Scary: The slit mouth woman of Japan, who mutilates others too

Tokyo: Rumours of alleged sightings of a slit mouth woman in Japan began spreading in 1979 around the Nagasaki Prefecture, it spread throughout Japan and caused panic in many towns.Locals call this slit mouth woman as Kucki Sake Onna. Police patrols were increased in some places, and some schools began sending children home in groups escorted by teachers after the rumors of her sighting.Stories say that a Japanese woman with a surgical mask covering the lower half of her face appeared to people at night. She would ask the traveler if they thought she was beautiful (“Watashi kirei?”). If they answered in the negative, she would immediately kill them with a long pair of scissors.Due to her unearthly beauty, the victim would usually say yes. The woman would then rip off her mask, revealing the horrible, gaping wounds marring her face. “How about now,” she would ask the horrified traveler.Saying no resulted in death by scissors, as you would expect. However, the terrified victim would hardly want to offend this nightmarish creature, and most would assure her of her beauty. But it would not save them. The Kuchisake Onna would slit their mouth from ear to ear, making them look just like her.The only way to be saved was to answer the second question with “so-so” or “average”. This would confuse the Kuchisake Onna, giving the victim time to escape while she was lost in thought. Trying to run without this distraction was pointless – the spirit would simply reappear in front of them.Legends say, children were the main target of this woman.According to legend, she was a married woman and was very beautiful.She had an extra marital affair, when her husband came to know about her affair he became enraged, grabbed a pair of scissors, and mutilated his wife. After slitting his wife's mouth from ear to ear, the husband asked “Who will find you beautiful now?” since then she roams in Japan wearing a surgical mask over her face to hide her horrific visage. The legend of Kuchisake Onna has survived to the the 21st century, with many variations popping up in Japan and other countries. For example, in South Korea she appears with a blood red face mask. In 2007, a coroner found records about a woman with a torn mouth chasing children. She was hit by a car and killed during one such chase.