We did it! We made it all the way to the end of the month without being cursed or killed by any of the evil spirits we’ve invoked over the past 31 days!

But don’t think you’re off the hook yet, because tonight’s is a doozie!

I love urban legends. They are the modern version of yokai, and the ones that stick around for a few years are the ones that are most likely going to stick around for centuries. We’ve all heard the one about the person who wakes up in a bathtub full of ice after a party to find their kidneys have been taken out, or that you can summon the ghost of Bloody Mary in your bathroom mirror at midnight… We all heard these tales as kids, and we all heard them fresh from other kids rather than reading them in books. That is the charm of the urban legend. And Japan is no exception in this way. Even the internet-age equivalent—creepypasta—has a very real effect on culture, and shapes modern folklore.

Japanese urban legends have their own flavor to them, but they follow the same rules as Western ones. Of course, just as Japanese ghost stories make Western ghost stories look like fairy tales, Japanese urban legends make Western ones shake in their boots.

Today’s yokai, the teke teke, will give you chills. Click below to read it!

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