Monster Scholar

I’m on a serious J- Horror trip, so for this month’s monsters I’ve chosen Kayako and Toshio from the Ju-On films and the Grudge series of American remakes. This mother and son team of spirits haunts the house where they were murdered and cause the disappearance or death of anyone who enters the abode. Though the particulars of Kayako and Toshio’s deaths change from film to film, the foundation of their narrative is essentially the same. Kayako falls in love with another man and writes about her romantic obsession with him in her diary. Upon discovering this diary, her husband Takeo flies into a fury. He murders his wife, stowing her body away in the attic and drowns his son Toshio along with the child’s cat, Mar. Takeo dies after committing these horrible acts and his death is often ruled a suicide. As far as the curse goes, from then on anyone entering their house is doomed to fall victim to the powerful grudge born of Kayako and Toshio’s vengeful rage. Kayako is easily distinguishe...