Hitori Kakurenbo - “Hide and Seek, Alone.” - [Urban Legend | Cursed game]

•About this Cursed Game•

“Hitori Kakurenbo” or “Hide and Seek, Alone.” is a ‘Dangerous’ Cursed Game/Urban Legend - [Circulating the 'net since mid 2006?]

• How to play:

• At 3:00AM: dissect a teddy bear (Any stuffed animal with limbs will do.)
• Replace its stuffing with rice, your own nail clippings and a lock of your hair. (If you’re feeling stupid, use animal-meat/blood.)
• Stitch it back up to how it looked before with red string.
• Give it a name (fluffy, stitches, etc)
• Stab it with a kitchen knife, (anything sharp will do)
• Throw it in a saltwater bath.
• Say “You’re it [name!]” and then hide.
• The game begins! Strange things start to happen, exactly what varies from person to person. Survive til dawn.
  

In short: Its an interesting blend of what seems like Voodoo + various aspects of Japanese Ghost Culture (red string of fate, hour of the ox. among others depending on the story.) It was one of those internet “challenges” for a while, and so there are many stories about it online, there was also a movie based on it. it seems to date back to early internet rather than anything folkloric

Anyway... Dying because of self-induced stuffed animal murder is not a fun way to go & I’d say that playing this (Regardless if it works or not) is an assured way to piss off whatever spirits you might attract. in otherwords its bad luck, you’ll be cursed, please be careful.

Sticker Art by @Samkalensky (yo, thats me!) - Part of my Night parade of 100 Demons - Yokai & Japanese folklore sticker collection, weather resistant 4" sticker. Check my shop & follow @samkalensky for many more!

—oh, and any resemblance to a certain "relaxed bear" is entirely coincidental. hes actually supposed to look like my childhood bear which i called “chocolate milk” hehe. :-)