo, Po, pop ...  It wasn't a mechanical noise; it sounded strange... but human. I looked about to see where the noise was coming from, and saw a white hat peeking over the top of the hedge. The hat moved along to a break in the hedge, when I could see that it was being worn by a woman with a white dress. She had to be tall, though; the hedge was over two meters high (six feet). Before I could really think about this much, the woman was gone, seemingly disappeared. The strange sound was gone too. At the time, I just guessed that the person's apparent height had been due either to wearing very tall platform shoes, or that it had been a man dressed up like a woman. Odd, but that was all. A little later, while having tea with Grandma and Grandpa, I mentioned the strange person I had seen and that I thought it was a transvestite... but when, as an afterthought, I also mentioned the strange "po, po, po" noise, my grandparents panicked. My Grandpa suddenly showered me with questions: "when did you see this?!," "how much taller than the fence?!," "Did they look AT you?!". I answered as quickly as he asked, then he rushed to the phone in the hallway, shutting the sliding door so I couldn't hear the call. The room was suddenly very quiet. Grandma smiled a little, but was trembling for some reason. Grandpa came back soon, and told me I would be staying overnight with them. I had to admit that I didn't understand what the fuss was about, and asked what was so bad about the strange woman. Grandpa said "Grandma can tell you." He then looked at her and said he was going to pick up someone named "K-san" (Mr. or Mrs. K), and then left. In a clearly shaky voice, Grandma said: "It seems that Hachishakusama has become interested in you... but we shouldn't worry. Grandpa is making arrangements." Grandma then told me, a little at a time, that Hachishakusama was not a person; she was some sort of monster, named Hachishakusama because of her height... 8 shaku [Japanese foot, about 11.9 inches] tall, "hachi" [8] "shaku" [foot] "sama" [person]. Her appearance could change somewhat -- sometimes young, sometimes old -- but she would always be abnormally tall, and would always have a creepy laugh... "Po Po Po. "Once Hachishakusama took an interest in a person, they were hunted to death in just a few days; and the last known victim of Hachishakusama had been fifteen years previous. I learned later that Hachishakusama was supposed to be trapped in a shrine near the village, having been sealed in by four statues of Jizo, a protective deity of children, each placed to the north, south, east, and west of the structure. The village had some sort of agreement with it's neighboring villages, wherein they were given some advantages to make up for the fact they had to watch over the monster... for example, they got first priority on water use. Since it had been over a dozen years since Hachishakusama had killed anyone, I have to wonder if the old men in those villages thought it was still a good arrangement. At the time I couldn't quite believe what I was being told, of course; but then Grandpa returned with a very old lady. K-san, for that's who it was, handed me a small paper charm and told me to hold onto it. Then she and Grandpa went upstairs. While they were upstairs, I tried to excuse myself to use the bathroom... but my Grandma wouldn't let me go alone, and she insisted on keeping the door open and an eye on me as I was using the facilities. This is when I started to really understand just how serious my grandparents felt the situation was. I was soon led upstairs to a bedroom. The single window in the room had been covered with newspaper, on which a charm like the one I was holding had been affixed. In each corner was a small pile of Morishio -- sacred salt -- and they had also set up a small wood box with a statue of Buddha on it. I was told I would have to stay in the room until seven the next morning, and that I couldn't leave no matter what (they provided a bucket for me to potty in!). Grandpa made it clear that neither he nor Grandma would talk to me until seven the next morning. K-san told me to keep the charm on me, and to pray to the Buddha if I got scared. I had a bed and a TV in the room. Grandma had left me snacks. I tried to watch some TV, but couldn't pay attention. I wasn't hungry, either. So I just lay one the bed, wrapped in the sheets, and eventually fell asleep because the next thing I remember was waking up to a late night show on the TV. My watch said it was around 1AM. And I heard something tapping on the glass of the window. I tried to ignore it. It was very persistent. I had some tea and a snack, and turned up the TV to drown out the tapping. Then I heard Grandpa call from the hall, "Are you alright? It's okay to come out if you're too scared." I started for the door automatically, but stopped myself as I remembered how insistent Grandpa had been that he wouldn't talk to me until seven. Again I heard him: "It's okay, come here." I wanted it to be my Grandpa's voice... but somehow it wasn't. I suddenly had goosebumps all over me; then I noticed the salt in the corner. It was becoming darker. I dropped in front of the Buddha,clasping the charm in both hands, and started praying for help. "Popoppo, Po, Popo ..." The tapping on the window started again, louder than before, more insistent. Then a definite hand slapped the window... despite the fact I was on the second floor. I did the only thing I could; I kept praying to Buddha. It was a long night. I really don't remember much other than praying until I heard the news on the TV. I looked over, and the morning clock on the news screen showed it was 7:13AM. The tapping had stopped. The voice was gone. The salt in the corners was almost black. I gingerly opened the door. Grandma and K-san, both looking worried, were there. Grandma, in tears, told me things were going to be okay. Downstairs I found my father waiting. Grandpa came in from outside, and we needed to drive off... outside, I found there was a number of men standing around near a van. My Grandpa's car was in front of the van, and my father's was behind it. I was seated in the middle of the van with eight of the men sitting around me; one to each side, and then three in front and three in back. One more man took the driver's seat, and K-san took the passenger side of the front. I was told to keep my eyes closed, and my face pointing down. "You are the only one who can see Hachishakusama... don't look at her!" Our convoy started off, slowly at first. I don't think we had even traveled 20 kilometers before K-san warned us things were about to get hard... then she started to chant phrases that sounded Buddhist. And then I heard the laugh again: "Poppopo, Po, pop, Popopo ..." I clutched the charm to my chest and kept my head down, but couldn't resist a quick peek at the window; that was a mistake. I could see a white dress. It appeared stationary to the car's window, even though we had to be moving very fast at that point. The figure moved as if to lower its head to the window, and I gasped... and the man next to me told me to shut my eyes, which I did, and tightly. Though no one else could see Hachishakusama, they all heard what happened next: the tapping. I don't know how, but the tapping started on every window in the van, all at the same time. I don't know how long it lasted but, over time, it faded. K-san had stopped chanting by that time as well, and eventually said that she felt we were now safe, so the cars all pulled over. My father and Grandpa thanked all the men who had assisted; as it turned out, all of them were related to me. Grandpa and K-san had hoped to confuse Hachishakusama by surrounding me with many people of the same bloodline. I had to stay overnight while Grandpa was gathering my kinsmen, and it was deemed safer to try to escape during the day than the night. K-san asked me to show her the charm which I had forgotten I was still holding; it had turned almost entirely black. K-san commented "it should be alright now, but just in case..."; and with that she handed me a new charm to hold until I got home. I drove home with my father. During the drive, he told me that one of his friends when he was young had been taken by Hachishakusama. Grandpa and the neighbors delivered my bike back to me later. In talking to my Grandpa over the phone, I've confirmed that it was not his voice I heard outside the room that night (which sent shivers down my spine again). Hachishakusama targets teens and children... so if the monster speaks with a familiar relative's voice, the victim would normally come to it willingly. I'd almost forgotten this all after ten years. Grandma called to tell me that one of the Jizo statues that had sealed Hachishakusama into the shrine looked as if it had been broken by someone; the statue that was broken lined up with the road leading to our home. Two years ago my Grandpa died; sadly, I was not allowed to attend his funeral. I try to tell myself it was all superstition... but sometimes I still hear that voice call: "Popopo ..."

[scary-corner-blog]

One night when I was 10, I was asleep in bed and was woken up by my bedroom door opening then someone sitting on my bed. I felt the graze on my leg and the bed sink as they sat. Thinking it was my mom having something to tell me, I open my eyes only to see a pale, eyeless (just black empty sockets) boy who seemed to be my age sitting at the foot of my bed with his legs crossed “staring” at me, or facing my direction since he had no eyes. He then reached his hand toward me and he was holding what looked like a little black box. I was freaked out, but as I reached to grab it, he hesitantly pulled back. I reached out further for it and said “give it”. As I did so, I blinked, and by the time I reopened my eyes, he was gone, the spot of the bed where was sitting lifted back into place but the imprint of someone sitting there was still present. I told my mom in the morning and she was slightly freaked but assured me I was just dreaming. Fast forward 5 years, I had my girlfriend over to do homework. After homework she took a nap while she waited for her parents to pick her up. When they arrived, I tried waking her to let her know. I nudged her, and she opened her eyes so sudden already looking in the direction of the corner of the room where the wall meets the ceiling, lifting her finger and pointed. And as fast as she woke, she fell asleep again. I attempted to wake her again. She came to full consciousness, and I asked her what the hell that was about and explained what she just did. She said, “oh I thought I was dreaming, but up on the wall I saw a little boy with no eyes just there in a ‘Spider-man’ pose staring at me” That’s when I freaked out and told her the story, for the first time, of when I saw what I guessed was the same kid. Fast forward another 5 years, still with the same girlfriend, and by this time we had a 2 year old daughter. We were living in my old bedroom at my parents house. My daughter would wake up at the same time every night and start talking. For a while we thought it was a normal baby thing, until I noticed it was almost the same conversation every night. I playfully asked her one night who she was talking to every night. She responded, “a little boy, he talks to me, he’s nice. He’s lost and looking for his mommy.” I told my mom what happened the next morning and before I got to tell her what I thought, she said “I remember when that happened to you, then your girlfriend, I have no idea what that is” By then, neither my girlfriend or I have seen the “little boy” after our first encounter, but my daughter continued her nightly conversations until we got our own place later that year.

[scary-corner-blog]

In January 2016, a Vermont woman reported that she actually let black-eyed children into her home. A blizzard was ravaging the world outside her door, so she was very surprised to hear a loud knock on it. Figuring someone probably crashed their car trying to navigate the weather, she made her way to the door and peeked out the window. There was no car. She described a feeling of dread wash over her for reasons she couldn’t understand. The banging continued, so she decided to wake her husband to let him answer instead.Two small children were on the other side of the door, and they were not dressed appropriately for the storm. The woman and her husband let the little boy and girl inside despite the great sense of unease their presence made them feel and regretted it almost instantly. Their cats hissed and seemed just as bothered by these kids as they was. It didn’t seem to matter what she asked them: What happened? Are you lost? Want some cocoa? The answer was always the same: “Our parents will be here soon.”She made them cocoa anyway and when she returned with the mugs, that’s when she noticed their eyes. They were completely jet black, with no whites at all, just giant black pupils. They asked for the bathroom and she directed them to it. Then everything happened all at once: her husband’s nose started bleeding, the power went out, and as she rushed to get a tissue, she was confronted by both children staring at her from the hall. "Our parents are here.” Just like that they walked out. She watched as the creepy children got into a black car with two very tall men in suits. They left. Within months of the encounter her husband was diagnosed with skin cancer. She began suffering from chronic nosebleeds as her husband initially had, and her health began slowly deteriorating. She is certain it's because of the black-eyed children.

[scary-corner-blog]

The girls were born in 1963 to Barbadian parents and grew up in a small town in Wales called Havefordwest. June was born first, but it was Jennifer who developed into the stronger, more dominant one. In fact, one medical expert said it seemed like Jennifer at times “possessed” her sister. Even the girls themselves described themselves as switching selves, bouncing back and forth between being Jennifer and being June. Their lives did not begin happily. They were the only black children in their town and the ostracism and bullying was so severe school officials allowed them to leave ahead of the other students so they could reach home in peace. They responded by withdrawing into their own world. They stopped speaking to anyone else. They communicated only with each other in a private language only they could understand. A close study of their speech revealed it was a rapid-fire mashup of English and Barbadian slang. Therapists decided separating the girls might force them to reenter the world. It didn’t work. The girls were sent to separate boarding schools where they retreated into full-blown catatonia, neither speaking nor moving. When they were reunited, they retreated to their bedroom, refusing even to come out for meals. They were now 16 and surviving on public assistance. They began writing novels. Again, the subjects were dark: an American boy addicted to Pepsi-Cola who was seduced by his teacher; another boy whose surgeon father transplanted a dog’s heart into his body. Their dark fantasies led to dark behaviors. That behavior led eventually to their arrest. They were committed to the infamous Broadmoor Hospital, the high-security prison mental hospital where some of Britain’s most notorious serial killers were sent to live out their lives. In her biography, Wallace reports that in Broadmoor the twins decided one of them would have to die so the other could live. Jennifer, the stronger twin, agreed to be the sacrifice in this fatal pact. The girls endured Broadmoor Hospital for 11 years. When they were nearly 30, they were finally released to a less-restrictive hospital in Wales. On the bus to their new home, Jennifer laid her head on June’s shoulder and said, “At long last, we’re out.” That night Jennifer died. The cause of death was an undiagnosed infection of the heart. June was released from the hospital a year later. In 2000, The New Yorker’s Hilton Als traveled to Wales to meet her. In his article, he describes a normal woman living a normal, if lonely, life.