Kuchisake Onna

The Kuchisake-Onna is a Japanese urban legend. She appears to be a woman wearing a brown trench coat and a surgical mask and would be hiding something behind her back. Do you want to know what that special something is? Keep reading to find out.

The Kuchisake-Onna was once a gorgeous woman that lived back in the Edo period of Japan. Very often, she would ask the children of her village the same question; "Am I pretty?", and without a second thought, they would happily answer "Yes!". This lady had many men head over heels for her, but out of them, she chose a powerful and handsome Samurai. She lived happily with the Samurai, but then one day, he had a mission to attend to, meaning he had to leave his wife at home alone. A few days later, she got overconfident over her own beauty and started to get into relationships with other, more powerful and handsome Samurais. The news spread like wildfire and reached her husband in no time. The second he heard this shocking news, he immediately rushed home and slammed his doors open. To his horror, his wife was sleeping with another man. His eyes widened with uncontrollable rage and rushed to the other Samurai, and with much efficiency, decapitated him with his sword. The woman turned pale with extreme fear. Her husband had other plans for her. He grabbed her by the neck, and from one end of her cheek to another, he made a cut, looking similar to a smile. From there, she ran out of her house, and to a nearby river. As she rushed there, the villagers stared at her with a mix of disgust and terror. At the river, she cried her eyes out and died slowly there. She didn't look so pretty now, did she? She looked terrifying.

Now, in the present, as said in the introduction, Kuchisake-Onna will be seen wearing a brown trench coat and a surgical mask, and hiding a sharp object behind her back, usually scissors or a butcher's knife. She will usually appear in dark alleys and dead ends and targets children. She will come up to you and ask: "Am I pretty?". With that, if you reply with no, she will kill you. If you fearfully say yes, she will kill you. But, if you casually just say yes, she will then take her mask off, and reveal her horrifying, disfigured face, and ask you yet again: "Am I pretty now?". If you say yes, she will carve the same smile on your face as her husband did to her. If you say "so-so", she will get confused, giving you time to run. Run quickly, and never look back, for she may be right behind.