NEWSWORTHY
Spooky Japanese tales will scare the summer's heat out of you
Until recently, summer nights involved turning off the AC and doing things like kurumaza ni natte kaidanbanashi (sitting in a circle and telling ghost stories).
Spooked no more? Hong Kong's 'haunted apartment' prices levitate with white-hot market
Ng Goon-lau pointed at a window inside a dark, tiny bedroom. The window was small and easily sealed, Ng explained, a perfect place for carbon-monoxide poisoning. A man once burned charcoal to kill himself there. Another tenant, a policewoman, also hanged herself in the same ...
Santa's creepy chum gives Austrians a scary thrill with 'Krampuslauf' parades
Austrian financial adviser Ernst Eigner is ugly and scary — but only in his "Krampus" costume with red glowing eyes and horns to frighten naughty children and "evil spirits." His troupe is just one of an estimated 850, with 10,000 members around Austria marauding through ...
'Kaibyo: The Supernatural Cats of Japan': Traditionally spooky felines
Cats. Modern Japan loves them in all shapes and sizes. But they weren't always so cuddly. Kaibyo: The Supernatural Cats of Japan, by Zack Davisson.120 pages CHIN MUSIC PRESS, Nonfiction. From translator and folklore scholar Zack Davisson, "Kaibyo: The Supernatural Cats of Japan" is a spooky read ...
Albino boy murdered and brain harvested for witchcraft in Mozambique
A 17-year-old albino boy was killed and his brain removed for what is believed to be use in witchcraft in Mozambique, local news reports said. Albinos in Mozambique are often hunted for their body parts, which are used as charms and magical potions in the ...
Vietnam's spirit mediums revive ritual once forbidden by ruling Communist Party
Dressed in the bright silk garments of a woman and dancing with candles between his fingers, Nguyen Duy Nam leads a temple of worshippers in a ceremony honoring mystical goddesses of forest, water and heaven. Nam, 24, is one of a growing number of spirit ...
U.S. spooky clown phenomenon spreads to Australia and New Zealand
Sightings of creepy clowns that have spooked the United States appear to have sparked copycat acts in Australia and New Zealand, with police issuing stern warnings for would-be clowns. Numerous sightings of clowns appeared on social media in the early hours of Sunday in several ...
Canadian man kills Brit in psychedelic ceremony in Peru's Amazon
A Canadian killed a Briton after the two men took a hallucinogenic plant brew known as ayahuasca together at a spiritual retreat in the Peruvian Amazon, authorities said Thursday. Witnesses told police the Canadian man, 29-year-old Joshua Andrew Freeman Stevens, killed the British man, Unais ...
As country emerges from shadow of Ebola, Liberia president says ritual killings on the rise
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf on Thursday vowed to crack down on those responsible for a rise in ritual killings in the West African country as it seeks to emerge from the shadow of an Ebola epidemic. In some areas of central Africa, body parts ...
A judge granted a protective order against a warlock on Wednesday, spelling relief for the Salem witch who accused him of harassment. The two faced off in court before a Salem District Court judge, who granted the protective order to witch priestess Lori Sforza. She ...
Believers in the legendary Bigfoot creature gathered Saturday in western New York state, convinced the giant ape also known as Sasquatch has left its footprints all over the region. Yeti, sasquatch, ape-man, Bigfoot. No matter the name, sightings have been reported in virtually every U.S. ...
Britain's Metropolitan Police have reported an increase in the number of child abuse cases that involve allegations of witchcraft and exorcism. Police said Sunday a specialist unit received 46 such cases in 2014, more than twice as many as the year before. The "Project Violet" unit ...
