Obakemonorama!

You could get lost in this website for hours. The Obakemono Project comes from Japan, and is a catalog-in-progress of the strange creatures/spirits that populate Japan's tradition of folk monsters, one of the richest collections of craziness there is. If you've seen the brilliant Miyazaki film Spirited Away, you've seen a few of them in action.

In Japanese, O is a prefix denoting respect, and bakemono literally means a changed thing - something perverted and altered and moved beyond its natural state - a monster,' the website says. Here are three of the over 80 collected on the site:

Tsukumo-gami
In the animistic tradition of Shintō all living and natural things are born or hatched or sprouted or formed with souls, and even an artificial object can obtain a spirit of its own under the right conditions. While some special objects such as swords are created animate, most instruments and utensils must live, be used, and accrue virtue for a hundred years in order to obtain a soul. Once this happens, if they have not been treated well, these objects can become vengeful bakemono. Called tsukumo-gami, these haunted utensils can partially take on the forms of monstrous humans, animals, and combinations thereof, and storm about the countryside tormenting people.

Neko-mata
In some places when an old cat becomes a bake-neko, its tail is said to split in two, then it is called a neko-mata or "forked cat". Like most bake-neko, neko-mata are unusually large cats, reportedly a meter and a half long minus the bifurcated tail, and often walk about comfortably on their hind feet. They are said to dance and manipulate the dead like puppets, and are associated with strange fires and other unexplainable occurances. Sometimes the tails of kittens were cut off as a precaution, as it was thought that if its tail couldn't fork, a cat could not become a bakemono.

Bake-zori
In a house where footwear is treated improperly, this old zōri sandal comes to life at night and emerges from the storeroom where it has been discarded. As it runs through the house, it can be heard chanting, "kararin, kororin, kankororin! Eyes three, Eyes three and teeth two!" Perhaps it says this in honor of its kin the geta sandal, which does indeed make such sounds and does have three eyes (the holes drilled for its straps) and two teeth (the wooden platforms on its base).

I wish I could find the name of the artist who did the illustrations for the site. They don't name him/her, but do point to another really cool Bakemono artist - Shigeru Mizuki [or go here for a page in English].