Japanese Urban Legends

Hone-Onna

A Hone-onna is an attractive woman that just wants to spend some time with you... or at least that's what it seems to be. In their disguise, they are gorgeous; they have smooth, doll-like skin and wear a beautiful kimono- but in reality, they are a skeleton yōkai that trick men in order to steal their soul. 

Typically at a gathering, a Hone-onna will wait until she sees the perfect victim. Then, she goes up to him and flirts, while also having a bit of small talk along the way so she can deceive him. After some time passes, she will attempt to lure him to a spot of her choosing. If successful, she will start to seduce him and convince him to undress her. But once he starts to remove her clothing, he finds that underneath the kimono is nothing but bone decorated by flesh. By the time he realizes that he has made a terrible mistake, she embraces him and sucks away his life and soul.

People that are unclouded by love and have no care for it can see through her illusion, along with people that have strong religious faith. These people notice hints of a Hone-onna's true form and are able to see glimpses of the rotting skeletal corpse.

In a way, a Hone-onna is similar to a succubus- an attractive female demon that seduces men and has intercourse with them- but for a price. Succubi usually end up mentally deteriorating their lovers or killing them violently. 

A Hone-onna is believed to have come from a spirit of someone with an undying love. It is similar to an onryo, but in this case, their vengeance and anger are replaced with passion and affection. The ghosts appear as how they once looked before they died- young and beautiful woman, usually in their prime. But even if they look completely normal and act the same, they aren't who they used to be. They are now only driven by love and yearn to continue the love they once had in their past life. However, those desires can turn deadly. 

Aside from all of the random men that they chat with, they also like to spend time with their lovers from the past. At night, a Hone-onna has the tendency to rise from her grave, and wander to the house of her former lover. Each night, she spends time with her love, slowly draining some of their life force in the process. As the days pass by, the lover grows weaker and becomes extremely ill. If nobody intervenes and stops the Hone-onna, she will eventually drain all of his life force and kill her lover, forcing them to join her in death's embrace.

Luckily, if the lover doesn't want to be slowly murdered in their sleep, they can ward off the yōkai with prayers and magic- but only if the master of the house allows it. If the lover refuses to listen, then it is much harder for them to be saved. I know, you may be wondering, "Why would they not want to be saved?" Think of it this way: The lover used to be deeply in love with this woman, and they formed a strong bond of trust and care before her death. So, when the lover sees his beautiful spouse, it may cause him to ignore the truth in fear of never seeing her again, even if it means death. It's kind of like an extreme version of the cliche "Love makes you do crazy things."

Overall, if your lover passes away and then starts showing up as a ghost in your bedroom each night, you should tell someone- or maybe even call Ghostbusters- instead of ignoring it.