Fokelaw facts

Oni is a kind of yōkai, ogre, or troll in Japanese folklore. They are typically portrayed as hulking figures with one or more horns growing out of their heads. Stereotypically, they are conceived of as red, blue or white-colored, wearing loincloths of tiger pelt and carrying iron kanabō clubs.;
The oni was syncretized with Hindu-Buddhist creatures such as the man-devouring yaksha and the rakshasa, and became the oni who tormented sinners as wardens of Jigoku (Hell), administering sentences passed down by Hell's magistrate, King Yama (Enma Daiō).The hungry ghosts called gaki (餓鬼) has also been sometimes considered a type of oni (the letter "ki" 鬼 is also read "oni").;
Accordingly, a wicked soul beyond rehabilitation transforms into an oni after death. Only the very worst people turn into oni while alive, and these are the oni causing troubles among humans as presented in folk tales.;
According to Chinese Taoism and esoteric Onmyōdō, the ways of yin and yang, the northeasterly direction is termed the kimon (鬼門, "demon gate") and considered an unlucky direction through which evil spirits passed. Based on the assignment of the twelve zodiac animals to the cardinal directions, the kimon was also known as the ushitora (丑寅), or "Ox Tiger" direction. One theory is that the oni's bovine horns and tiger-skin loincloth developed as a visual depiction of this term.;
Temples are often built facing that direction, for example, Enryaku-ji was deliberately built on Mount Hiei which was in the kimon (northeasterly) direction from Kyoto in order to guard the capital, and similarly Kan'ei-ji was built towards that direction from Edo Castle.;
Japanese buildings may sometimes have L-shaped indentations at the northeast to ward against oni. For example, the walls surrounding the Kyoto Imperial Palace have notched corners in that direction.;
Jinn are often mentioned together with devils/demons (shayāṭīn). Both devils and jinn feature in folklore and are held responsible for misfortune, possession and diseases. However, the jinn are sometimes supportive and benevolent. They are mentioned frequently in magical works throughout the Islamic world, to be summoned and bound to a sorcerer, but also in zoological treatises as animals with a subtle body.;
The lines between demons and jinn are often blurred. Especially in folklore, jinn share many characteristics usually associated with demons, as both are held responsible for mental illness, diseases and possession. However, such traits do not appear within the Quran or canonical hadiths. The Quran emphasizes comparison between humans and jinn as taqalan (accountable ones, that means they have free-will and will be judged according to their deeds).;
Jinn are not supernatural in the sense of being purely spiritual and transcendent to nature; while they are believed to be invisible (or often invisible) they also eat, drink, sleep, breed with the opposite sex, with offspring that resemble their parents. Intercourse is not limited to the jinn alone, but also possible between human and jinn. However, the practice is despised (makruh) in Islamic law. It is disputed whether or not such intercourse can result in offspring.;
Jinn are depicted as similar to humans, as they live in societies and need dwelling places, food and water. Although their lifespan of multiple centuries exceeds those of humans, they still die and must procreate. As they are created from smokeless fire, in contrast to humans made from solid earth, the latter cannot see them.;
If the person dies, however, in a sudden or violent manner such as murder or suicide, if the proper rites have not been performed, or if they are influenced by powerful emotions such as a desire for revenge, love, jealousy, hatred or sorrow, the soull is believed to transform into a yūrei which can then bridge the gap back to the physical world. The emotion or thought need not be particularly strong or driven. Even innocuous thoughts can cause a death to become disturbed.;
The yūrei then exists on Earth until it can be laid to rest, either by performing the missing rituals, or resolving the emotional conflict that still ties it to the physical plane. If the rituals are not completed or the conflict left unresolved, the yūrei will persist in its haunting. Often times the lower the social rank of the person who died violently or who was treated harshly during life, the more powerful as a yūrei they would return.;
The easiest way to exorcise a yūrei is to help it fulfill its purpose. When the reason for the strong emotion binding the spirit to Earth is gone, the yūrei is satisfied and can move on. Traditionally, this is accomplished by family members enacting revenge upon the yūrei's slayer, or when the ghost consummates its passion/love with its intended lover, or when its remains are discovered and given a proper burial with all rites performed.;
Sometimes the banshee assumes the form of some sweet singing virgin of the family who died young, and has been given the mission by the invisible powers to become the harbinger of coming doom to her mortal kindred. Or she may be seen at night as a shrouded woman, crouched beneath the trees, lamenting with veiled face, or flying past in the moonlight, crying bitterly.;
Irish legend speaks of a lament being sung by a fairy woman, or banshee. She would sing it when a family member died or was about to die, even if the person had died far away and news of their death had not yet come. In those cases, her wailing would be the first warning the household had of the death.;
The banshee also is a predictor of death. If someone is about to enter a situation where it is unlikely they will come out alive she will warn people by screaming or wailing, giving rise to a banshee also being known as a wailing woman.;
According to legend, Kuchisake-onna was a woman who was mutilated during her life, with her mouth being slit from ear to ear. In some versions of the story, Kuchisake-onna was the adulterous wife or concubine of a samurai during her life. As punishment for her infidelity, her husband sliced the corners of her mouth from ear to ear.;
After her death, Kuchisake-onna returned as a vengeful spirit, or onryō. As an onryō, she covers her mouth with a cloth mask (often specified as a surgical mask), or in some iterations, a hand fan or handkerchief. She also carries a sharp instrument with her, which has been described as a knife, a machete, a scythe, or a large pair of scissors.;
She is said to ask potential victims if they think she is attractive, often phrased as "Watashi, kirei?"(which translates roughly to "Am I pretty?"). If the person answers "no", she will kill the person with her weapon, and if the person answers "yes", she will reveal her mutilated mouth. She then repeats her question, If the person responds with "no" or screams, she will kill the person with her weapon. If the response is "yes", she will slice the corners of the person's mouth from ear to ear.;
In folklore, a revenant is an animated corpse that is believed to have revived from death to haunt the living. The word revenant is derived from the Old French word, revenant, the "returning" (see also the related French verb revenir, meaning "to come back").';
The term "revenant" has been used interchangeably with "vampire" or "ghost" by folklorists. While some maintain that vampires derive from Eastern European folklore and revenants derive from Western European folklore, many assert that revenant is a generic term for the undead.;
The word draugr can be traced to a Proto-Indo European stem *dʰrowgʰos "phantom", from *dʰrewgʰ- "deceive". The Old Norse meaning of the word is a revenant. In Swedish, draug is a modern loanword from West Norse, as the native Swedish form in some dialects drög has acquired the meaning of "a pale, ineffectual, and slow-minded person that drags himself along".;
Draugar possess superhuman strength, can increase their size at will, and carry the unmistakable stench of decay. According to Gregg Smith, "The appearance of a draugr was that of a dead body: swollen, blackened and generally hideous to look at." They are undead figures from Norse and Icelandic mythology which appear to retain some semblance of intelligence. They exist to guard their treasure, wreak havoc on living beings, or torment those who wronged them in life.;