Showing results by author "Lafcadio Hearn" in All Categories

Patrick Lafcadio Hearn, was an Irish writer known also by the Japanese name Koizumi Yakumo. His book Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things, comprises two parts, the first being the "Kwaidan Proper" and the second, "Insect-Studies", which consists of an essay each on ants, butterflies and mosquitos. According to the author, most of the folk tales and ghost stories in the first part were translated from old Japanese texts. The themes encompass resurrection, sacrifice, magic, and the realm of dreams.

Together, these three volumes form an essential collection for anyone fascinated by mythology, folklore, and the cultural heritage of Japan. Each story in this anthology is not just a tale. It's a window into the ancient soul of Japan, its people, and its enduring legacy.

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. Here are all the phantoms and ghouls of Japanese folklore: 'rokuro-kubi', whose heads separate from their bodies at night; 'jikininki', or flesh-eating goblins; and terrifying faceless 'mujina' who haunt lonely neighbourhoods.

Japanese culture has fascinated the West ever since the country’s doors opened up in the 1800s. In many ways, Japan has remained elusive, and people have travelled from all around the world to see for themselves how unique this nation remains. Another way of exploring this enigmatic culture is through its literature. The English language succeeds surprisingly well in revealing the Japanese sense of life.

What happens when an evil queen envies a princess for her beauty? How does the poor son of a farmer become the killer of giants? And what price is too high for a mermaid to become a human?

Sixteen classic stories from masters of the genre: "The Judge's House", by Bram Stoker; "A Jug of Sirup", by Ambrose Bierce; "The Reconciliation", by Lafcadio Hearn; "The Woman With a Candle" by W. Bourne Cooke; "The Ebony Frame", by E. Nesbit; "On the Northern Ice", by Elia W. Peattie; "The Haunted Doll's House", by M. R. James; "The Old House in Vauxhall Walk", by Charlotte Riddell; "The Underground Ghost", by John Berwick Harwood; "Haunted", by Anon (from Tinsley's Annual); plus five more....

In Ghostly Japan collects 12 ghostly stories from Lafcadio Hearn, deathless images of ghosts and goblins, touches of folklore and superstition, salted with traditions of the nation. While some of these stories contain nightmare imagery worthy of a midnight creature feature, others are not ghostly or ghastly at all. "Bits of Poetry" offers an engaging study on verse, and "Japanese Buddhist Proverbs" explains the meaning of several aphorisms based on Japanese cultural references.

Throughout the long centuries of human history is the want, and the need, to share information, to exchange ideas and for that knowledge and experience, for curiosity and learning, to be the basis of a civil society. In this volume we offer up a small selection of talents whose time has now come again.

Una nueva colección de relatos fantasmales donde el terror no está reñido con la profunda enseñanza budista. En esta antología, Lafcadio Hearn vuelve a poner toda la maestría de su pluma al servicio de historias de espectros del Japón tradicional, entre quimonos poseídos, espíritus despechados, amantes que regresan de la tumba y espíritus de la naturaleza que nos advierten de los peligros del camino.

Based on Japanese literature and foldlore, Kwaidan contains 17 stories. The story of Loichi, the blind biwa player who was called to perform for the dead; of Muso, the journeying priest who encountered a man eating goblin; of the samurai who outwitted the ghost of a dead man. All these plus 14 other spooly tales are included in this collection.

A wonderful collection of spine-tingling ghost stories and thought-provoking essays on insects. This new version has an introduction "Hearn and Japan", which details the continuing influence of Hearn on contemporary Japan.

This collection contains a mixture of stories about ghosts and contacts from spirits, some by celebrated authors, together with essays on psychical research. As Joseph French notes in the preface, even for the skeptic, tales of ghostly activity retain a distinct fascination. The widespread interest in psychic phenomena in the early twentieth century proved to be a significant stimulus to literary production.

Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904) was a writer, critic and journalist. His novel, Chita: A Memory of Last Island, is about a young girl, Chita, who survives a devastating tropical storm. Last Island, a holiday resort in the Gulf of Mexico, is destroyed by the hurricane that kills Chita’s mother and leaves her adrift at sea. Chita is saved and adopted by a Spanish fisherman, Feliu, and his wife, Carmen, a religious woman who perceives the baby as a gift from God.

Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart. They can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that are difficult to achieve elsewhere. In this volume we examine one of the great names from the past whose works invite life, rituals and the spirit world together to fashion dramatic and chilling unforeseen happenings.

In modern society writing a letter, on paper, is almost unheard of. We all scribble notes and reminders but very rarely compose our thoughts in lengthy prose for another person to read. In this volume our talented authors bring us a plethora of narratives that centre themselves on how vital a few lines are to characters navigating through the twists and turns of a story.

"The Boy Who Drew Cats" is a Japanese folk tale collected by Lafcadio Hearn in Japanese Fairy Tales. This is his most anthologized story. It concerns a boy who drew cats everywhere. Everyone in the town thought this was a waste of time until a goblin invaded their temple. They boy, and his cat, then come to the rescue.

Una colección de cuentos y textos breves donde el terror y el intimismo se mezclan de la mano de uno de los maestros del cuento de terror japonés, Lafcadio Hearn. En ella, el autor presenta una serie de historias escalofriantes repletas de leyendas de amor y espectros, desde el canto de una cigarra hasta un detallado estudio de la yobina; a la vez que clama una vez más su amor por su país de adopción.

Patricio Lafcadio Tessima Carlos Hearn (1850-1904) was the son of a British father and Greek mother. He spent his early life in England, Ireland, France and America before moving in 1890 to Japan, where he married and settled. His most famous works are retellings of Japanese and Chinese folktales, in particular those of a ghostly or macabre nature. 'The Story of Chugoro' is the tale of a young man who is enticed into the clutches of a vampiric frog.

..But, if you ever tell anybody.... This is a well-known story in Japan. The excitement of a live performance as well as the horror of the original story and the exoticism of Japan has been fully recreated by an experienced staffs of radio dramas. This is part of the audio book series from the publisher of the hit title Rashomon-drama version. I hope you enjoy our presentation. (C)Kotonoha shuppan. The list of our audio books could be found at: http://www.kotonoha.co.jp

ろくろ首には、大きく分けると、首が伸びるものと、首が抜け頭部が自由に飛行するものの2種が存在します。さて、小泉八雲の『ろくろ首』に登場するのは……。なんとも不気味で不思議な話です。