Authorities discovered shortly afterward that the child’s father was a criminal who lured victims into the alley by letting his baby cry and then attacked them when they were hidden from public view. That day his usual plan was thwarted when more than one grown man came down the alley.

Scotie Rainwater from Houston, Texas

That woman roams around during foggy evenings, with her face covered by a surgical mask, which would not be especially unusual, as people with colds often wear masks for the sake of others in Japan. When she encounters someone, primarily children or college students, she will shyly ask, "Am I beautiful?" ("Watashi kirei?").

If the person answers yes, she will take off her mask and say, "Even like this?"

At this point, if the victim answers "No," she will slay them with a pair of huge scissors.

If the victim tells her she is pretty a second time, she follows the victim home and slays them in their own doorway. This is because  the word "kirei" , Japanese for ‘pretty,’ is a near homophone of "kire", the imperative form of "to cut".

If the victim answers "You’re average", they are saved.

Also, the answer "so-so," causes the Kuchisake-onna to think about what to do, and her victim can escape while she is in thought. One way to escape is to present the Kuchisake-onna with amber, hard candy. Another is to say "pomade" three times (in some versions, six times). This will make her either falter and turn or run away. If the victim has pomade, they can write with it behind her back to keep her from following. The reason is that this reminds her of either the dentist’s or (plastic) surgery smells, or that her boyfriend used it.

Kyla from Seattle, WA

Flat Tire

About a month ago there was a woman standing by the Mega Mall entrance passing out flyers to all the women going in. The woman had written the flyer herself to tell about an experience she had, so that she might warn other women.

The previous day, this woman had finished shopping, went out to her car and discovered that she had a flat. She got the jack out of the trunk and began to change the flat. A nice man dressed in business suit and carrying a briefcase walked up to her and said, "I notice you are changing a flat tire. Would you like me to take care of it for you?" The woman was grateful for his offer and accepted his help. They chatted amiably while the man changed the flat, and then put the flat tire and the jack in the trunk, shut it and dusted his hands off.

The woman thanked him profusely, and as she was about to get in her car, when the man told her that he left his car around on the other side of the mall, and asked if she would mind giving him a lift to his car.

She was a little surprised and asked him why his car was on other side.

He explained that he had seen an old friend in the mall that he hadn’t seen for some time and they had a bite to eat and visited for a while; he got turned around in the mall and left through the wrong exit, and now he was running late and his car was clear around on the other side of the mall.

The woman hated to tell him "no" because he had just rescued her from having to change her flat tire all by herself, but she felt uneasy.

Then she remembered seeing the man put his briefcase in her trunk before shutting it and before he asked her for a ride to his car.

She told him that she’d be happy to drive him to his car, but she just remembered one last thing she needed to buy. She said she would only be few minutes; he could sit down in her car and wait for her; she would be as quick as she could be.

She hurried into the mall, and told a security guard what had happened; the guard came out to her car with her, but the man had left.

They opened the trunk, took out his locked briefcase and took it down to the police station. The police opened it (ostensibly to look for ID so they could return it to the man). What they found was rope, duct tape and knives.

When the police checked her "flat" tire, there was nothing wrong with it; the air had simply been let out. It was obvious what the man’s motive was, and obvious that he had carefully thought it out in advance.

The woman was blessed to have escaped harm. How much worse it would have been had she waited in the car while the man fixed the tire, or if she had a baby strapped into a car seat. Or if she’d gone against her judgment and given him a lift.

Perfume Salesman

In recent years a terror stalks the department stores and malls of America. After an afternoon of shopping a woman leaves the mall, but feels someone behind her as she crosses the parking lot. As she turns around she sees a salesman armed with perfume hurrying after her. He offers her a spray insisting that she try it. She refuses but he persists, saying its the hottest new fragrance meant to drive men crazy and its on sale. He won’t take no for an answer.

Exasperated she finally gives in and tries it but she’s immediately disgusted. She gives the sales person a firm "No thank you", and heads back towards her car.

As she walks, she begins to feel light headed. Everything moves in slow motion. Each step is like lifting a lead weight. The distance to her car seems to stretch out in front of her and when she finally makes it to her car she drops her keys then she looses her balance. Just before she slips into unconsciousness, the last face she sees is that of the pestering salesman.

There are several different versions of the ending of this story. Sometimes a shopper finds the nude body of a woman, in the store parking lot. Another version has an ex boyfriend who is enraged by his girlfriend for dumping him. He concocts a sleeping potion, disguised as perfume. He puts on a disguise and stalks his former lover to a mall. He uses the perfume sale’s man gimmick to spray the knock out potion in her face. While unconscious, he drags her inside her vehicle. He strips her of all her clothes and takes them, then he hides somewhere. When she comes to, she finds herself alone inside her vehicle and completely nude. With her head throbbing, she gets out and groggily goes into the store, and tells her story. The ex boyfriend takes pictures of her while unsuspecting and naked and later he posts the pictures on the Internet for all to see.

Jason Qualls from Elkhart, Indiana

A woman had just finished grocery-shopping when a group of homeless children offered to help her to her car. After loading her groceries, one of the children asked the woman for a tip and she gratefully obliged.

As the woman was about to drive off, a man ran up to her and told her to go directly to the police station. One of the children had locked himself in the trunk of her car and planned to ambush her later with a knife.

Someone from South Africa

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