If you hate snakes, you may have a particular grudge towards this one.
A nure-onna is a Japanese monster with the head of a woman and the body of a snake. While the description of her appearance varies slightly, she is mainly pictured as being 30 feet long in length with snake-like eyes and a snake body. For her head, she has long, beautiful black hair. Some nure-onnas will have arms and long claws, while others don't. They have been used in old Japanese folklore, as well as movies and books.
Although a nure-onna is much stronger than a human, they prefer to use trickery to catch and kill foolish humans. They appear usually on the coast near the water or by a riverbank, disguised as a distressed woman carrying a bundled up baby. If she wants you to not know she is a nure-onna, she will sit at the edge of the ocean so her tail fades into the water, and sometimes even use magic to change her tail into a slim pair of legs.
From there, she uses her small, childlike bundle to attract potential victims. She will come up to you and ask you to hold her baby for her. Wanting to not be rude, the person usually agrees and accepts the offer. She will let them hold the bundle, and after some time passes, she will take it back and let them go along their merry way. She won't punish them for holding it.
If they attempt to get rid of the bundle, however, it is revealed that it is not a child at all. Instead, the bundle is a rock. The rock slowly turns into a boulder, becoming incredibly heavy. This crushes the victim to prevent them from fleeing. She then uses her long, snake-like tongue to suck all the blood from her victim's body.
There are other versions of this story, that alternate in how nure-onnas behave. In one story, the nure-onnas are vicious and pretend to be a beautiful woman. If someone jumps in the waters to try and help, they will brutally attack and kill them.
In another one, a nura-onna is simply seeking solitude as she washes her hair in the river. If someone tries to bother her, however, she'll become increasingly annoyed. In some cases, she'll even react violently if she's not in the mood to play around.
Either way, snake ladies are not something to be happy about. Unless, for some reason, you really like snakes.
YOU ARE READING
Japanese Urban Legends
HorrorLove the creepy side of Japan? On the surface, all that people hear about Japan is their rich culture, and how weird some of their customs and inventions are. But aside from that, there is a darker side of Japan, including their unsettling urban leg...
