The stories in this book are creepys short urban stories. The compiler summarized what she thinks of urban as, "It's probably more accurate to think of darkness tales as a room within the larger house of horror. Its decor is distinctive. It insists on burden of the past. It also gleefully turns our ideas of good and evil on end." While most of the short stories are gothic, a reviewer for Teen Reads said that there are stories that are both dark and horror and thriller. 

As a kid, I was always the eccentric one out of the bunch. The creative, introverted child with an uncanny obsession for horror. To me, horror meant—and still (as an adult) is—a somewhat unpleasant excitement of emotion. Not only that, but it also triggers a fear from within and brings curiosity out of me, which is why I am always eager to experience and search for more. That is to say, whatever would be considered ”too scary to handle” for someone else, whether that is being in the pitch-black dark, summoning an evil spirit like (bloody Mary) in the mirror, or talking to the dead people through a vintage, badly curved ouija board, I am the first to explore it.

A few weeks ago, I was lucky to stumble across a Japanese poem called “Tomino’s Hell” released in 1919 and recorded in the poetry collection Sakin. Rumor has it that if you read the poem out loud, you will either die or your soul will suffer eternally in hell. If you are wondering who was behind the creation of such a dark, witty, and eerie urban legend, his name was Saijō Yaso.

If you are not familiar, Saijō was a known Japanese poet who worked on children’s nursery rhymes and popular song lyrics. I wanted to do further research on the artist himself, but there was not much about him in English. I did come upon a possible inspiration behind the poem and the age he was when he created it. It is said that “Tomino’s Hell” was created when Saijō was 27 years old, and the inspiration came after experiencing a great loss of either his father or sister, nothing more than that. I was a bit confused about what I discovered about the poet, but, surprisingly, there is a vast amount of information about the cursed poem. Apparently, there have been multiple reported incidents regarding the poem, and one was the death of director Shūji Terayama.

Den-en ni shisu (1974)

There was no secret that Shūji so highly admired “Tomino’s Hell” that he created a film inspired by it. The movie Den-en ni shisu (Pastoral: To Die in the Country, also known as Pastoral Hide and Seek) was released in 1974, and Terayama died a few years later at the age of 47 from cirrhosis of the liver. Strangely enough, some skeptics believe otherwise. They believed it was the poem that killed him. In another case, a female college student died a week after reading the poem out loud while participating in a daring prank. Other cases include illnesses, car wrecks, and the feeling of an evil presence lingering around.

The way I feel about the ”death rumors” regarding the poem is that I am a bit superstitious about it, but, in some way, but I beg to differ. I am a strong believer in the law of attraction: what we constantly think about will eventually manifest into our lives. Don’t you agree?—and if you’re asking what do I mean by that, in other words, if you truly believe that something will happen to you, then it will. We are all made of energy, the positive and the negative. Another scenario: if you think positively, your energy will attract good things to you, and if you think negatively then…you get my drift. But regardless of what I believe, I initiated a further review to see what was the mystery behind the meaning of the story.

As I was reading through the poem, my thoughts were that the composition style of the story was indecipherable but quite fascinating. The poem was originally written in Japanese, which (in my opinion) made the English translation difficult to understand. One thing that I did notice repeatedly throughout the entire poem is it only mentioned his two sisters. Nothing pointed towards Saijō’s father. So, there could be a possibility that the inspiration behind the poem is referring to his sister, but it is still unclear whether it is regarding the elder or younger sister.

I wonder, could “Tomino’s Hell” be about Saijō’s secret childhood that is unknown to the public? The meaning behind the story is still a mystery. It also had occurred to me that there could be an open interpretation of whatever you think the story is about to you. While some readers interpret the poem to be a metaphor for war, and so on, I view it in another way by thinking outside of the box.

Before I get into my interpretation along with my thoughts on the story, take a look if you dare! But remember, don’t read it out loud!

Tomino’s Hell

...The elder sister vomits blood, younger sister’s breathing fire. While sweet little Tomino just spits up the jewels. All alone does Tomino go falling into that hell, a hell of utter darkness, without even flowers. Is Tomino’s big sister the one who whips him? The purpose of the scourging hangs dark in his mind. Lashing and thrashing him, ah! But never quite shattering. One sure path to Avici, the eternal hell. Into that blackest of hells guide him now, I pray to the golden sheep, to the nightingale. How much did he put in that leather pouch to prepare for his trek to the eternal hell? Spring is coming to the valley, to the wood, to the spiraling chasms of the blackest hell. The nightingale in her cage, the sheep aboard the wagon, and tears well up in the eyes of sweet little Tomino. Sing, o nightingale, in the vast, misty forest he screams he only misses his little sister. His wailing desperation echoes throughout hell—a fox peony opens its golden petals. Down past the seven mountains and seven rivers of hell the solitary journey of sweet little Tomino. If in this hell they are found, may they then come to me, please, those sharp spikes of punishment from Needle Mountain. Not just on some empty whim is flesh pierced with blood-red pins: they serve as hellish signposts for sweet little Tomino....

As complicated as the poem may seem, my easy way of coming up with an interpretation is that I analyzed the story metaphorically. My interpretation may not be exactly what the story is about, but it is just my way of being imaginative, which I feel what makes the poem even more intriguing. At the beginning of the story, it was obvious who was all involved, but no names were attached other than Tomino

...Elder sister vomits blood,...

...younger sister’s breathing fire...

...while sweet little Tomino...

...just spits up the jewels....

Figuratively speaking, what it means to “vomit blood” is to be frustrated and stressed about a particular situation. To “breathe fire,” or what I’ve imagined it to be, is a person who is holding back and keeping things unspoken. “While Tomino spits up the jewels”: I’d say he is keeping a secret about something or someone—and the short phrase (jewels) could be referring to “family jewels.”

After breaking down the beginning of the story, I believed that his elder sister was frustrated about a situation pertaining to her younger brother, Tomino. While her younger sister, on the other hand, could possibly be the ”family member” who is involved or is aware of Tomino’s secret.

Tomino is feeling all alone in the situation. He can’t speak of it to anyone because he is fearful that while having these sinful thoughts about someone in the family, his punishment would be that his soul will suffer eternally in hell where he’d never see broad light and the flowers bloom again.

Which now I suspect that Tomino is fearing these sinful thoughts about his elder sister. “Is Tomino’s big sister the one who whips him?” That is where I question, could his elder sister be abusive towards him and the younger sister?

...Lashing and thrashing him, ah! But never quite shattering. One sure path to Avici, the eternal hell. Into that blackest of hells guide him now, I pray—to the golden sheep, to the nightingale....

It seems that Tomino is reliving a moment where his elder sister became angry at him or possibly towards both his sister and himself. The word shattering means very shocking or upsetting—but while it mentioned “never quite shattering,” I feel that the situation with his elder sister was not a surprising one, that it had become a constant situation between the two. In Buddhism, Avici means the lowest level of the Naraka or “hell” realm. So, it tells me that Tomino could have entered into a deep dark depression, praying that he heals the pain that lies beneath his mind.

The poem is a metaphor for his painful thoughts. Tomino travels through the different dimensions of hell in the misty forest as the sheep carry the wagon. The caged nightingale sings along the way while he nervously awaits upon his arrival. He screams out in desperation, sounds of wailing, and echoes throughout the forest for his younger sister.

When he arrives at the “golden petal,” which could be referring to the gates of hell, Tomino sees a spirit animal or what I call “spirit guide,” who guides him to see the light at the end of the tunnel (an end of a difficult situation). Yet he goes further deep through the mountains (depression) and into the darkness of hell, alone. Then the confusion came in towards the ending, which led me to put the whole story together to get a potential outcome.

A possible conclusion: I think the poem was written in a metaphorical sense. It’s like stepping in the mind of a person who is being paranoid and delusional. Maybe it could be referring to a young boy (Tomino) who is experiencing some kind of mental illness such as schizophrenia (when a person interprets reality abnormally and may result in some combination of hallucinations or delusions), a definition which I think complements the story very well.

It was also obvious that the love and bond he had shared with his younger sister was stronger than the bond with the eldest, which brought to my attention that maybe he didn’t have a great relationship with her at all. I did sense that there was some kind of abandonment, and without the story mentioning anything about Tomino’s parents or anyone else besides his two sisters, I feel that the elder sister was in charge of watching over Tomino and the younger sister.

Throughout the poem, it talked about punishment. His elder sister could have also been very abusive to both of them and, because of that, the anger that Tomino felt against her was unbearable. He feared that if he had sinful thoughts and feelings against his elder sister that his soul will burn eternally in hell. It was not stated if Tomino was religious, but there were a few sentences that spoke of Buddhism.

I read that Buddhists believe that suffering is part of life that is to be expected and that if a person experiences pain calmly, without becoming emotionally distressed, he can attain greater states of being. In this case, I feel that it was difficult for Tomino to do that. Maybe he was aware of being on a spiritual journey, going through lessons, and trying to find his way to surrender the pain and guilt that he felt regarding the situation with his elder sister.

Either way, the logic behind the story is still unknown, and after discovering more interpretations swarming around the internet of “Tomino’s Hell,” I can ironically say that my thoughts are mutual.

Do yo guys know about story based on true but still unknown and mysterious!!!!! Let started it-_-

Bus 375 is a scary Chinese urban legend about a bus in Beijing that disappeared one cold November night and it is supposed to be based on a true story. This is also known as The Midnight Bus or The Bus to Fragrant Hills.

This story happened on November 14, 1995 in Beijing, China. At midnight, Bus 375 pulled out of the Yuan-ming-yuan bus terminus. This was the last bus of the night and its destination was Xiang-shan (Fragrant Hills).

On board were the driver and a female conductor. The night was bitterly cold and a harsh wind was blowing. It stopped at the South Gate next to the Summer Palace and when the doors opened, four passengers got on. An old lady, a young couple and a young man.

The young couple sat up at the front, behind the driver, while the old lady and the boy sat on the other side of the bus, beside the doors. As the bus drove through the night, all they could hear was the drone of the engine. It was a quiet, remote area and there were no other vehicles on the road.

After a while, the driver spotted two shadows by the side of the road, waving at the bus. The driver stopped and when the doors opened, three people got on. There were two men who were supporting a third man between them, holding him up by his shoulders. The man in the middle looked disheveled and his head was bowed, so nobody could see his face. All three were dressed in traditional Chinese robes from the Qing Dynasty and their faces were deathly pale.

The other passengers on the bus were scared and glanced nervously at each other as the driver pulled off and continued down the road. The female conductor tried to calm everyone down by saying, “Don’t be afraid. They could be just actors shooting a costume drama in the vicinity. Maybe they got drunk after work and forgot to change clothes.”

The old woman kept turning around and staring at the three strangers who were seated at the back of the bus. There was an eerie silence. None of the passengers said a word. All they could hear was the wind whistling outside.

After 3 or 4 stops, the young couple got off the bus. The bus driver and the female conductor were chatting and laughing. The old lady suddenly jumped to her feet and hit the young man sitting in front of her. She was shouting and making a big fuss, telling everyone that he had stolen her purse.

The young man stood up and started arguing with her, but the old woman grabbed him by the collar and demanded that the driver let them off at the next stop, so she could bring him to the police station. The young man was speechless.

When the bus stopped, the old lady dragged the young man out. They watched as the bus drove off into the night and the old lady breathed a sigh of relief.

“Where’s the police station?” asked the young man.

“There is no police station,” the old lady replied. “I just saved your life!”

“What? How did you save my life?” the young man said, puzzled.

“Those three people were ghosts!” the old lady replied. “Ever since they got on the bus, I had my doubts about them, so I kept looking back at them. It so happened that there was a wind blowing through the window and I saw everything. It lifted their long robes and I saw that they had no legs!”

The young man stared at the old lady in surprise. He started sweating. He couldn’t say a word.

The old lady called the police and told them what she had seen.

The next day, Bus 375 failed to report to the station. It had vanished along with the driver and the female conductor. The police searched the entire city, but could find no trace of it. They questioned the old woman and the young man, but they dismissed their story and decided that they were mentally ill.

That night, The Beijing Evening News and The Beijing News reported on the story. The old woman and the young man were both interviewed live on TV.

Two days later, the police eventually found the missing bus. It was submerged in the Miyun reservoir, about 100KM from Fragrant Hills. Inside the bus, they discovered three badly decomposed bodies: The bus driver, the female conductor and an unidentified man.

There were a number of other mysteries surrounding this case:

The bus did not have enough gas to drive all the way to the Miyun Reservoir and when the police opened the petrol tank, they found it was filled with blood.

Even though the bodies were found only two days after they disappeared, they were very badly decomposed. Even if it was summer, the process of decomposition could not be this quick. An autopsy confirmed that there had been no intentional meddling with the bodies. How could they decompose so quickly?

The police did a strict inspection of all the security camera tapes on each entrance leading to the Miyun reservoir, but the bus wasn’t seen in any of them. In fact, they found nothing out of ordinary whatsoever. How could the bus get there without being seen?

To this day, it remains an unsolved mystery...

scary and interesting isnt it?......

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