Buzz
There’s an undeniable allure and unease surrounding individuals wearing masks. Maybe you’ve flipped through the pages of Goosebumps or enjoyed the quirky antics in The Mask. Alternatively, you might recall the unsettling atmosphere of a masquerade ball or the chilling, expressionless face of Michael Myers.
Yet, there’s an added layer of terror when it comes to masks that’s hard to define. Picture being unable to see the true identity of someone lurking in the shadows or encountering a specter who unveils their real self by removing their mask. Check if any of these characters ring a bell, and pray you never cross paths with them on a moonless night!
10. Kuchisake-Onna
According to Japanese folklore, Kuchisake-onna is the vengeful spirit of a woman slain by her envious spouse. Since the 1600s, this ghost has been linked to numerous attacks and fatalities. She prowls poorly lit streets and alleys, concealing her mouth with a fan, handkerchief, or surgical mask, depending on the tale you hear.
She poses two questions to those she encounters. First, she asks, “Watashi kirei ?” (meaning, “Do you find me beautiful?”). Then, she reveals her true face, a horrifying visage with a mouth slit wide open. Her final question is, “Kore demo?” (“Do you still think so?”). If you answer yes both times, your face will be slashed like hers. If not, you’ll meet a grisly end.
Tales of Kuchisake-onna date back to the Edo period (1600s–1800s), but she vanished until the 1970s, when a surge in sightings even led to a police inquiry. Could she have become a hannya, a woman so consumed by jealousy that she transformed into a demon?
9. Ed Gein’s Masks Made of Human Skin
Notorious killer Ed Gein harvested faces—along with other body parts—from his victims and exhumed graves to create masks. Some masks looked mummified and dried, while others were more meticulously preserved, possibly reflecting Gein’s growing expertise in his gruesome craft.
Some masks were adorned with lipstick, giving them a more realistic appearance, while four were stuffed with paper and displayed on his bedroom wall like macabre trophies. The remaining masks were stored in plastic or paper bags. Deputy Arnie Fritz discovered one such bag during his investigation of the house, hidden inside a decaying robe behind the kitchen door. Upon opening it and noticing hair, he reached in to retrieve the contents. Holding the mask up to the light, he recognized it as belonging to Mary Hogan, the local tavern owner who had been missing for three years.
8. Maori Masks
The Maori, native to New Zealand, hold the belief that masks and other taonga (“treasures”) contain spirits considered tapu (“sacred” or “forbidden”). Traditional customs also regard pregnant or menstruating women as tapu. If these women come into contact with other tapu objects, it is believed to invoke a curse.
This cultural belief is so deeply ingrained that in 2010, the Te Papa museum in Wellington, New Zealand, which showcased taonga artifacts, strongly advised pregnant and menstruating women to avoid the exhibit. The interaction between the sacred Maori items and these women could trigger a curse, as both the artifacts and the women were thought to carry negative wairua, or “spiritual energy.”
7. The Mystery of the Lead Masks
In 1966, the corpses of Miguel Jose Viana (left) and Manoel Pereira da Cruz (right) were found on Vintem Hill in Rio de Janeiro, dressed in formal suits and wearing lead eye masks. Both were electronics technicians from Campos dos Goytacazes, located over 280 kilometers (174 miles) away, and their deaths remain unsolved. Alongside the masks, they were discovered with waterproof jackets, an empty water bottle, two towels, and a notebook.
The pair were last spotted purchasing water at a local store, with Miguel reportedly in a rush and frequently checking his watch. The notebook contained instructions to arrive at a designated location by 4:30 PM, take capsules at 6:30 PM, and “protect metals” while awaiting a mask signal. Despite being found with these items and wearing the masks, their bodies were too decomposed to determine if they had ingested poison. The purpose of the lead masks, which shield against radiation, along with the towels and cryptic notes about metals, remains an enigma.
6. The Stolen Mayan Mask
Local lore tells of a mask found among the belongings of a recently deceased man in Key West, Florida. It was allegedly stolen from an ancient tomb in Egypt decades earlier. Psychics who examined the mask claimed to feel energies linked to South or Central America. The estate’s caretaker mentioned hearing it came from a tomb but had always assumed it was Egyptian, not from the Americas.
The psychics believed the pyramid they envisioned was likely an Incan or Mayan tomb. When handling the mask, they described it as initially cold, then suddenly turning hot. It caused their hands to go numb and sent tingling sensations up their arms to their shoulders. The most sensitive psychics refused to touch it altogether. While the mask clearly carries strange energy, it’s also possible it bears a curse, a common safeguard for sacred objects against thieves or adversaries.
5. Carl Tanzler
Carl Tanzler, a German immigrant, claimed to have received visions of his destined true love from his ancestor, Countess Anna Constantia von Cosel, during his childhood. Although he married and had two children with a woman who didn’t resemble his vision, he remained devoted to the image of his ideal love. In 1930, after leaving his family, he believed he had finally found her. While working as a radiologist in Florida, he met Maria Elena Milagro de Hoyos, a young Cuban American woman suffering from tuberculosis, who passed away the following year.
Tanzler covered her funeral expenses and frequently visited her mausoleum. His obsession with Maria grew so intense that in 1933, under the cover of night, he stole her body using a child’s red wagon and brought it to his home. He reconstructed her skeleton with coat hangers, filled her with rags, and fashioned a wig from her own hair. He dressed her and kept her in his bed until, seven years later, rumors of the desecration led to her discovery by the police.
Though her body was clothed, her face was a death mask crafted by Tanzler, which he kept in his bed even after the coroner removed the rest of her remains. Astonishingly, the statute of limitations had expired, and Tanzler’s case was dismissed without trial or sentencing. Maria’s body was taken to a funeral home, where it was displayed to curious onlookers before being returned to the mausoleum.
4. The Beast of Jersey
Edward Paisnel began his reign of terror in 1960 on the island of Jersey in the Channel Islands. While he never committed murder, he assaulted women and children while wearing a long raincoat and a bizarre mask. Victims recalled a distinct, musky odor following his attacks. Paisnel, who had access to a children’s home called La Preference, managed by his wife, often adopted an Irish accent during his crimes. He would bind his victims with ropes around their necks and wrists, drag them to isolated locations, and carefully select them from their bedrooms after climbing through windows. After molesting them in nearby fields, he would return them to their homes.
Given Jersey’s small size of just 119 square kilometers (46 square miles), the fear Paisnel instilled was immense—everyone suspected the rapist was someone they knew. His homemade rubber mask, featuring black hair, was secured with tape that left marks on his face. The mask not only hid his identity but also terrified his victims, whom he abused until his arrest in 1971. Paisnel was eventually sentenced to 30 years in prison for 13 counts of rape, assault, and sodomy.
3. Alex Mengel
In 1985, Alex Mengel was stopped by police in New York while driving with three friends. The officer noticed shotgun shells in the vehicle, prompting Mengel to shoot and kill the officer. The following day, Mengel kidnapped 44-year-old Beverly Capone in her white Toyota. She was last seen heading to her car at 8:00 PM and subsequently vanished. The next day, near Syracuse, a 13-year-old girl reported that a man pointed a gun at her and demanded she get into his car. Fortunately, she ran away before he could harm or abduct her. She described his disguise: a long black wig, lipstick, and a dress. She later identified Mengel in a police lineup.
A week later, Beverly Capone’s Toyota was located in Toronto, leading to a police chase that ended when Mengel’s car slid on icy roads. Inside the vehicle, officers discovered Capone’s driver’s license with Mengel’s photo superimposed over hers. A black-haired wig was also found in the car, but Mengel denied any connection to Capone, claiming he had stolen the vehicle.
Authorities tracked Mengel’s movements to a secluded cabin, where they uncovered Capone’s ID card hidden by Mengel. Her body was found buried in a stone wall near the cabin. She had been stabbed in the chest and scalped, with her face removed. Investigators believe Mengel used her hair and face as a disguise to evade capture. He was charged with the murders of both the police officer and Capone. However, during a police transport after a court appearance, Mengel attempted to escape and was fatally shot.
2. Fabian Kramer
In 2012, Fabian Kramer, inspired by the horror film Saw (2004), developed a fixation on murder. As a teenager, he wore a mask while killing his 82-year-old landlady, Hanna Litz, stabbing her 50 times in her apartment. The film portrays victims trapped in a bathroom, forced to sever their own limbs to survive. While Kramer didn’t replicate this exact scenario, he admitted to being influenced by the movie, wearing a grotesque mask during the crime. The mask was displayed on a mannequin during his trial as evidence.
After stabbing Litz, Kramer called the German police, pretending to be an “ambulance man” attempting to revive her. However, the bloodstains on his body revealed the truth, leading to his arrest. The discovery of the mask and a yellow-handled knife in his apartment further solidified the case against him, resulting in his sentencing.
1. Dennis Rader
Dennis Rader, infamous as the BTK Killer (Bind, Torture, Kill), not only wore masks himself but also placed them on some of his victims. After torturing and killing his victims—primarily women—he would later stage photographs of himself, recreating the scenes of his crimes as if he were the victim.
Dressed in his victims’ clothing and wearing a plastic mask resembling a woman’s face, Rader took photos in his parents’ basement in Sedgwick County, Kansas. He also conducted these disturbing photo sessions in motels or ventured into the woods. Rader was apprehended in 2005 and received a life sentence in prison.
