Urban Legends
Slit-Mouthed Woman
There is an urban legend that is similarly told in Korea and Japan. It tells the story of a beautiful girl who got plastic surgery on her mouth. The surgery went horribly wrong and the doctor accidentally cut a slit in her mouth going from one ear to the other. She was so mortified that she started wearing a red surgical mask everywhere she went. Legend says that if you are walking around at night, she will approach you and ask “Am I pretty?” Because of the mask, you can only see her eyes, thin figure and long hair. So, she does appear to be pretty. But here is the trick…
If you answer “Yes,” she will take off her mask (revealing her slit-open mouth) and ask you again “Am I pretty?” If you say “No,” then she will kill you. If you say “Yes,” then she will say “Then I want to make you pretty too,” and cut your mouth, just like hers. I think this is the most terrifying urban legend, for me, because of the popularity of plastic surgery in Korea and because there is no real way out of the situation. People say that if you don’t answer, she might go away… but other stories say that she will punish you for ignoring her. Moral of the story: Don’t walk around at night. |
The Mysterious Road
This road is creepy… at first glance. If you visit this road, located on Jeju Island, it appears to be slanting downwards. However, if you roll a ball “down” this road, it will roll back “uphill” toward you. The sight is really quite mind-boggling. It’s almost as if an invisible person is rolling the ball back to you.
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Now, don’t worry! I only decided to include this because it’s a cool sight to see but there actually is a scientific explanation behind this road! It is actually an optical illusion! Although the road appears to be going downhill, if a car is put in neutral, it will begin to travel uphill! Don’t believe me? Here is a Youtube video where people test their cars on this hill:
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Water Ghosts (Mulgwisin)
Mulgwisin (물귀신) means “Water ghost” in Korean. Just like its name, these are ghosts that lie deep beneath the water’s surface. They are the ghosts of people who have drowned – either accidentally or intentionally. They can be found in lakes, rivers, ponds, and even... bathtubs. Most of the experiences people have with these ghosts occur while swimming at nighttime. They say that these ghosts are so lonely in the cold water that they will tug on your ankles and try to pull you underneath with them. If you meet a superstitious Korean, don’t be surprised if they tell you not to swim at night.
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Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital
Located in the city of Gwangju, Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital was abandoned in 1995, after patients and staff members kept mysteriously dying for TEN YEARS. How’s that for letting an issue drag on? Some of the staff members were still seated at their desks when they died, unexplainably.
Although the hospital was abandoned, ghost hunters that have visited the site say that it seems as if the owners “left in a hurry.” Beds still have sheets on them, desks are still in place and white lab coats are still hung up on the backs of doors. One visitor even reported finding a ‘laundry room,’ filled with blankets and other linens still folded.
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Despite having so many ‘eye-witness’ reports of the abandoned hospital, the property is not actually open to the public. Every entryway is barricaded (some even with barbed wire) and there is even a sign at the front that claims “Trespassers will be prosecuted.” However, since no one is ever there to enforce this rule, many people like to go and see the hospital for themselves.
Neighbors to the property have made reports of seeing visitors running from the building, screaming, and covered in blood from scratches on their arms. They speculate that the scrapes could either be from the untrimmed fingernails of former psychiatric patients, or maybe from the shards of glass that have been known to be hurled down the hallways of the building.
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Handsome Elevator Man
There was a university student, named Haruko, out studying late one night. She hated walking around after dark, because everything always seemed so scary. When she finally got to her apartment complex, she breathed a sigh of relief. She was home. She got in the elevator and pushed the number for the 14th floor. Right before the doors closed, a handsome gentleman came running up and stuck his hands in, so he could ride too. They exchanged smiles, and after he saw that Haruko had pushed the number 14, he commented that he lived on the 13th floor!
It was hard for Haruko not to notice how attractive he was, and the more they talked and laughed, the
It was hard for Haruko not to notice how attractive he was, and the more they talked and laughed, the
more she thought to herself how lucky she was to find out a guy like him lived only a floor under her. Well, when they finally got to the 13th floor, he stepped out and she said “See you later!” To her surprise, he pulled out a knife and said “See you upstairs” as he ran toward the stairwell.
The doors closed before she could do anything and she started punching the buttons, willing the elevator to stop. But she was ultimately met with her death on that next floor. Some Koreans are superstitious so much so that if they are in an elevator by themselves, and an attractive gentleman gets in, they will just leave the elevator on whatever floor it’s on… even if they just got in it.
This is in the Urban Legend category, because it was never documented anywhere, however people say that this is a true event. Haruko’s body was found, stabbed to death, in the elevator and that is the reason why every elevator in Korea now has an emergency stop.
The doors closed before she could do anything and she started punching the buttons, willing the elevator to stop. But she was ultimately met with her death on that next floor. Some Koreans are superstitious so much so that if they are in an elevator by themselves, and an attractive gentleman gets in, they will just leave the elevator on whatever floor it’s on… even if they just got in it.
This is in the Urban Legend category, because it was never documented anywhere, however people say that this is a true event. Haruko’s body was found, stabbed to death, in the elevator and that is the reason why every elevator in Korea now has an emergency stop.
“People say that the worst part was not her death itself, but rather the sheer horror she experienced in between those two floors, when she was trapped in the elevator and knew she was going to die.”
Sources:
Slit-Mouthed Woman:
https://youtex.org/brave-tonight-7-korean-urban-legend/
http://stetmag.com/et-cetera/korean-urban-legends
The Mysterious Road:
http://www.passportchop.com/asia/south-korea/mysterious-road-jeju-uphill-gravity/
https://www.tripzilla.com/photo-mysterious-road-jeju-island/13933
Water Ghosts:
http://seoulsync.com/culture/traditional/famous-korean-ghosts
Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital:
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/gonjiam-psychiatric-hospital
http://www.theparanormalguide.com/blog/gonjiam-psychiatric-hospital
https://mysocalledcreativelife.com/2015/05/29/a-creepy-afternoon-alone-in-an-abandoned-hospital-gonjiam-psychiatric-hospital/
Handsome Elevator Man:
http://www.scaryforkids.com/man-in-the-elevator/
https://youtex.org/brave-tonight-7-korean-urban-legend/
http://stetmag.com/et-cetera/korean-urban-legends
The Mysterious Road:
http://www.passportchop.com/asia/south-korea/mysterious-road-jeju-uphill-gravity/
https://www.tripzilla.com/photo-mysterious-road-jeju-island/13933
Water Ghosts:
http://seoulsync.com/culture/traditional/famous-korean-ghosts
Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital:
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/gonjiam-psychiatric-hospital
http://www.theparanormalguide.com/blog/gonjiam-psychiatric-hospital
https://mysocalledcreativelife.com/2015/05/29/a-creepy-afternoon-alone-in-an-abandoned-hospital-gonjiam-psychiatric-hospital/
Handsome Elevator Man:
http://www.scaryforkids.com/man-in-the-elevator/