Friends of That Side: Yamishibai Season 3 Part 3

Behind This is an interesting twist of an episode! -Punched- ow. Anyway, this story kicks off with a class that's staying at an inn during a field trip. Three boys are about to turn in for the night until one of them, a student named Osamu, proposes the idea of heading over to the girls' side. The other two are too tired to do so, much to Osamu's chagrin. They wonder why he's so eager to stay awake for the night, and he reveals it's because of a “scary dream” that he had the night before. After getting a good giggle in, his friends ask why kind of dream was it. His dream kicks off with an entire classroom laughing at the top of their lungs. As he starts to laugh as well, someone comes in behind the class...also laughing. He tries not to look at it and just focus on the class but it grabs his head...and begins to twist.

He wakes up afterward, and though it's just a dream, it creeps out both of his friends. After a few reassurances, they all sleep. One of Osamu's friends wakes up in the middle of the night to pee, though he REALLY doesn't want to after that dream. As he's leaving, he takes a look at Osamu, whom is sleeping peacefully...and his head starts to twitch...then twist around completely...multiple times. As he backed up in horror, he saw more and more of his classmates heads twist and turn...until he was the only one left…

...but not for long…

(Incidentally, the laughing in Osamu's dream reminded me of the “Family Rule” tale WAY back when, where everyone had to keep on laughing...maybe set in the same place?)

The Empress Doll I. Hate. Dolls.

In this story, 4 friends enter a house as a “test of courage”. The house itself is abandoned, but still looks in somewhat good condition. In one room they find a hinamatsuri shrine with various hina dolls. However, one of them is missing: The Empress Doll. They figured that someone must have taken it before as their own “test of courage”, and so they continue exploring the house, with one of their friends, a long-raven-haired woman named Yumi, taking one last nervous look at the room.

The crew find a room with a three-sided mirror. One of the crew, Haruo, dares another, a girl named Nobuko, to look in the mirror. She utterly refuses, stating that one of the reflections is supposed to be the dead one. Haruo calls her out on her fear and goes up to the mirror and opens it up completely. As he complains about the dust, he and Nobuko see the door open in the reflection. They turn, the door's closed. Haruo is spooked, and while Nobuko's teasing him about it, the door in the reflection opens further. They look behind them, and the door's still closed. When they look back into the reflection, they see what looks like a tall, woman in kabuki make-up peek in, the float into the room, leaning over Yumi. Everyone's frozen and fear, but before they have a chance to react, they watch as Yumi is taken by the woman and pulled through the door. The turned to Yumi, whom is shaking for a moment, then slides to the ground, her head tilting slightly, her eyes empty.

The crew decides to say “FUCK IT!” and escape the house, but before they leave, they stop in the entrance of the doll room. They see Yumi there, flung on top of the shrine, as if she's the new empress of the shrine. Make-up adorns her dead face, her eyes staring into nothing. The crew then hears something behind them, and they see the Woman in Kabuki make up…

It's the last thing they will see.

The Fourth Man So, you in the mood for urban legends? Apparently these students are. As they're cleaning up the room, two of the students start talking about the Handshake Men to their teacher. It's told that if you see the Handshake Men by the roadside at night, you must shake their hands when they ask. If you don't, you get turned into meatballs. However, you should never shake the hand of the fourth man. Why? He'll BITE YOUR HAND OFF! Scary as it sounds, one of the girls, Haruko, thinks it's stupid as hell as she finishes cleaning and heads home.

While working on her homework, her sister, Naomi, comes in to say that she left her notebook in class. The two of them walk hand-in-hand back to the school at night, and it is understandably creepy as hell. When Naomi finds her notebook, they begin to leave, only for the janitor to show up soundlessly in front of them. It freaks Haruko out, but nothing more, as he's wondering why they're in the school so late. Naomi tells them why, and they go their separate ways. As they're walking home, they pass by an old drunk, whom is creepy as hell in the shadows, but somewhat disarmingly amusing when they pass by. They hit a fork and are about to decide where to go when Haruko sees someone bowed low to the ground, with his arm forward.

“Shake my hand.”

Naomi is understandably unnerved, but Haruko is freaked the fuck out. When she shakes his hand, the pair run the other way. The meet another, and Haruko shakes his hand. They meet a third, and this one looks like the old man they pass by. Haruko shakes his hand and runs, but in the processes, loses her sister. She looks around and feels someone grab her outstretched hand. She turns, thinking it's her sister...and she sees her sister running towards her.

All that's going through her mind is what happens when you shake the fourth man's hand as the fourth Handshake Man's gaping maw begins to slowly open…

The reveal may not that terrifying, but the BUILD UP TO IT is intense. And more of those faces keep showing.

Check each story through the links below!