# Are there any western horror legends in eastern culture? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 21, 2003, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-western-horror-legends-in-eastern-culture/220337 "2003-12-21T17:51:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![First\_Amongst\_Daves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4491bb/32.png) [@First\_Amongst\_Daves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/First_Amongst_Daves)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2003, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-western-horror-legends-in-eastern-culture/220337/21 "2003-12-23T05:02:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Akatsukami \* > \*\*There is a rich supernatural and horror imagery among Chinese and Chinese-influenced cultures. > > One of the most widespead legends is that of the fox spirit. Foxes are generally considered incarnations of evil spirits in East Asian countries. The fox generally turns into a beautiful young woman (in some versions, it kills a beautiful young woman and assumes her identity) and wreak evil on unsuspecting people (seduces and murders young men, kills the family’s breeding animals, etc.) Variations on the basic theme are legion. > > \*\* There is a large fox shrine near Kyoto though, and I saw a small fox shrine in Kanazawa on the Sea of Japan. Foxes can possess a human by slipping up underneath the human’s fingernails, in the gap. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Long\_Road](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5a626/32.png) [@The\_Long\_Road](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Long_Road)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2003, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-western-horror-legends-in-eastern-culture/220337/22 "2003-12-23T05:24:27Z")
The rural area of the central Philippines I lived in for awhile was rife with stories about vampires. It freaked people out when I would sit outside at night and read by candlelight because a candle buring outside the home at night supposedly draws the vampires down from the hills. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2003, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-western-horror-legends-in-eastern-culture/220337/23 "2003-12-23T08:04:33Z")
Here’s s’more [international Vampire species.](http://www.angelfire.com/tn/vampires/step8.html) It even includes the Japanese “Kappa,” which always reminded me more of trolls, than vampires. And, off the topic of vampires, there are even [Scorpion[url=http://www.pantheon.org/articles/s/scorpion\_men.html]Men](http://webhome.idirect.com/~donlong/monsters/Html/Scorpion.htm) from the middle east. ---
**Author:** ![Angua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2003, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-western-horror-legends-in-eastern-culture/220337/24 "2003-12-23T10:39:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by noname \* > \*\* > And **Angua** the Indian _Naag_ is not a monster in the same league of the dracula. The _Ikcha-Dhari Naag_ is a snake, which is entrusted with guarding the _Naag-Mani_ (the snake stone) after meditating for a long time. They mean no harm, and attack only when provoked. > Hope this helps 🙂 \*\* Yeah, my mistake. They do only attack when provoked. Guess I’ve been watching too many Bollywood films which distort everything. My grandmother had a whole family of superstitions based on snakes etc, including something about a shrine (something to do with snakes I beleive) near our ancestral home that all male sons of male sons have to visit to avoid calamity falling on our family. Very very strange… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-western-horror-legends-in-eastern-culture/220337.md?page=1)