【Japanese Horror】The Hundred Horror Tales — Episode 41: She Was Almost Facing Me | Haunted Kaidan Tales
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Episode 41 – “She Was Almost Facing Me| Haunted Kaidan Tales” (Full Text)
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Episode 41 — She Was Almost Facing Me
A thin trail of smoke still lingered in the air
where the candle had just gone out.
Shūji watched it for a moment,
then let out a small laugh.
He picked up a candle from the table.
Struck a match—
a tiny flame sparked to life.
He brought it closer
and lit the wick.
A new light flickered,
casting a faint glow across the room.
Shūji stared at the flame as he spoke.
“…Actually.”
He paused for a second.
“There’s a little more to that story.”
No one said a word.
He shrugged lightly.
“I kinda forgot about it myself.”
“That photo…”
“It was years ago, after all.”
In the end,
I got rid of it.
Didn’t feel like looking at it anymore.
Honestly… it just felt wrong.
After that,
I barely thought about that place again.
Shūji kept his eyes on the candle.
“Up until recently, anyway.”
It was one night.
I was at home,
just zoning out, watching TV.
Nothing I really wanted to see—
just flipping through channels.
Then I landed on one of those shows.
You know the type.
Comedians and TV personalities
going around haunted spots across the country.
Shūji gave a small chuckle.
“I figured nothing serious would show up anyway.”
“So I just left it on.”
The screen showed a mountain road.
Dark, empty—
lit only by the camera light.
Further ahead,
there was an old tunnel.
Shūji narrowed his eyes slightly.
“…Huh?”
The moment I saw it,
I knew.
“That’s the place.”
The tunnel.
The one I told you about earlier.
The one we went to for that test of courage.
I crossed my arms
and kept watching.
Just felt… nostalgic, I guess.
The entrance of the tunnel.
The road lit up by the light.
And then—
the curve just before it.
The guardrail.
Something about it
caught my attention.
“…It all looked familiar.”
The camera moved around the tunnel.
The cast was walking carefully,
trying not to show they were scared.
But I wasn’t watching them.
My eyes were somewhere else.
The edge of the screen.
Just before the tunnel.
Near the guardrail.
Shūji spoke quietly.
“…and then…”
“…I saw it.”
“Something was standing there.”
At the edge of the TV screen.
Just before the tunnel entrance.
Near the guardrail.
At first,
I thought it was just a shadow.
It was a dark mountain road—
and at the edge of the screen,
you can’t really tell what you’re looking at.
Could’ve been a tree.
Could’ve been a rock.
That’s what I figured.
But then—
something felt off.
That spot alone
looked darker than the rest.
Not like the other shadows.
It had a shape.
Without realizing it,
my eyes fixed on it.
The camera was focused on the tunnel.
The cast was talking about something.
But I wasn’t really listening.
My attention stayed
on the edge of the screen.
Beyond the guardrail.
That shape in the darkness.
The longer I looked,
the more I could make it out.
Narrow shoulders.
Long hair.
It was a woman.
Standing still—
just beyond the guardrail.
The moment I saw her,
that photo came back to me.
It was her.
The same woman.
From that picture.
The one we took
in front of the guardrail.
The woman on the screen
looked exactly
like she did back then.
Her body still wasn’t
fully facing this way.
But her face—
was slightly turned toward me.
Through the strands of her hair,
I could see part of her profile.
And behind it—
one eye.
A chill ran down my back.
The woman on the screen
was exactly
as she had been in that photo.
One eye—
fixed in my direction.
It felt like
I was being shown
what came next.
On the TV,
the cast gathered at the tunnel entrance.
The light pointed inside.
But I wasn’t watching that.
My eyes stayed
on the edge of the screen.
That woman.
And that one eye—
felt like
it was staring
right at me.
I couldn’t look away from the screen.
One eye was visible.
Just like in that photo.
On TV,
the investigation kept going.
The cast was talking.
I could hear laughter.
But none of it really registered.
My eyes stayed fixed
on the edge of the screen.
That one eye—
it felt like it was staring at me.
After a while,
something felt off.
She was facing this way
just a little more than before.
Maybe I was imagining it.
That’s what I told myself—
and kept watching.
But then,
after a little more time,
it had changed again.
Just slightly.
More than before—
she was turning this way.
So slowly
I almost didn’t notice it.
Just a little at a time.
I couldn’t take my eyes off it.
On TV,
the cast had already gone into the tunnel.
Their lights pointed deeper inside.
The camera followed them.
But I wasn’t watching that.
My focus stayed
on the edge of the screen.
Only her.
That one eye.
And then—
I noticed something.
Somewhere that hadn’t been visible before—
there was another shadow.
Behind her hair.
Deeper inside it.
Another eye.
I couldn’t see it clearly.
But it was there.
I knew it.
And I had this feeling—
the next time I looked,
both eyes would be visible.
I couldn’t look away.
As I kept watching,
the shadow behind her hair
seemed to shift—
just slightly.
The place that had been hidden—
from there,
another eye
began to appear.
Only for a moment.
But it was there.
A second eye.
In that instant,
I thought—
the next time I noticed,
she’d be
fully facing me.
And the moment that thought crossed my mind,
fear hit me.
I grabbed the remote.
I didn’t want to see any more.
The next second,
I changed the channel.
The screen switched.
A brightly lit studio.
Some variety show.
Laughter filled the room.
The tunnel—
the footage from before—
was gone.
Like it had never been there.
I stayed like that for a while,
staring at the TV.
Still holding the remote.
Not thinking about anything.
I couldn’t bring myself
to go back.
If I had watched
just a little longer—
I feel like
she would’ve
fully turned toward me.
After a while,
my phone rang.
It was one of the guys
who had been there with me
when we took that photo.
When I answered,
he stayed silent for a moment.
Then, in a quiet voice, he said—
“…Hey.”
A short pause.
“You were watching that show earlier, right?”
The one about that haunted spot.
I felt a slight uneasiness.
“Yeah, I saw it.”
He went quiet again.
Then, softly—
“Hey…”
“…did you see her?”
“The part where she turned?”
Something about the way he said it
stuck with me.
I hesitated for a moment.
“No.”
“I changed the channel.”
As soon as I said that—
“…I see.”
That was all he said.
He sounded… a little relieved.
“Sorry.”
And then he hung up.
A few days later,
I heard he died in an accident.
On his way home at night,
his car crashed into a guardrail.
Maybe it was just a coincidence.
But…
that call
still bothers me.
What did he see back then?
I changed the channel.
But if I had kept watching—
maybe
I would’ve seen the same thing he did.
Sometimes,
I think about it.
From the moment
that one eye appeared in the photo—
maybe
it had been watching me all along.
And if the day comes
when she fully turns toward me—
I might not
be in this world anymore.
Shūji let out a faint laugh.
Then gently,
he blew on the flame.
—fuh.
The fire flickered,
as if resisting being extinguished—
and then
it went out.
A thin trail of white smoke
rose quietly toward the ceiling.
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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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