【Japanese Horror】The Hundred Horror Tales — Episode 38: It Called Him Gently | Haunted Kaidan Tales
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Episode 38 – “It Called Him Gently| Haunted Kaidan Tales” (Full Text)
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Episode 38 It Called Him Gently
The candle flame flickered softly.
After the last story,
a heavy silence lingered in the room.
Shūji let out a quiet breath.
“…What the hell was that?”
“A world shifting… seriously?”
Miwa gave a small, uneasy laugh.
“Shū-chan, your face is stiff.”
“I mean, that’s not something you laugh off.”
Shūji shrugged.
“If something like that really happened…
how do we even know we’re the real ones sitting here?”
Aoi stared at the candle flame.
“Hey…”
“If things shifted like that…”
“Could you go back?”
Sōma answered quietly.
“Who knows.”
“If we’re talking in theory, it might be possible.”
“But…”
He paused for a moment.
“There’s no guarantee you’d return to the exact same place.”
Aoi frowned slightly.
“…I don’t like that.”
Miwa rubbed her arms.
“Seriously…
stories like that just make it feel colder somehow.”
At that moment, Seikichi let out a small chuckle.
“If it’s stories that make you cold…”
He gently placed his teacup down.
“There have always been such things in the mountains.”
Shūji looked up.
“In the mountains?”
Seikichi nodded slowly.
“This is a story…”
“…I heard from an old friend of mine.”
The candle flame wavered slightly.
“His name was Masa.”
“This happened when we were young.”
Seikichi continued quietly.
“There was a mountain behind the village…”
“…one that had been called this for generations.”
He lowered his voice slightly.
“A mountain where you must never call a person’s name.”
Aoi leaned forward.
“A name?”
“That’s right.”
Seikichi nodded.
“If you call someone’s name in that mountain…”
“the mountain god will remember it.”
“And once it does…”
“…it takes an interest in that person.”
Shūji frowned.
“You seriously believe that kind of thing?”
Seikichi shrugged.
“It’s an old story.”
“Believe it or not… that’s up to you.”
“Masa didn’t believe it either. Not at first.”
That day,
Masa went into the mountain with a man named Genzō.
It was an old mountain path that led to the neighboring village.
Not like the roads today.
Just a narrow trail people had used for generations.
Before they left,
an old man in the village joked to them.
“In that mountain…”
“Don’t call each other by name.”
Masa laughed.
“Yeah right.”
“I’m not doing that.”
Genzō laughed too.
“Even if you fall, don’t call me.”
“I won’t come help you.”
They joked like that
as they started climbing the mountain path.
Even during the day,
the mountain was dim.
The trees grew thick overhead,
blocking most of the sky.
When the wind blew,
all you could hear was the rustling of leaves.
And besides that—
only the sound of footsteps
crunching on fallen leaves.
After walking for a while…
just before reaching the ridge—
it happened.
Genzō slipped.
The moment he stepped on a wet stone,
his footing gave way.
His body tilted—
and he slid down the slope.
Without thinking,
Masa shouted:
“Genzō!!”
His voice echoed through the mountain.
A moment later,
a voice came back from below.
“I’m okay!”
It was Genzō.
He didn’t seem hurt.
Masa let out a breath of relief
and looked down the slope.
And then—
he felt something strange.
In that voice—
it felt like something else
had been mixed in.
Just for a moment.
As if someone else…
had answered at the same time.
That’s what he thought.
After a while,
Genzō climbed back up the slope on his own.
His clothes were covered in dirt,
but he didn’t seem injured.
Masa let out a breath and laughed.
“I thought you were done for.”
Genzō brushed the dirt off his shoulder.
“Yeah… that scared me too.”
After that,
the two of them started walking along the mountain path again.
What had just happened
quickly turned into a joke.
Genzō said,
“Guess the mountain god heard that.”
“Maybe it already remembers my name.”
Masa snorted.
“Yeah right. As if.”
They continued climbing,
talking like nothing had happened.
The mountain was quiet.
Even in the daytime,
the trees were so thick
you could barely see the sky.
When the wind blew,
all you could hear
was the rustling of leaves.
And besides that—
only the sound of footsteps
crunching on fallen leaves.
After walking for a while,
Genzō suddenly spoke.
“Hey…”
Masa turned back.
“What?”
Genzō tilted his head slightly.
“Back there…”
“You called my name, right?”
“Yeah.”
Masa nodded.
“Of course I did.”
“You were falling.”
Genzō fell silent for a moment, then said:
“…After that…”
“Didn’t you hear something?”
Masa frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“A voice.”
Genzō said quietly.
“After you called me…”
“I answered, right?”
Masa nodded.
“Yeah. You said you were okay.”
“…After that.”
Genzō gave a small, uneasy smile.
“I thought…”
“I heard someone answer again.”
Masa immediately shook his head.
“That’s just your imagination.”
“It’s a mountain.”
“Voices echo all the time.”
Genzō laughed a little.
“Yeah… maybe.”
“Probably just my imagination.”
And that was the end of it.
The two of them continued on
and eventually crossed the ridge.
Once they passed through the mountain,
the sky suddenly opened up.
The trees thinned out,
and the view became clear.
At that moment,
Masa felt something strange—
that uneasy feeling in his chest
just… disappeared.
As if something had been cut off
the moment they left the mountain.
That day,
they finished their business
in the neighboring village.
By evening,
they took the same mountain path back home.
Nothing happened on the way back.
No voices.
No presence.
Genzō was completely normal.
So Masa began to forget
that strange feeling from earlier.
But then—
It started the next day.
The next day.
When Masa woke up and stepped outside,
Genzō was already standing in front of his house.
The moment he saw him, Genzō spoke.
“Hey…”
“Did you call my name last night?”
Masa shook his head.
“No.”
“Why would I?”
Genzō looked slightly troubled.
“Last night…”
“I was about to sleep, and I heard it.”
“From outside.”
“Someone calling my name.”
Masa laughed.
“It was probably someone else.”
“No, it wasn’t.”
Genzō shook his head.
“It was my name.”
“And…”
He hesitated for a moment, choosing his words.
“It didn’t sound scary.”
“It was… really gentle.”
“I don’t know how to explain it…”
“But when I heard it… it felt comforting.”
Masa frowned.
“That was just a dream.”
Genzō gave a small laugh.
“Yeah, I thought so too.”
“But I heard it more than once.”
Masa didn’t think much of it.
They had just come back from the mountain.
It wasn’t strange to have odd dreams
after something like that.
That’s all he thought.
But then—
that evening,
Genzō brought it up again.
“I heard it again.”
Masa turned toward him.
“What?”
Genzō looked oddly calm.
“Just now…”
“I was walking along the back road…”
“And I heard it again.”
Masa frowned.
“Who was it?”
Genzō paused for a moment.
“…I don’t know.”
“I can hear the voice…”
“But I don’t know whose voice it is.”
Still, he continued.
“It doesn’t feel bad.”
“If anything…”
“When it calls me… I feel at ease.”
Hearing that,
Masa felt something strange.
If the voice had been frightening,
it would have made sense.
But a voice that brought comfort—
that was far more unsettling.
Masa said,
“You should ask the village head or something.”
Genzō laughed.
“You’re overthinking it.”
“We just walked a mountain.”
“Probably just a weird dream.”
Masa didn’t press it any further.
But that night—
something strange happened.
It came from Genzō’s house.
Apparently,
in the middle of the night,
Genzō tried to go outside.
His family noticed and stopped him.
“Where are you going?”
When they asked,
Genzō replied—
“I was called.”
His family panicked
and tried to hold him back.
“By who?”
Even when they asked,
Genzō couldn’t give a clear answer.
He only said—
“From outside…”
“Someone called my name.”
When the village head heard that,
his expression changed.
“You went into the mountain, didn’t you?”
Masa nodded.
“I did.”
The village head remained silent for a moment,
then asked:
“Did you call his name?”
At that moment,
Masa remembered
the warning about the mountain.
And then he answered.
“…I did.”
When Genzō slipped,
he had shouted without thinking.
The village head spoke quietly.
“In that case…”
“The mountain has remembered him.”
When he heard those words—
for the first time,
Masa felt a chill run down his spine.
The village head remained silent for a while.
Then, slowly, he spoke.
“At this rate…”
“He’ll be taken.”
Masa frowned.
“Taken…?”
The village head gave a small nod.
“The mountain…”
“Once it remembers a name, it doesn’t let go.”
“It keeps calling… again and again…”
“And when you answer—”
“That’s when it takes you.”
A cold chill ran down Masa’s spine.
The village head immediately sent someone
to fetch a priest from the temple.
After hearing the story,
the priest spoke quietly.
“Things of the mountain are powerful.”
“I cannot say for certain if I can stop it.”
“But… I will do what I can.”
With that,
Genzō was moved to a small detached room.
On the tatami floor,
protective talismans were placed.
Papers were set up in all four directions,
forming a barrier.
Then,
a small human-shaped paper doll
was placed in front of Genzō.
The priest said:
“No matter what you hear…”
“Do not answer.”
“Endure until morning—
and you may still be saved.”
Genzō let out a small, uneasy laugh.
“You’re making it sound bigger than it is.”
“It’s just a voice.”
The priest shook his head.
“That is exactly why it is dangerous.”
“When you are called…”
“And when you answer—”
“That is when the path opens.”
With that,
the priest quietly closed the door.
That night,
Genzō was left alone
inside the detached room.
Late into the night…
At first,
it was only a faint voice.
From outside the detached room,
someone was calling.
“…Genzō.”
A quiet voice.
Yet, unmistakably,
it was calling his name.
At first, Genzō stayed silent.
Just as the priest had told him—
he did not answer.
The voice came again.
“Genzō…”
“Genzō…”
It was a gentle voice.
Not frightening.
If anything…
it was comforting.
Still, Genzō clenched his teeth
and endured it.
But then—
as the night grew deeper,
the voice began to change.
It was no longer something
he heard from outside.
It became—
something that echoed
directly inside his head.
“Genzō…”
“Genzō…”
When the voice rang out,
stronger than ever—
Genzō, without thinking,
answered.
“I’m here.”
And in that instant—
—THUD.
A loud sound echoed
from inside the room.
Those in the main house
rushed to the detached room.
The door was still shut.
The talismans remained intact.
But—
Genzō was gone.
No sign of escape.
No trace of him leaving.
Only—
the paper doll
placed on the tatami—
was torn apart
into fine, shredded pieces.
That was all.
…
Seikichi paused there.
The candle flame
flickered quietly.
“Masa…”
“He left the village not long after that.”
“They say he grew afraid
of going near the mountain.”
Seikichi gazed into the flame
as he spoke softly.
“The village head said this…”
“Things of the mountain…”
“once they take a liking to something—
they don’t let go.”
After a brief pause, he continued.
“That is why, even now…”
“In that mountain…”
“you must never call a person’s name.”
The candle flame swayed gently.
“If you do—”
Seikichi let out a quiet breath.
“The mountain will remember you.”
The flame—
flickered once more.
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The Hundred Horror Tales is an original Japanese horror anthology inspired by the tradition of Hyaku Monogatari.
Five storytellers gather around flickering candles to share chilling tales—urban legends, ghost stories, folklore, daily fears, and real encounters.
Can you endure until the last flame goes out?
Follow for more:
• Twitter: @KaidanTales
• YouTube: @HK_Tales
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