Dark-haired onryo. Kuchisake-onna. Hanako-san of the toilet. Japanese folklore has long dominated the Western horror world, but Thailand’s haunts may just be able to compete. Continue reading The Haunting of Thai Lemon Foods Factory
In the early 1800s, a penal code debate raged across the United States, and at its core was the same question that we still wrestle with today: punishment or rehabilitation? The state of Pennsylvania was one of the earliest in advocating for rehabilitation-based reform using separate incarceration. Though the method was experimental, Eastern State Penitentiary (then called Cherry Hill Prison) was opened on October 25th, 1829, for male inmates only.
Continue reading “The Chilling History of Eastern State Penitentiary”
Dating back to 1333, Himeji Castle is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It’s considered the pinnacle of traditional Japanese architecture. But no great palace is without its ghosts.
Inside the Himeji Castle complex is a large water well surrounded by stone pillars. This well is supposedly home to the ghost of Okiku, a beautiful servant girl who turned into one of the yūrei after her brutal death. In particular, Okiku is an onryō, a vengeful spirit of a person who died with a grudge. Like other onryō, she wears a white kimono, and her long black hair hangs disheveled over her shoulders. Her legend is widespread: the story of Okiku and the Well is regarded as one of the Three Great Yūrei (San O-Yūrei) in Japanese folklore. Okiku’s story has been adapted to bunraku and kabuki theatre, manga, and even illustrated by Katsushika Hokusai, the artist behind the famous Great Wave off Kanagawa.
Continue reading “The Haunted Well of Himeji Castle”
Galveston Island was first settled by Europeans in 1816, though some scholars say that Spanish explorer Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca made a pit stop here in 1537 before traveling across the U.S. Southwest. Famous privateer Jean Lafitte soon settled on the island from Louisiana and used the island as a base for piracy and slave smuggling, though he was forced to leave in 1821 by the U.S. Navy after he attacked an American ship. It changed hands several times during the Mexican Revolution, the Texas Revolution, and the American Civil War, but it remained a major port in the Gulf of Mexico.
Continue reading “The Ghosts of Galveston Island”
Growing up in New Zealand, a small country, many things started happening civilisation-wise in the late 1800s and early 1900s. We have a different history than other countries around the world.
In saying that, though, we have a few exciting spots around New Zealand worth visiting, including the former Seacliff Lunatic Asylum, considered the most haunted place in New Zealand.
Continue reading “What Is The Most Haunted Place in New Zealand?”
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