Whenever I do A-Yokai-A-Day, I like to start out with the cuter or sillier yokai and work up to the scarier and more grotesque ones as it gets closer to Halloween. Now that we’re in the last week of October, it’s time to get serious!

Today’s yokai certainly fits the grotesque bill. It also is pretty scary, in its own way. It goes to show you the importance of properly performing funeral ceremonies in Japanese culture. If you don’t do it just right, something like this might come out! Although, the more cynical side of me also says that this is a great excuse for priests to jack up the prices of funeral services…

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