The Ghost Story Parlour Game

During the Edo period, people played a chilling game called Hyakumonogatari where they told one hundred ghost stories by candlelight. They believed that finishing the final tale would summon a supernatural spirit to appear in the room.

Participants would gather in a dark room with one hundred lanterns lit around a blue paper lamp. After each story, they extinguished one flame, gradually plunging the group into total darkness. The ritual ended before the last candle went out to prevent an actual haunting. It transformed simple storytelling into a terrifying test of nerve and superstition.