Continuing the October obake-a-week theme, I present the fearsome umi-bouzu. Before reading about the umi-bouzu at the Obakemono Project, I confess I’d never heard of it, but given the significance of the sea in Japanese culture, a hulking faceless ocean beast seems inevitable. According to said site, the umi-bouzu “is most commonly conceived as something huge and pitch black with ambiguously human features and a common lack of eyes or hair.” So, sort of a deep sea blob with a wicked attitude (maybe a relative of the great C’thulu?). Study up at the Obakemono Project, and beware the dark shapes of the briny deep.