My first version of this classic ghost story (Yuki Onna) was as a segment of the 1990 anthology Tales From the Darkside: The Movie. It’s perhaps most famous from the 1964 Japanese classic Kwaidan, but this story exists in so many versions around the world it’s impossible to catalogue them all. There are versions where she is more water based and a less spooky moon-based version that you may know as Princess Kaguya. Yuki Onna even pre-dates Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen,” which means this is the source that led to Disney’s Frozen.
When told as a ghost story, the ending is a twist, though a rather predictable one. Otherwise, the end ranges from sad understanding to outright tragedy. This version may be the best because it manages to work as all of the above. The short story is extended out in mostly good ways, including a corrupt bailiff and a fire witch whose blind hatred for a Snow Woman plays like racism. While the film captures all of the tragedy of Yuki Onna’s existence, (including a scene where she’s nearly attacked because of her prized pale skin), it never strays too far from its spooky foundations. When the Woman goes into vengeance mode, her entire look changes and her nice appearance is coated with a (literal) cold hatred.
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