Deafening Whistle of the Ghost Train

Summary

Cover your ears when this ghost train streaks by

Stats

~150 words, average reading time ~ 1-2 min

Rating

PG. Ghosts

Tags

yokai, tsukumogami, ghosts, urban legends, short stories

On nights when the full moon shines bright and the tracks are quiet with no lines running, a phantom train screams by faster than the speed of sound. It makes rounds to ferry those who died away from their home towns back to where their family and friends are. Then they can begin their journey to the afterlife. When the train rolls past humans, its deafening whistle shrieks so they close their eyes and cover their ears. Then the sprits riding the train don't have to worry about those they know being distressed by seeing them dead.

The train is a tsukumogami, an object yokai that came to life after it existed for over 100 years, of Japan's first train--Locomotive No. 1.

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Spooktober Prompt

Deafening

Appears In:

Liminal Chronicles Books

Click book to learn more.

by AWV + Odette.A.Bach

Short Stories

Click story to read.

by Amy Winters-Voss

Chou becomes Ohno-chan's pet by Amy Winters-Voss

Initiation by AWV

Nakamura's Dream by AWV + Flaticon.com icons

Fujimori and the Fox by AWV + Flaticon.com icons

Misunderstandings by AWV + Flaticon.com icons

by AWV

Liminal Chronicles Series bookcover art by Odette.A.Bach and text by Amy Winters-Voss. Short story bookcovers by Amy Winters-Voss

Entry for Spooktober 2024

Answering: "Deafening"

Visit shyredfox's Competition Page Check all other answers to this prompt Competition Homepage

Inspiration

The world of Liminal Chronicles brings in and builds on Japanese mythology and folklore. While this setting does not represent "actual Japan", the author does her best to respect and show her love for the Japanese culture in this "world". Departures from Folklore and Culture describes where the author has chosen to deviate from real world Japan to create Liminal Chronicles.

This site and related stories are works of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places and events are products of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events, places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright

Artwork and content (if nothing else is stated) are

2025

Amy Winters-Voss. If content created by another is used, it is used with permission or licensed for use. All rights reserved. You may not use the material without written permission from the author. You may not use content from this site for AI training, AI purposes, or NFT purposes.

Theme page background credits: rawpixel.com. Global header, Umeji Tatsuya, Nakamura Hisako,and Shion character art, and Rise and Guardian bookcovers by Odette.A.Bach.

World Anvil logo and WA event logos are property of and provided by World Anvil. All HeroForge character art and tokens created by Amy Winters-Voss are owned by, and used under license from, HeroForge.com. HeroForge.com is not responsible for the content of this site and hereby disclaims any and all content and views expressed herein.

Cover image: by Odette.A.Bach (Art), AWV (text)

Metadata

Article template

Generic article

World

Liminal Chronicles

Comments

Author's Notes

There is no Japanese legend basis for this story, beyond the idea of the object yokai (tsukumogami). It was just a bit of fun to add to my Liminal Chronicles lore. The deafening whistle idea came from my first ride on the 1880 train in Keystone, South Dakota. I remember the whistle clearly. Man it was loud. My brother was just a baby at the time and the whistle made him cry every time it sounded.

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Master rudysb9

Oct 7, 2024 04:04

I love this. I can see a train whistle like this being a modern version of a Loyal Ekhart (the entity that warns mortal passers-by of the Wild Hunt or other troops of spirits), and I love the reason the train exists for transporting people to their loved ones after they've passed on. It warms my heart.

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