Yuki Onna - Japanese legend

The eyes, reflected her soul, were depicted as two empty pools, deep as the abyss. During cold winter nights Yuki Onna walked only in summer kimono steering snow, ice and winter wind, which obeyed faithfully and fulfilled her every wish. She was the spirit of the strong Japanese wind comparable to Vendigo, the spirit of the Northern Forest of North America. However, Yuki Onna was not only a spirit. She walked and seduced weak men, who could not resist her beauty. She promised them a lot of different things just to take them to the edge of existence. Therefore, instead of Snow Woman she was often called the whore of winter.

Once she subdued a man, drank his blood, but, unlike the western vampire, no one knew the exact spot where she had sucked the blood. There are legends relating to this particularly. However, after having sucked all the blood, the victim immediately froze and disappeared into the snow.

As you can imagine, it is almost useless to try to classify Yuki Onna in the standard with western vampires. Yuki Onna is neither a vampire nor a sukubusa, nor the spirit of the strong wind. She was all of the above, and much more – she had the capacity to love.

The most famous legend about her tells us that she fell in love with the beautiful son of one of her victims, and lived in the village among the people, and did all housework as a wife.

The legend tells that on a cold winter night, during a storm, the man who was a woodcutter found himself in trouble with his son in the forest, and they were looking for any kind of shelter. But she appeared before them, and after sucking the blood of the father noticed his beautiful son. She was immediately fascinated by the young boy and said that he would save his life only if he had never told anyone that he had seen her face. The young man agreed.

After several years, a woman with the magical beauty named Yuki Onna suddenly found herself in the village of the young man and he married her. The couple lived very happily, with many children. But one evening, while he was sitting by the hearth, a terrible storm began and the husband remembered the night his father was killed and he confided in her, telling her everything that had happened that fateful night. Immediately, she returned into the form of Yuki Onna with a terrifying scream because he had not kept his promise. However, when she wanted to suck his blood, she remembered their children, and imagined their lives without father. Yuki Onna opened the door, and out of darkness told him to take care of their children, and she would always watch them to make sure of the health of their children. Otherwise, Yuki Onna would return with the speed of the wind and would take his life, just like his father.