Abura-Sumashi

Ghost story from Amakusa Island, Japan.

Once upon a time there was an old woman who was out walking with her grandson. After a while they arrived at the Kusazumigoe mountain pass and the old woman stopped outside.
"In this mountain pass lives Abura-sumashi, I have heard," she said. "Some say it's dangerous to go through here, but that's just superstition." Then she took her grandson by the hand and entered the passport.
“Who is Abura-sumashi?” wondered the grandson.
"He is a monster who is seen carrying an oil jug and a staff," answered his grandmother. "It is believed that he was once a man who stole oil from oil lamps. His punishment was to wander after death as a nasty creature in the wilderness.”
"What does he look like, then?" asked the grandson.
“Abura-sumashi has a head like a potato. His skin is grey-blue and he covers his body with a cloak of dried grass.”

Soon they had gone through the pass and the grandson breathed his last.
"You see," said the grandmother. “There was no Aburasumashi. It's just the superstition of the country folk.”
"Are you saying that..?" they heard a voice behind them.

When they turned around, Abura-sumashin stood laughing at them so wide his grin nearly split his head in half. Then the grandmother grabbed her grandson and ran straight home as fast as she could.