Japanese Ghost Stories

Lafcadio Hearn, Paul Murray

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English

Penguin
05 December 2023

Fiction & Literature; Classic fiction (pre c 1945); Classic horror & ghost stories; Short stories; Folklore, myths & legends

Series: Japanese Classics

New in Penguin Japanese Classics- ghost stories from a master recounter of the macabre

Introducing Penguin Japanese Classics- a collection of some of Japan's most celebrated and ground-breaking 20th century writers, with covers inspired by Japanese art and design. Taking us from a sun-drenched affair in a seaside town to an underground 'ark' full of shadows and eccentrics, with stops at mountains of skulls, lonely apartments and boarding school dormitories, this series is perfect for new and long-time readers of Japanese literature.

In this collection of classic ghost stories from Japan, beautiful princesses turn out to be frogs, paintings come alive, deadly spectral brides haunt the living and a samurai delivers the baby of a Shinto goddess with mystical help. Lafcadio Hearn, a master storyteller, drew on traditional Japanese folklore, infused with memories of his own haunted childhood in Ireland, to create these chilling tales. They are today regarded in Japan as classics in their own right.

By: Lafcadio Hearn
Edited by: Paul Murray
Imprint: Penguin
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 196mm, Width: 128mm, Spine: 22mm
Weight: 200g
ISBN: 9780241675298
ISBN 10: 0241675294
Series: Japanese Classics
Pages: 256
Publication Date: 05 December 2023
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

The improbable life story of Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904) included a peculiarly gothic childhood in Ireland during which he was successively abandoned by his mother, his father and his guardian; two decades in the United States, where he worked as a journalist and was sacked for marrying a former slave; and a long period in Japan, where he married a Japanese woman and wrote about Japanese society and aesthetics for a Western readership. His ghost stories, which were drawn from Japanese folklore and influenced by Buddhist beliefs, appeared in collections throughout the 1890s and 1900s. He is a much celebrated figure in Japan.