Faceless Phantoms

Nearly every culture in the world has the concept of faceless apparitions.  Stories of people seen at a distance who, when the observer comes closer, reveal that they have no face as they turn are relatively common.  The idea of a ghost with no identity, no face that might explain who this once was, is much more terrifying than the ghost of a loved one appearing at the end of your bed.  A ghost you know is a ghost you can, theoretically, understand or perhaps reason or bargain with.  A faceless ghost, however, is simply a patch of pure dread painted on the canvas of the world.

Faceless phantoms come in all shapes and sizes.  Faceless women seem more common in western ghost stories, while faceless men and children are a bit more prevalent in eastern stories, especially in Japan.  However, there are faceless ghosts of all types in nearly all mythologies.

Source: The Mask of Reason

Image Source: Slender Woman