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' - and the man saw that she had no eyes or nose or mouth and he screamed.' Lafcadio Hearn's fascinating and unsettling ghost stories are a reinterpretation of oriental legends, and folktales. They are a potent blend of weird beauty and horror. Hearn, who referred to his narratives as 'stories and studies of strange things', believed that the spectral world was part of the oriental landscape. Lakes, mountains, ruined castles and terraced fields were the natural locale of ghostly spirits, and their intervention in human affairs was part of the natural order of things. Hearn's apparitions are not a violent intrusion upon everyday reality; they are already a part of that reality, co-existing with the living. This collection contains the best of the work of this neglected master of the supernatural tale. Prepare to be charmed and chilled in equal measure.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Full marks to Wordsworth Editions for getting this into print and widely available.
Apparently Hearn is still something of a well known writer in his adopted land of Japan, though virtually forgotten here. This book is an excellent chance to redress this.
This book consists of retellings of ghost stories from the Japanese and Chinese traditions. A large number can be classed as folk tales, while others, as Hearn is at pains to point out, are accounts of actual uncanny experiences that either he or acquaintances have experienced. As pointed out in the introduction, this results in the tales taking a more simple form than your typical english fictional ghost story. Hearn renders things clearly and simply, and if anything this makes the stories even more unsettling. So if you enjoy ghost stories of any kind, you are bound to get a lot of enjoyment from these tales from two very different cultures with very different stock scary characters and types. My own personal 'favourite' among this rogues gallery (if favourite's the right term) is the person whose face has no features whatsoever and is as smooth as an egg.
All in all brilliant entertainment and very unsettling.
Apparently Hearn is still something of a well known writer in his adopted land of Japan, though virtually forgotten here. This book is an excellent chance to redress this.
This book consists of retellings of ghost stories from the Japanese and Chinese traditions. A large number can be classed as folk tales, while others, as Hearn is at pains to point out, are accounts of actual uncanny experiences that either he or acquaintances have experienced. As pointed out in the introduction, this results in the tales taking a more simple form than your typical english fictional ghost story. Hearn renders things clearly and simply, and if anything this makes the stories even more unsettling. So if you enjoy ghost stories of any kind, you are bound to get a lot of enjoyment from these tales from two very different cultures with very different stock scary characters and types. My own personal 'favourite' among this rogues gallery (if favourite's the right term) is the person whose face has no features whatsoever and is as smooth as an egg.
All in all brilliant entertainment and very unsettling.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
For anyone who has grown up on a Western diet of horror movies and books, from Dawn of the Dead and The Shining to the works of David Moody and HP Lovecraft, this volume is something different.
The stories are translated by a western voice in Hearn (a writer who has the most remarkable history I have read!) but they are authentic and this collection offers a window into the Chinese and Japanese vision of ghost and horror stories.
You have to drop some your preconceptions as you approach this volume. The language and style is beautiful but simple and direct. It's worth brushing up on the different Chinese Hells and Gods and getting just a bit of background on the culture.
You don't have to do this. These tales will delight the horror fan and bring a new perspective. If you are new to these kinds of tales then it is certainly worth considering.
I thoroughly enjoyed the change of pace in these stories and the style. I believe Hearn is a unique writer and have no doubt that I will discover more of his tales in the future...
The stories are translated by a western voice in Hearn (a writer who has the most remarkable history I have read!) but they are authentic and this collection offers a window into the Chinese and Japanese vision of ghost and horror stories.
You have to drop some your preconceptions as you approach this volume. The language and style is beautiful but simple and direct. It's worth brushing up on the different Chinese Hells and Gods and getting just a bit of background on the culture.
You don't have to do this. These tales will delight the horror fan and bring a new perspective. If you are new to these kinds of tales then it is certainly worth considering.
I thoroughly enjoyed the change of pace in these stories and the style. I believe Hearn is a unique writer and have no doubt that I will discover more of his tales in the future...
Format:Paperback
i have looked for this for years full marks to wordsworth press
brief if excellent japanese ghost stories oftern with a moral or a punishment
tales of love beyond the grave and buddhist hells
everyone a winner
brief if excellent japanese ghost stories oftern with a moral or a punishment
tales of love beyond the grave and buddhist hells
everyone a winner
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