Ooga Booga

That was close. According to the autocomplete I've already done a blog titled "Oogie Boogie" so changing a couple letters saved me from making THAT embarassing mistake.

So I'll level with everyone. I've been somewhat sick since Thursday, and also have't been sleeping well, so I've missed 3 full days of classes. It's awful, I know. Making SURE I go in tomorrow and handing in all the homework and such. Also hopefully the cell phone guy is FINALLY THERE. I did find out that his office is in Kamegawa, so I can go there on my own time if I need to now.

I keep reading up on paranormal stuff because I'm an idiot and I like scaring myself. I became absorbed in it today though and actually neglected playing video games with a friend. So, sorry Jason. Scary stories are more important than video game training for the zombie apocalypse.

Anyways, partially because I find it interesting, and partially because I have nothing better to talk about, I figured I'd give my top three favorite Japanese demons. That I can remember. At the moment. Oh, how comprehensive!

Here goes:

- Makura-gaeshi - Literally the Pillow Demon. I can't remember where I found the original description, but what it is is a monster that comes into a person's room at night and.... moves the pillow from the head of the bed to the foot of the bed. Ancient Japanese people were essentially incapable of grasping concepts such as "Sometimes people move around in their sleep."

- Akaname - This is another absurd creature. For more than one reason. The creature itself is a hideous one toed, frog-like monstrosity but allegedly harmless or easily frightened. It apparently climbs into the window at night and licks the bathroom floor clean. That's disgusting, but it also raises some questions. Mythical creatures are normally based off of things that you know, happen around you. Were ancient Japanese people waking up with magically clean bathrooms on a regular basis? Maybe this one really does exist. If so I should start leaving my window open.

- Nukekubi - These monsters sound creepy as hell at first. They are creatures that by day seem like normal human beings and will often live normally. Allegedly they will kill a family and replace them. Then at night their heads detach from their bodies and they begin to fly around in search of human prey.

Holy crap.

The part that makes them suck however: Seriously? A flying human head? After the initial shock factor of "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH DECAPITATED HEAD!" wears off, you really need a large book or a blanket or something and you can easily best it in battle. Plus monsters are always depicted as screaming at you for no reason, so it's unlikely to just catch you unawares. And even if it does, it's your own fault for dying if you can't pry a head off of you that's gnawing on your shoulder. Even better, if you can keep the head detached until morning, it just dies. So that whole blanket thing would work pretty well for that.

You can identify them by red symbols around the base of the neck, which I have a sadistic urge to tattoo on my own neck, aside from the fear of repurcussions via death squad.

Honorable mention: Ittan-momen - It's a sentient cloth that tries to wrap itself around your face.

Yeah.