Wednesday 12 May 2004

The Red Mask

I first heard this over the weekend, vaguely, from some friends, but yesterday it arrived in full force in my school. This is: The Legend Of The "Red Mask".

I'm not sure exactly how long this story has been in circulation, but it was the focus of much excited talk and much fear. One boy, usually a very rough and ready 9 year old called Michael, was silent and trembling for the whole lesson yesterday, and every time a kid even mentioned the word "ghost" he started to whimper with fright. Most kids weren't quite as petrified as he, but nerves were still jangling.

The Red Mask is apparently a ghost, or some other such entity, of a Japanese women with failed cosmetic surgery. This led her mouth to be grossly widened into a huge red smile. Now, she preys on children and if they see her then it's certain death, or maybe just getting their mouth cut open into a huge wide red bloody grin. Details are all a little sketchy. It's something to do with being asked if you're beautiful. If you say yes, then she'll kill you, and if no, then she'll cut your face open. Or maybe vice versa.

I've been searching for some pictures of this Red Mask lady, so that I can dress up as her and terrify my young kids, but so far haven't found anything.

The only way to ward off this terrible demon is to wear the Chinese symbol for "dog" on your hand, because she's apparently scared of dogs. Thus, most of kids had some badly drawn Chinese symbol on their hands yesterday, and probably today too.

I remember back home at my primary school in Dingwall, there was the legend of "The Green Lady". The tale is vague indeed, and hundreds of different versions abounded, but it was something to do with a lady who'd lost her child at the nearby Tulloch Castle, and this correlated with a splodge of green paint on our school wall.

There was also "Poof's Corner", which wasn't actually a corner, rather an alcove. But I don't think there was anything supernatural about that.

No comments: