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Ghost Stories From Around The World

The popobawa is a shape-shifting demon that stalks the Tanzanian island of Pemba. (Phoebe Boswell/NPR)
The popobawa is a shape-shifting demon that stalks the Tanzanian island of Pemba. (Phoebe Boswell/NPR)

Are you afraid of ghosts, vampires and witches? What about Hanako-san, a little girl who waits to drag her victims to hell in the third stall of the third-floor bathroom of schools in Japan? There’s also La Llorona, a woman who drowned her children then herself and roams around, wailing in anguish.

Gene Demby, lead blogger at NPR’s Code Switch, put out a call to readers, asking what ghost stories and folktales they grew up with in their own traditions. He talks to Here & Nows Jeremy Hobson about the responses he received, detailing scary creatures from around the world.

Guest

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.