Tuttle Classics Series

Chinese Ghost Stories are a selection of the most entertaining Chinese traditional tales of the strange and fantastic.

Hearn had a great affinity for the traditional ghost stories of China, and these stories clearly inspired him as he penned subsequent works. Set in richly atmospheric locales, these tales speak of heroic sacrifice, chilling horror, eerie beauty and otherworldly intervention.

This completely reset and pinyin-converted edition of Hearn's classic work contains a new foreword by Victoria Cass, which places the stories, their author, and his love for the strange and mysterious into perspective. If you're seeking insights into the traditional Chinese world of ghosts, goblins and demons-or just want to feel a chill run down your spine on a dark and lonely night-then this book is the perfect companion.

Ghost stories include:

The Soul of the Great Bell
The Story of Ming Yi
The Legend of Zhi Nu
The Return of Yan Zhenjing
The Tradition of the Tea Plant
The Tale of the Porcelain God

Kwaidan

by Lafcadio Hearn

Published 1 December 1968

Kwaidan

Stories and Studies of Strange Things

Lafcadio Hearn

Japanese Ghost Stories

Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things, often shortened to Kwaidan, is a book by Lafcadio Hearn that features several Japanese ghost stories and a brief non-fiction study on insects. It was later used as the basis for a movie called Kwaidan by Masaki Kobayashi in 1964.

Kaidan is Japanese for "ghost story."

Hearn declares in his introduction to the first edition of the book, which he wrote on January 20, 1904, shortly before his death, that most of these stories were translated from old Japanese texts. He also states that one of the stories -- Yuki-onna -- was told to him by a farmer in Musashi Province, and his was apparently the first record of it, both by his own account and according to the research of modern folklorists. Riki-Baka is based on a personal experience of Hearn's. While he does not declare it in his introduction, Hi-Mawari -- among the final narratives in the volume - seems to be a recollection of an experience in his childhood (it is, setting itself apart from almost all the others, written in the first person and set in rural Wales).

TABLE OF CONTENTS

THE STORY OF MIMI-NASHI-HOICHI
OSHIDORI
THE STORY OF O-TEI
UBAZAKURA
DIPLOMACY
OF A MIRROR AND A BELL
JIKININKI
MUJINA
ROKURO-KUBI
A DEAD SECRET
YUKI-ONNA
THE STORY OF AOYAGI
JIU-ROKU-ZAKURA
THE DREAM OF AKINOSUKE
RIKI-BAKA
HI-MAWARI
HORAI
INSECT STUDIES
BUTTERFLIES
MOSQUITOES
ANTS
Notes

Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan

by Lafcadio Hearn

Published December 1976

This book introduces a world that few early Western visitors to Japan ever saw. This is the world of unusual customs, bizarre superstitions, and enchanting scenery. Included in this classic volume are Hearn's well-known essays on gardens, festivals, the household shrine, and other aspects of Japanese daily life.

In Ghostly Japan

by Lafcadio Hearn

Published 10 December 1971

This book conjures up images of ghosts, ghouls, goblins, and interweaves their spooky stories with the folklore, superstitions, and traditions of old Japan. It also includes nonfiction reflections, such as "Japanese Buddhist Proverbs", a primer of Buddhist thinking, and "Incense", a meditation on the evanescent substance that can summon spirits as well as banish them.

Lafcadio Hearn's Japan

by Lafcadio Hearn

Published November 1997

The first part of this work chronicles Hearn's early years in Japan when he wrote primarily about the appearance of his new home. The second part records the author's later years when he came to terms with the Japanese themselves and includes some striking descriptions of 19th-century Japan.