Here's an ancient precursor to the finale of
Michael Jackson's "Thriller," in which the protagonist turns around to scare the audience a second time by revealing yellow eyes. The Japanese yokai demon Shunoban (or Zhu-no-Bon,
しゅのばん) scares people twice. The first time he simply reveals his bright-red monster face and horn to startle his victims and cause them to flee. He gives chase, then disguises himself as someone providing assistance. Having lulled his target into a false sense of security, with his back turned, he goes back to his monster face and frightens the person a second time by looking over his shoulder. (Haunted by the fear of seeing that face once again, victims ultimately die of fright 100 days later.) These events occur in the same order in the short film "Thriller," with Michael Jackson's character turning into a monster, giving chase, disguising himself as a rescuer, and then, after turning his back, looking over his shoulder to display demonic eyes. The yokai card in our illustration is from the very charming
Obake No Karuta deck, available via Amazon Japan. We're translating the Japanese texts that come with each card — e-mail us if you'd like those translations. (Our e-mail address is at our
"About the Author" link.)