Hey guys, I'm your host Tara A. Devlin, and welcome to this week's episode of Kowabana,

true Japanese scary stories from around the internet.

My latest book, Koabana Volume 13, is now out. Collecting

even more of your favorite stories from the show, you can find terrifying ghosts, cruel

curses, haunted buildings, weird monsters, and much, much more. You can find that on Amazon

right now and help support the show at the same time.

This week, we're looking at some life-changing and potentially deadly encounters with the other side.

First up, two friends visit a local shrine for a test of courage,

but uncover something that perhaps should have remained unknown.

Find out why in Rear a Shrine. This story is about a strange test of courage I experienced with my younger brother at a shrine

early one morning.

As usual, I'm not the best at riding, but I'll be glad if you stick with me till the end.

I believe I was in my final year of junior high at the time.

I was watching a ghost special on TV with my younger brother, so it was right in the middle

of summer, you know, when those

specials tend to air. Spirits tend to gather in places where there used to be wells in the past,

the guest spirit medium said. Of course, I thought they were no doubt a fake, but my younger

brother bought right into it. Hey, why? He was only one year younger than me, so he addressed me simply by my name.

That's pretty interesting, don't you think?

Huh? I replied.

There's a shrine called A near the school, right?

And behind that is another shrine they call Ria A.

...