12 Terrifying Ghost Stories From Around The World
1. Every Nightmare Ever Is Summarised In The Kuchisake-onna
Right, for the number one terrifying international ghost story we head back to Japan, and right back into the gore-splattered, visceral horror of that the Krause set us up for. Also, remember we mentioned that previous entries might not be suitable for pregnant women or children? Well, the Kuchisake-onna might just be unsafe for everyone. The Kuchisake-onna is NSFW, and potentially NSFL. You are going to have nightmares about this one, and now that we've warned you about that, you have nobody to blame but yourself.
Beginning with rumoured sightings around Nagasaki Prefecture in 1979, stories of the "Slit-Mouthed Woman" soon spread across the country to the point that some schools would only let kids walk home when escorted by teachers for safety, and police significantly increased their patrols in some areas. Even as recently as 2004 she was spotted in South Korea, followed in 2007 by a coroner's discovery of records from the late seventies telling of a woman who was hit by a car whilst chasing chasing little children and had her mouth was ripped from ear to ear. That photo up there? That's what literally dozens of Japanese and Korean people have claimed to have come across.
From behind she looks like an average woman, and when you see here from the front she is wearing a surgical mask to cover her mouth - something which is normal during flu season in Japan. If she sees you she will approach you, and take off her mask to reveal the horrifically scarred face underneath, her mouth ripped open in a Glasgow smile fashion. There's no way of getting away from the Kuchisake-onna, either.
Once she's trapped you, she asks if you think she is pretty; answer no, and she will stab you to death with some scissors. Answer yes and, taking it as a compliment, will use her scissors to give you the same deformity she has. It's a lose-lose situation which we hope never to enter and now can't stop thinking about oh god why did we write this article?!