People believed that on this night, the boundary between the living and the dead became blurred, allowing spirits to return to the world of the living. Disguising themselves as ghosts or supernatural creatures was one way people tried to protect themselves from wandering spirits.

Over time, Halloween evolved into the celebration we know today, complete with costumes, jack-o’-lanterns, and the famous phrase, “Trick or treat!”

Speaking of costumes, I’ve always wanted to try realistic zombie makeup, put on a terrifying costume, and wander through the streets looking like I’ve just stepped out of a horror movie.

Of course, I have absolutely no interest in getting drunk, causing trouble, or leaving garbage everywhere. Having fun is great, but not at the expense of other people.

I just want to enjoy Halloween as a convincing zombie!

Unfortunately, there’s one little problem.

I live in the middle of nowhere in rural Japan, where most of my neighbors are elderly.

If I walked around my neighborhood dressed as a realistic zombie, someone would probably call the police to report that a dead body had come back to life! 😂

Instead of hearing “Trick or treat!” my neighbors might be shouting, “HELP! CALL THE POLICE!” 🚓

So, for now, I have to settle for using a smartphone camera app that transforms my face into a zombie.

Not quite the same as a professional Halloween makeover, but at least it’s free, harmless, and unlikely to cause a neighborhood emergency!

Maybe someday I’ll get the chance to join a proper Halloween costume event.

Until then, I’ll remain a perfectly ordinary country gentleman by day… and a digital zombie by night! 🧟‍♂️📱

Happy Halloween, everyone! 🎃👻

October 7 is known as “Mystery Day” in Japan.

The date is associated with Edgar Allan Poe, the American writer famous for his mystery and detective fiction, who died on October 7, 1849.

Poe’s 1841 short story The Murders in the Rue Morgue is often regarded as the world’s first modern detective story. It also introduced C. Auguste Dupin, who is considered one of the very first fictional detectives in literary history.

When it comes to mystery writers, one of my favorites is Yoshiki Shibata.

And among her many characters, my absolute favorite is Ren Yamauchi.

What makes him especially fascinating to me is that he appears across four different series:

Seinaru Kuroyoru
the RIKO series
the Ryutaro Aso series
and the Shinichiro Hanasaki series.

Of course, I’ve read them all—and not just once. I’ve gone back and reread them again and again.

There is something special about a character who keeps appearing across different stories and series. Every time he shows up, it feels a little like meeting an old acquaintance again.

Incidentally, “Mystery Day” seems to be a uniquely Japanese observance. As far as I know, there is no equivalent commemorative day in the United States, even though Edgar Allan Poe himself was American.

So perhaps October 7 is a good excuse for mystery fans everywhere to pick up an old favorite, revisit a beloved character, and lose themselves in a mystery once again.

It’s basically a Japanese-style mochi sweet inspired by the popular “Dubai chocolate,” combining pistachio cream and crispy kadaif with soft, chewy mochi.

I really wanted to try one, but living in the countryside, I figured there was no way I’d ever find it locally.

So I had completely given up.

But then…

I found it! At my local supermarket!

There were only three left on the shelf, so naturally, I put all three into my basket.

Sorry to anyone else who wanted one! 😅

The combination was fantastic: the crunchy texture of the kadaif, the rich and nutty flavor of pistachios, and the soft, chewy mochi on the outside.

Crunchy, creamy, nutty, and chewy—all at once.

I think I might be hooked.

Now I understand why Dubai chocolate has become such a craze!

I’ve just published a new Kindle book.

Why Are America’s Supernatural Mysteries So Hard to Explain?
Demons, Witches, and Haunted Houses: Exploring American Fear Through Movies and Travel

by usaruth

This is the third book in my series exploring supernatural stories through history, culture, folklore, and travel.

And this time, the destination is America.

Japanese Ghosts and American Horror Feel Different

I’ve always felt that Japanese ghost stories and American horror have very different kinds of fear.

In traditional Japanese ghost stories, there is often a reason why the dead return.

Grief.
Resentment.
Betrayal.
Unfinished business.
Revenge.

The supernatural often begins with something deeply human.

But when I watch American horror movies, I sometimes feel something different.

Demons.

Witches.

Possessed people.

Haunted houses.

Cursed places.

And sometimes, simply something that cannot be explained.

Movies such as The Omen, The Exorcist, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, The Shining, Friday the 13th, and The Sixth Sense made me wonder:

What exactly are Americans afraid of?

That simple question became the starting point for this book.

The Night I Heard Knocking in New York

I don’t consider myself psychic, and despite traveling around the United States many times, I’ve rarely experienced anything truly frightening.

But there was one strange night in New York.

I was staying in a hotel when I began hearing what sounded like someone knocking or banging on the other side of the wall.

Again and again.

My first thought was simple:

The person in the next room is being noisy.

I considered complaining to the front desk.

Then I thought, “What if the person next door is strange or aggressive?”

So I decided not to say anything.

I spent the night ignoring the sound and checked out the next morning.

Only later did something occur to me.

Wait a minute.

Wasn’t my room a corner room?

If I remembered correctly, there shouldn’t have been another guest room on the side where I had heard the knocking.

So what was making that sound?

Plumbing?

Air conditioning?

Noise traveling through the structure?

A mistake in my memory?

Or something else?

I still don’t know.

And perhaps that uncertainty is exactly what makes the memory interesting.

From the Salem Witch Trials to Haunted Houses

In this book, I explore the historical and cultural background behind American supernatural fears.

Why did fear of witches become so powerful?

How did Christianity shape images of demons and evil?

Why do old houses and hotels so often become the settings for American ghost stories?

What do horror movies tell us about the fears of the society that created them?

I also look beyond the continental United States.

Hawaii and Guam have their own histories, beliefs, traditions, and relationships with ancestors and the supernatural.

The deeper I looked, the clearer one thing became:

There is no single “American supernatural tradition.”

America contains many histories layered on top of one another.

And those layers create very different kinds of ghosts.

America as I Experienced It

This book is also partly a travel memoir.

I’ve visited New York twice, Los Angeles five times, and San Francisco once, as well as Hawaii five times and Guam four times.

On my first trip to New York, I traveled alone.

At a time when people often warned that the New York subway was dangerous, I took the subway and ferry by myself to see the Statue of Liberty.

Later, I met two men in New York—an Italian-American guide and his Japanese partner.

I was around 28 years old.

They were 38 and 48.

Twenty-eight, thirty-eight, forty-eight.

Exactly ten years apart.

They joked that our meeting must have been destiny.

That friendship eventually led to an unforgettable road trip.

The three of us rented a car and traveled from San Francisco to Santa Monica and onward toward the Mexican border.

Three men on an American road trip.

It sounds like the beginning of a horror movie.

Fortunately, nothing supernatural happened.

Most of my memories of America are not frightening at all.

They are fun, warm, and sometimes wonderfully unexpected.

And that is important to this book.

I didn’t want to portray America simply as a frightening place.

I wanted to understand why frightening stories emerge from particular places and cultures.

Maybe “Unexplained” Is Not a Failure

This book does not try to prove whether ghosts, demons, or supernatural phenomena exist.

Instead, it asks different questions.

Why was this story created?

Why is it associated with this particular place?

Why has it survived?

And why do people find it frightening?

When we look beyond the question of whether a supernatural story is “true” or “false,” we begin to see something else.

History.

Religion.

Culture.

Movies.

Social anxiety.

Memory.

And the people who have lived in those places.

Perhaps America’s supernatural mysteries are not impossible to explain.

Perhaps the problem is that one explanation is never enough.

And maybe some mysteries don’t need a final answer.

I still don’t know what was knocking on that hotel wall in New York.

I think I’m okay with that.

Sometimes, the most interesting part of a mystery is simply being able to say:

“I don’t know.”

New Kindle Release

Why Are America’s Supernatural Mysteries So Hard to Explain?
Demons, Witches, and Haunted Houses: Exploring American Fear Through Movies and Travel

by usaruth

For readers interested in American culture, horror movies, supernatural folklore, history, travel, haunted places, and unexplained stories.

Come with me on a journey through another side of America—

the America that cannot be explained with just one answer.

Recently, I noticed something fascinating when I looked at my family’s birthdays.

• My mother: January 15

• Me: August 15

• My younger brother: July 15

We’re all members of what I jokingly call the “15th Club.”

Then there’s another pattern:

• My stepfather: July 22

• My younger half-brother (my mother and stepfather’s son): February 22

They’re the “22nd Club.”

And my half-brother’s children, born just one year apart, add yet another coincidence:

• My nephew: February 8

• My niece: September 8

That makes them the “8th Club.”

Of course, it’s probably just a coincidence. Still, seeing these dates lined up like this makes me wonder if our lives are connected in ways we don’t always notice.

I haven’t seen my biological father since my parents divorced, and I don’t even remember his birthday. Even so, looking at the birthdays of the family around me fills me with gratitude for the relationships I have today.

Does your family have patterns like this?

Maybe several people share the same birthday, or many birthdays fall in the same month, or perhaps the same numbers keep appearing throughout your family tree.

Sometimes, even ordinary numbers can tell an extraordinary story.

As for me, I’ll continue wishing for peace and cherishing every connection that life brings.