Original Post Date: 12.06.17

I don’t get scared easily. No, in fact let me rephrase that. I do not get scared. Period. What I experience when watching horror movies is not fear, is excitement. Why? Well, I actually have no idea but I should ask my therapist about it… Anyhow, imagine my surprise when I got scared, really (really!) scared when I watched for the first time Ju-On (2002). I could not believe it, I was in full fear mode, sweaty palms, accelerated heartbeat, arms hugging my legs which were close to my chest. It was so silly, I was alone in the dark at night, sitting on my bed, watching a foreign horror movie, feeling vulnerable, like a child.

I was introduced in my early twenties to Ju-On by a college friend who let me borrow his dvd and, if I am not mistaken, that one was the very first Japanese horror movie I ever saw… I don’t know, man, up to this day I cannot tell you exactly why the movie was so terrifying to me. Yes, it was subtitled, subtle, slow, yet not boring. And yes, there were murders, a haunted house, curses, evil spirts, ghosts, yet none of that sounded particularly exhilarating to me. But how wrong I was to judge it… I was proven how little it was of me to think that a country such as Japan would not be equipped with the knowledge needed to make me feel afraid of ghosts, I mean, the Japan, the one home to Yurei. (for info on Yurei go here)

I can tell you without a single doubt that my favorite ghost in a movie is now Kayako, followed by Toshio, of course (dead kids are so creepy).

Well, my weirdo, do you want to take a look at some of my favorite scenes with Kayako? Yeah?? YAY! Here they are:

This is it for now, it is getting late and we all have to go to work tomorrow. Good night.

- Marath