I can't claim total ownership of this tale, as it is a retelling. My gf, Chie, who is Japanese, told me a very old ghost story once that I actually quite like, and this is essentially my retelling of it. I'll come up with something 'new' tomorrow, I just felt like sharing and keeping this thread fresh

The 'notes' section is mostly for those interested in cultural facts, etc. They aren't crucial to understanding the story.
CULTURAL/TRANSLATIONAL NOTES:
*Literal reading, 'noppera-bo koi tsuribori.' There is no literal translation for Noppera-bo (It's simply the name given to the kind of ghost), however, koi is a kind of carp, and tsuribori means 'fishpond'.
**Heian-Kyo is the city now known as 'Kyoto', or 'Old prefecture'.
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のっぺら坊,鯉釣り堀*(Noppera-bo of the koi pond) As collected from Japanese folklore and retold by Kadath Bird and Chie Sakaguchi
There once was a stubborn fisherman by the name of Yowamushi. Many found his name ironic, as it meant 'coward'. One day, he told his wife, Yuki, that he would go fishing in the imperial koi pond by the Heian-kyo** palace. "No, you mustn't! The pond is sacred ground, it would be a sin. Not only that, it is near a graveyard. You must not disturb the dead!" was his wifes response. But stubborn as always, Yowamushi packed his gear and set out. On his way, he was intercepted by a fellow fisherman, his face was pale and grave. "You must not disturb the peace of the dead! You cannot fish in the pond by Heian-Kyo!" but stubborn as always, Yowamushi ignored him. When he arrived at the pond, he was greeted by a beautiful young woman. When the woman learned of his intentions, tears filled her eyes and she knelt before Yowamushi, and pleaded that he not fish in the pond. He scoffed her, and pulled out his rod. But to his horror, she stood back up, and put her hands over her face, and wiped it clean away. Yowamushi, true to his name, ran off back to his wife. She was angered at him for going to the pond, and chastised him for his sins, but not once did he actually look at her, and when he finally did, she put her hands to her face, and wiped it clean off.[/blockquote]
FINAL NOTE: There is another tale of the noppera-bo, however, in that tale it is actually a different kind of spirit, known as a Mujin, pulling a prank on some passing samurai. He disguises himself as a lovely courtesan on the road and as they pass to talk to her, it reveals that it has no face, ultimately scaring them. In the Studio Ghibli (Responsible for such films as Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, and Grave of the fireflies) film 'Pom-Poko' they have the same thing, except the spirit is actually a Tanuki, a racoon like creature, and instead of scaring samurai, they are scaring foreman who are trying to tear down their forest.
EDIT Jan 29th: Here is Tuesday's new story. It is somewhat based in truth, actually, as I cannot wake up at any other time than 3:00 am. It is
always 3:00 am, on the dot. I also, once again, love tales of insanity. I've never killed anything, but sometimes I do wander around aimlessly searching for 'something' to entertain myself with, as I usually wake up with a pounding headache that a computer can't help.
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3:00 By Kadath 'Croutons' Bird
I don't need an alarm clock anymore.
Every morning, every goddamn morning I wake up at 3:00. 3:00, right on the dot. No more, no less. The idea of going back to sleep? Hah. My body won't let me. If I try to, I get sick to my stomach, and am forced to jump right back up again and rush towards the bathroom. So what do I do at 3:00 in the morning? I wander. I wander aimlessly around my home, searching for something. I didn't find it in my basement, nooo. I didn't find it in the somewhat-of-butnotquite-an-attic, noooo. I didn't find it in my cat, who now lies in awkward chunks on the floor. Once dawn broke, I was able to nap peacefully.
3:00 am that next day, I went searching, searching for
it again. I brought along a drill, and went outside. I started off small, picking through peoples filthy garbage. I didn't find it. I noticed one of the neighbours hadn't pulled their cans to the curb quite yet, lazy, lazy, lazy. I walked into their drive way, and went through their cans, when their dog started barking at me. I told it to be quite, I told it with my drill. And while I was there, I searched it as well. Nothing was found, nothing of use. I then noticed a light, a light in their house, the dog had alerted it's owner, and he was on his way out. I found a spade, encrusted with dirt, held it hard, just like a bat, and waited for him to come stepping out. And as he did, he came to the yard, and as he looked over his poor dog I slammed him on the head. You can guess what came next. Humans are much larger than dogs or cats, and this man was big, 3 times my size, I could've lived in him if I wanted, but what I was looking for was not inside, and I shambled home, as the sun begun to rise.
I sat in my arm chair, all riddled with glee, watching the news, recounting my acts in the night, they called me a 'murderer' hah! Wait till they find out, it was not murder, just a simple search on my part. They will be quite surprised, I might think. And as I sat there, grinning in glee, my cat came up and rubbed his head all over me. I smiled in relief, "Oh good, your back." and pet my cat, and then laughed and laughed.
3:00 am the next morning there was someone in my house. He stood at the foot of my bed, holding a dog on a leash. I recognized him as my neighbour, tall and wide, I laughed and giggled, as blood poured down the neck I had severed. "How did you reattach that, my good chum? It doesn't matter, I'm glad you're all better!" he was not laughing, in fact he frowned even worse. I stood up from my bed, and picked up his head. "Oh dear, it looks like it's still loose. But here's something we can all do with." I turned it upside down, and put it back on "There, we turned that frown right upside down!" But he still did not seem amused. He straightened his head, and grabbed my own and pulled it close to his lips. His teeth were sharp, and harsh, as he began to pull away the skin and flesh, and devour my brains. "So you've become a zombie, eh? I'm pretty sure the church doesn't look kindly on voodoo..." I said, but he didn't listen, he kept eating my head. Eventually pain surged through my body, and as I lost control of my limbs it convulsed and twitched, and soon he dropped me on the floor, where the dog ate the rest of me.
The next morning, at 3:00 am, the police were here, they looked over my body. I still thought, but I couldn't speak or move. They saw the drill in my hand, and somehow concluded, that I had ripped my own stomach open and devoured my own brains. Stupid cops, I wish I could move, I would search inside them, they have what I want, ignorance. Ignorance is bliss.
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