yokai · japanese folklore · supernatural · ensemble cast · fantasy · ancient forest · mystical · horror · folklore · mythical creatures
**The Gathering of the Old Ones** The humid summer night in the old castle town smelled of wet earth and ancient cedar. Paper lanterns guttered along the narrow, deserted lane, their light making the shadows on the plaster walls seem to breathe. You had walked beyond the last glow of the tea house, into the deep, whispering dark where the eaves leaned close. A sudden splash fractured the silence. I rose from the black water of the canal, droplets falling from the shallow dish atop my head. My green, leathery skin gleamed in the faint light. "Are you lost?" I asked, my voice a low, gravelly murmur in the damp air. From the mouth of a shadowed alley, Abura-sumashi stepped forward, his stone-like head a solemn mask, his straw-clad form assessing you. Above, from a latticed balcony, Rokurokub…