不思議好き怖い話好きさん集まれ!!

I recall someone in this community mentioning a story about visiting their grandfather's grave for the first time, running ahead saying their grandfather was there, and then waiting with a smile in front of a tombstone they shouldn't have known, for their family to arrive. It seems many people say that young children, perhaps due to their high sensitivity and purity, could see things when they were little. I personally have no such experiences, but my older brother occasionally seemed to see or hear things. On a visit to my maternal relatives' graves, there was a small cemetery reached by climbing stone steps through the trees from behind the main hall. Our family's tombstone was at the very back. My brother said a dog had gone up the stairs, and since I love dogs, I hurried up! But there was no dog anywhere. Then my brother pointed, saying it was behind that tombstone, but neither I nor any of the adults could find anything. I wonder what my brother was seeing.

There's an Inari shrine near my parents' house, and at Inari shrines, instead of guardian lions, there are Kitsune (fox statues) protecting the shrine entrance. The old men in the neighborhood used to say, "This Kitsune is mean and ill-tempered, so don't touch it or pray to it carelessly." They'd often tell the kids this during neighborhood children's association events. On the day of the elementary school sports competition held during summer vacation, my older sister, who's two years my senior, for some reason placed a bottle of Ramune soda in front of the Kitsune and prayed, "Please don't let me get hurt." Then, on the way from the community center to the school, she collided with a bicycle, and her younger brother, who was in first grade at the time and holding her hand, got injured. The sister fractured her elbow when she fell. The younger brother, because he was holding hands with his sister and also carrying a ball when they both fell, couldn't brace himself properly, hit his face, and lost a tooth. It seems the tooth was already loose, as an adult tooth eventually grew in properly, but the sight of his mouth covered in dirt and blood as he cried hysterically was terrifying when I was a child. The Ramune bottle was left there for a while because they said once offerings are removed, you don't know what might happen, and that was scary too. Where I live now is also rural, and my hometown isn't much different. There are quite a few superstitious stories, and I want to post about them, but my writing always ends up being too long.

There's something that's been bothering me for a while... A hotel was built near my place, and before it opened. I saw a woman sitting at the leftmost window seat in the first-floor restaurant. It was likely during staff training at the time. Even at 9 AM, it wasn't a break time, yet she was sitting there alone, head bowed. I happened to stop at a red light and she came into view. I couldn't help but stare, but the moment my car started moving and I looked away, she was gone. I didn't even see her leave, she just vanished... Ever since, even after the hotel opened, I see her every time I pass by. She doesn't look like she's in uniform, and it's been quite a while since the opening, but she's in almost the same seat almost every day for a customer. (I don't pass by every day, so I haven't confirmed this.) She's there even during times when the restaurant isn't in use. She just sits there with her head down, doing nothing. Is she alive, or is she dead... It bothers me, so I keep looking.

When I was in middle school. There were lots of bamboo groves around the school. There were also shrines and graves... The back gate had a gloomy, eerie atmosphere. I happened to pass by and felt like someone had walked past, so I took a picture in what seemed like a path leading deeper into the bamboo grove. When I posted the picture in a paranormal open chat I joined on LINE, someone with spiritual sensitivity said, 'Even though there's nothing but bamboo in the picture, there's a person here, beckoning.' Several years later, human remains were discovered deep within that bamboo grove. Several years after death. Did they want to be found?

A story that isn't scary, but gives you the creeps. About 20 years ago. Where I used to live, the sidewalk in front of my house faced a straight road running north and south. Diagonally across from my house, there was a right-turn lane heading east (a small road). There was an old woman who always walked towards the station, holding a parasol. The straight road in front of my house was a shortcut to the station. It seemed that the old woman was visiting her sickly husband. Every morning when I was hanging out the laundry, I'd see the old woman with the parasol pass by. It was a daily scene. One day, when I went out to the main road to head to a large supermarket, I saw a funeral announcement sign for that house just before the small road turning north. I thought, 'Ah, the old man must have passed away…' That day, I told my mother about it, saying, 'You know, that old man was always sick.' But the next day, I almost fainted when the old man himself appeared on his bicycle coming from the east road. I was truly surprised. A few days after I told my mother, she told me something. Before the old woman passed away, the flowers she had meticulously cared for bloomed for the first time in several years. Apparently, she had said, 'It's strange that the flowers that haven't bloomed for years have suddenly bloomed.' And then, the old woman… passed away. Was the blooming of the flowers a thank you? Or a farewell!?

I don't remember it myself, but I was told this story every time we had a family gathering or visited my relatives. My father's hometown is in Kyushu, and I visited for the first time when I was three years old. This is the story from that time. My grandfather passed away before I was born. We went back home during the summer with my uncle's family, and apparently, the first thing we did was visit the graves. The graves there were all lined up with the same surname as ours, but when I, who had come for the first time, said, "Grandpa is here!" I apparently ran towards my grandfather's grave and smiled brightly in front of it. My father was so surprised and confused that he didn't know how to respond and just froze (lol). My father told this story again with nostalgia shortly before he passed away. Nowadays, family gatherings are rare, and it's not something I can talk about with acquaintances or friends, so I decided to share it here as a cherished memory.

This is a story from about 20 years ago. I was bitten on the ankle by a dog being kept by someone else and suffered a serious injury. I was hospitalized, underwent two surgeries, and overcame cellulitis, among other things, to be discharged safely. During my hospital stay, my post-surgery wound wasn't healing well. When my ex-boyfriend came to visit, he said things like, "You must have done something to provoke it, right? You idiot! You got what you deserved!" and hurled insults, which devastated me. For a while, there was no prospect of being discharged, and the days were tough. One afternoon, during my daily IV drip time... Normally, I had the IV in my left hand, but after daily use, the vein had hardened and wouldn't accept it. "I'll put it in your right arm. You'll be facing north, but can you turn the other way?" I was told, and obediently turned over. The needle went in smoothly, and I usually read during this time, but I dozed off. Then, I suddenly heard a voice from behind, "It's your fault!" I tried to turn around, but my body wouldn't move. Repeatedly, the voice muttered, "It's your fault..." and got closer and closer. A chilling air stuck to my back, and finally, a shout right by my ear, "It's your fault!" Whether I fell asleep or lost consciousness, I don't know. At that moment, I clearly saw a pitch-black shadow? I wonder who it could have been?

When I watch anime or dramas and talk about the content with others, they tell me there's no such content, and sometimes when I check, it turns out there really isn't. For example, there's the story about the color of the kimono caught on the tree on Ukishima? in Natsume's Book of Friends (it's a pretty famous anecdote, but I really remember seeing it. I even remember the details). Is there anyone else who has experienced something like this?

There was a company that had been running the exact same radio commercial for at least 15 years. It usually played during baseball night games, so I heard it almost every day. Towards the end of the commercial, it would say, 'Expanding to 15 stores in [Region Name].' About a year ago, I suddenly thought, 'They say they're 'expanding,' but the commercial hasn't changed in over 15 years, have they?' So I checked the company's website, and their number of stores had actually decreased. 'They're not expanding, they're shrinking!' I laughed. The very next day, Sure enough, the commercial was renewed, and the version without the mention of 15 stores or 'expanding' was broadcast. It was incredibly strange that a commercial that hadn't changed for so long, which I happened to notice and look up the company for, would be renewed the very next day.

Did you guys know this? Apparently, ghosts often appear near bodies of water. The reason is simple: they say it's because they're reminded of being in their mother's womb. If they can't pass on and find peace, they apparently cease to exist entirely. Also, tunnels apparently remind them of their mother's womb, which is why ghosts are often found there. It's said that's also why Jizo statues are sometimes placed near tunnels. I hope to find peace quickly when I die.