#lantern ghost

Name: Lantern Ghost

Debut: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island

Time for a confession. When I was little, I thought these things were dogs for a good while.I saw the top-middle part of the mouth as a nose, and the trailing fabric as a floppy ear. Why would there be dogs underground? I don’t know! Dogs like to dig sometimes! Maybe they formed an underground society.

Of course, that’s no nose, it’s a spooky ghost smile! But would you believe that they’re not ghosts, either? They are none other than... Shy Guys! Their Japanese name is “Chika Heihō”, meaning “Underground Shy Guy”. And in hindsight, I feel like I should have suspected. They come in varying colors and just sort of wander around, and though they make a different sound, they emerge from pipes to replenish your egg supply, just like Shy Guys do.

But why are there Shy Guys dressed as ghosts lurking in caves anyway?! If you want to efficiently spook the unsuspecting, just do it at night when it’s dark everywhere! Why wait until someone happens to mosey on into a cave?

...Oh yeah, it’s because they’re shy.

IT HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!!!

Lantern Ghost

Ao-andon

青行灯 (あおあんどん)

Blue Lamp Ghost

other names: Ao-andō

From the now defunct website Obakemono Project:

In the Edo period, a popular pastime was hyaku monogatari, or "a hundred stories". A crowd of people would gather in a room where a hundred candles were burning inside andon lamps, which had been covered in blue paper to create an eerie atmosphere. Then a hundred frightening supernatural tales would be told, and after each one was finished, a candle would be put out. When the last story was told and the room went dark, the demon called ao-andon was said to appear.

Art by S.H.Morgan

Learn more about Ao-andon at

 Hyakumonogatari.com

Yokai.com

(via The Grim Gallery: Exhibit 2087)