"A strange stone in the shape of a human face that hides in the forest or mountains. It seems strangely attracted to light..."
Stone Faces are Spirits in Yomawari: Night Alone.
Appearance[]
When in its default form, it appears as just an ordinary large lump of rocks that of a size of a small child (like the Protagonist).
However, when it is exposed to light, a puff of smoke covers the rock. Then, a mouth with jagged stone teeth and a pair of glowing yellow eyes appears on it, creating a face.
Behavior[]
The Stone Faces appear as ordinary lumps of stone in the dark. They don't move nor react in a person's presence, even if someone touches them.
However, when they are exposed to light, a face appears on them and then, if exposed to the light for too long, will give chase to the source of the light.
If it is the player's flashlight, even if the player turns of the flashlight or moves it away from the Stone Faces, they will chase after the player and kill her once they are exposed to the light for too long.
If it is a Match's light, they will run right next to the Match. They will remain active until the Match's light goes out, in which the Stone Faces turn back to regular lumps of stone.
However, if the Stone Faces are exposed by the player's flashlight while chasing after the Match's light, they will chase after and kill the player if they're exposed to the flashlight's light for too long.
Mythology and Theories[]
There are some possible inspirations for the creation of this spirit.
One of them is "Sessho-seki" (殺生石), which means "Killing Stone" in Japanese. In Japanese mythology, this stone would kill anyone that would come into contact with it. In legends, it is believed that this stone is the transformed corpse of Tamamo-no-Mae. She appeared to be a beautiful woman, but in reality, she was a nine-tailed fox that had been working for an evil daimyō who plotted to kill Emperor Konoe and take his throne. According to the Otogi-Zōshi (a narrative literature written between the Muromachi period and the beginning of the Edo period), when the nine-tailed fox was killed by a famous warrior named Miura-no-suke, its body transformed into the Sessho-seki.
Tamamo-no-Mae would continue to haunt in this stone and kill people who touched it until, one day, a Buddhist priest named Genno stopped by. When this priest rested near this rock, Tamamo-no-Mae threatened him. Genno, in turn, performed some spiritual rituals and begged the spirit to consider her spiritual salvation. He did this until Tamamo-no-Mae finally relented and swore never to haunt this stone again.
Another possible inspiration for this spirit is the "Ishikani" (石カニ) or the "Stone Crab". This yokai has different alliterations. One of them is a pickling stone with a human-like face on it and several fingers for its legs. This human-like face consist of just a mouth, a pair of human-like eyes, and lining that make up a forehead.