Samara? You Down There?
The Ring scared us silly in 2002 and changed the way we see wells forever. We can’t look a well without remembering Samara twisting and contorting her limbs as she crawled out of the tv. Fans of the franchise know the movie was inspired by a Japanese novel and movie of the same name, but was it really a true story? Yes, but replace the story of Samara with samurai.
The walls of Himeji Castle in Japan tell the story of a 16th-century samurai who tried to win over a maid by gaslighting her into thinking she lost one of the royal family’s golden plates. He counted on saving her from the death penalty and becoming her hero, but she refused and jumped down a well. It is said her spirit can still be heard counting the plates.