The Creeps! || Book of Spooky Stories (COMPLETED ✔️)

40 ~ Bake-Neko

A Bake-Neko, or Demon Cat, is a creature often found in Japanese folklore. It is an ordinary cat that was transformed into a yōkai, a class for Japanese demons, ghost, and other supernaturals. It is said when a cat begins reaching old in age, they start developing powers and becomes a Bake-Neko. As their powers increase, so does its size. They will eventually get to be as big as full grown human.

Bake-Neko means "Monster Cat," or "Transforming Cat". This is because of the superstition that Bake-Nekos can shape-shift into the form of a human. It is also said that they are able to walk on two legs, and have long arms that can reach through doorways.

Bake-Nekos can also take the identities of specific humans. How, you may ask? By devouring the human and then taking their form. The Bake-Neko is then able to talk and take on other characteristics of their victim. This leads many people to believe that we are living among them– that some of our closest friends are actually Monster Cats.

There's also a belief that we own a few Bake-Nekos ourselves, since they look like normal housecats. This can put the owner in great danger, given the fact their cat can eat them then take their identity. Part of me honestly suspects my cat of being a Bake-Neko. There's no way she's naturally as idiotic as she is. It must all a ploy...

It is not said that all cats can turn into a Bake-Neko. Only certain cats. Many of these cats get their powers from a curse or magic, but a natural Bake-Neko is said to be over 13 years old, weighing over 8 pounds, and licking up large quantities of lamp oil. The lamp oil is because people back then used to believe if a cat was a Bake-Neko if it licked lamp oil from an oriental lamp. However, the cats were most likely attracted to the fish or sardine oil, an decided to try it every now and then.

There is a quite famous story about a Bake-Neko titled, "The Devil Cat of Nabeshima". It goes like this:

One night, a prince as walking the palace gardens with his favorite geisha, a beautiful girl named O Toyo. They chatted the time away, and admired the blooming flowers around them. Little did the couple know that there was a shadowy creature watching them, lurking in the dark. That creature was a Bake-Neko, and it had been stalking them with crafty eyes.

When the prince and giesha parted, the prince walked to his bedroom while the geisha walked to her apartment. The Bake-Neko followed the geisha home, and waited until she was asleep.

As soon as she drifted into a deep sleep, the cat slipped into her room and pounced on her. It strangled the poor girl to death and dragged her body to the palace gardens. Afterwards, it buried the geisha under the flower bed, in a shallow grave.

After shoveling the final pile of dirt onto the grave, the cat shifted into the geisha. Remembering how the O Toyo talked to the prince when it spied on them, it mimicked her speech to fool everyone, including the prince himself. It would act just like her and even went on walks with the prince. However, when it was nighttime, the Bake-Neko would sneak into the prince's room and drink his blood.

Soon enough, the prince began complaining about horrible dreams he had been having. He then developed a mysterious illness, becoming weaker and paler each day. The doctors were shocked, and had no clue what was wrong with him. Suspicious about the cause of this, guards were ordered to stay in the prince's room while he slept.

At first, the guards would start feeling extremely drowsy and would fall asleep just before the culprit slipped in. However, a young soldier heard of the strange events and offered to become a guard. He was determined to solve the mystery and stay up for the entire night.

As midnight approached, each guard around him fell asleep, and he started to nod off as well. Desperate to solve the case, the guard took out his dagger and stabbed himself in the thigh to keep awake. Whenever he felt drowsy, he would twist the dagger, increasing his pain so he would not fall asleep.

Finally, the solder saw something odd. The sliding doors of the prince's room opened, and the cat beautifully disguised as the geisha quietly crept inside. Before it could reach the prince's bedside, however, it noticed the guard standing in the room, holding a knife. The geisha quickly left and closed the doors behind it.

For the next three nights, the dutiful soldier watched the prince and stabbed himself every night to stay awake. The prince's health got much better over the days. But whenever the soldier told him about the geisha, the prince refused to believe she was the culprit. He told the soldier he would never question the loyalty of his wonderful girlfriend. Fed up with the prince's denial, the soldier made plans to get rid of the geisha himself.

That very night, the soldier knocked on the door of the geisha's apartment. He told the geisha he had a message from the prince, and that it was extremely urgent. As soon as the geisha opened the door, however, the soldier quickly drew out his knife and tried to stab it. The geisha dodge his attack and transformed back into a monstrous Bake-Neko. From there, the monster pounced on the soldier, hissing with fury and rage.

Fortunately, the soldier was able to defend himself and escaped into the mountains nearby. The next day, he told the prince about the account, and the prince was bewildered. Before he could say anything, the palace gardener entered the room, and gave the horrible news; he found the body of the real O Toyo under the flower beds. Grief-stricken, the prince ordered every guard to search for the Bake-Neko that had killed his beloved. After a few days went by, it was finally killed by the soldier that originally discovered its evil secret.