The idea of vengeful spirits has caused both a spark of interest and controversy that has remained ablaze over hundreds of years, inspiring both the media and everyday customs with it’s awe-inducing nature. Bloody Mary proves quite an infamous tale among Western civilizations, portraying the spirit of an angry and powerful woman, the details of who vary among different regions, making the true nature of this ghost unclear. Japanese culture, though, has a range of popular lore that all sprout from Onryō, spirits of women who died with strong negative emotions. Although these may seem like stories told to scare children into using a nightlight, this tale has proven itself as a complex phenomena contrasting heavily between European and Japanese culture, each involving different origins and modern impact.
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Several theories have developed as to the name behind Bloody Mary, a popular one stemming from Mary I of England, who performed countless executions for heresy, earning her the nickname Bloody Mary. Though not named Mary, Elizabeth Bathory also became a common contender due to her broad history of over 600 gruesome murders and her belief that blood made her skin look youthful. Onryō folklore, however, portrays the spirits as driven by strong feelings of pain, deceit, or confusion instead of Bloody Mary’s murderous and psychotic nature. Oiwa, a popular tale of revenge, tells of a woman sabotaged by her cheating husband, causing her horrific disfigurement and eventual suicide. Her angered soul haunted her husband until he died as well. The more contemporary legend of Hanako-San stems from the WWII era. During the atomic bombings, a young girl hid in a bathroom stall when one hit the school and the building collapsed on her, causing her confused spirit to stay dormant in school restrooms across
Several theories have developed as to the name behind Bloody Mary, a popular one stemming from Mary I of England, who performed countless executions for heresy, earning her the nickname Bloody Mary. Though not named Mary, Elizabeth Bathory also became a common contender due to her broad history of over 600 gruesome murders and her belief that blood made her skin look youthful. Onryō folklore, however, portrays the spirits as driven by strong feelings of pain, deceit, or confusion instead of Bloody Mary’s murderous and psychotic nature. Oiwa, a popular tale of revenge, tells of a woman sabotaged by her cheating husband, causing her horrific disfigurement and eventual suicide. Her angered soul haunted her husband until he died as well. The more contemporary legend of Hanako-San stems from the WWII era. During the atomic bombings, a young girl hid in a bathroom stall when one hit the school and the building collapsed on her, causing her confused spirit to stay dormant in school restrooms across