What ghost story is this ?
September 19, 2014 3:33 AM Subscribe
I remember reading an anthology of ghost stories from all over the world as a kid. One story stuck with me, but I can't remember the book it was from. It had flying heads in it and was from China, I think.
What I remember from the story:
A traveler comes across an old person. The sun is setting and suddenly flying heads are starting to chase the traveler and the old person. They take refuge in the old person's hut. They drink tea and the traveler spills the tea. The tea flows toward the door and the flying heads are eager to get to the tea, because when they do they can get inside the hut. The old person stops the tea from flowing to the door and they wait together for dawn.
Does anybody know this story and the book it came from ? The book as dutch but I think it was a translation from english.
What I remember from the story:
A traveler comes across an old person. The sun is setting and suddenly flying heads are starting to chase the traveler and the old person. They take refuge in the old person's hut. They drink tea and the traveler spills the tea. The tea flows toward the door and the flying heads are eager to get to the tea, because when they do they can get inside the hut. The old person stops the tea from flowing to the door and they wait together for dawn.
Does anybody know this story and the book it came from ? The book as dutch but I think it was a translation from english.
as a child, i had a book of stories from the culture then known as eskimo. one of the stories featured a flying head pursuing an inuit across the ice.
posted by bruce at 10:25 AM on September 19, 2014
posted by bruce at 10:25 AM on September 19, 2014
as an adult, i learned about the headless lady of jolon (western monterey county, california). her cruel, thoughtless husband had conducted an ill-advised river crossing at high water, and her neck got tangled in the traces and...to this day, her ghost occasionally appears in the tents of local campers, requesting their assistance in finding her head.
posted by bruce at 10:44 AM on September 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by bruce at 10:44 AM on September 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Japan has the youkai (monster) rokurokubi in versions where the head flies free and where the head is attached to an infinitely elastic neck.
You can read Lafcadio Hearn's version of a rokurokubi story in Kwaidan here.
posted by sukeban at 1:04 PM on September 19, 2014
You can read Lafcadio Hearn's version of a rokurokubi story in Kwaidan here.
posted by sukeban at 1:04 PM on September 19, 2014
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posted by XMLicious at 4:54 AM on September 19, 2014 [1 favorite]