Kwaidan and Other Asian Ghost Stories by Lafcadio Hearn

The Next Weird House Classics edition is up for preorder!

Signed and lettered deluxe hardcover with slipcase!

Foreword by Curtis M. Lawson

Frontispiece artwork and interior illustrations by Frank Walls!

Step into the darkest recesses of Far Eastern folklore and ghost stories. In this book you will find violent spirits of cursed samurai, the cold beauty of snow witches, and haunting visions of the restless dead, all set against the beautiful backdrop of bygone times. These ghost stories are old, passed down over centuries, bringing terror and delight to each new generation. They grow no less haunting over the years.

Lafcadio Hearn's interpretations of weird folk tales from the Orient served as a primer for Western readers about authentic horror from Japan and beyond. His take on these stories is steeped in a deep love and admiration of the culture, and his literary voice lends a familiar, if unsettling, aspect to each tale. His stories also served as the inspiration for the 1964 Academy Award-winning film, Kwaidan, and they have inspired generations of storytellers since.

In this gorgeous Weird House Classics edition, you will find Hearn's haunting and authentic tales, compiled from his various books on the subject, accompanied by the beautifully macabre art of celebrated artist Frank Walls. This is a must-own book for any horror aficionado collector.

PRAISE FOR KWAIDAN

“The Japanese have a real sense of gratitude to Patrick Lafcadio Hearn for preserving and popularizing so much of their eerie supernatural folklore, and with this beautiful volume you will experience that gratitude, too!”
— Jeffrey Thomas, author of The American

“Despite their age, these unusual tales carry a great deal of chilly impact in their accounts of ghosts, possessed forests, undead samurai, man-eating goblins, and corpse brides, to name only a few of their subjects.”
— Locus Online

“Hearn Chronicles Japan for the West. He makes accessible Japanese myth and the richness of their culture and his fables are full of passion.”
— Guillermo del Toro

“Some books ask to be read for plot. Others for atmosphere. Kwaidan by Lafcadio Hearn belongs to another category altogether. It is a book to dwell inside.”
— The Haiku Foundation

“Japanese ghost stories don't scream. They whisper, and somehow, that's worse.”
— Birdsong Chronicles

“Hearn’s rendering of these Japanese folktales helped make him internationally famous in his lifetime. Today he has largely disappeared from the ranks of Twain, Poe, and Stevenson, but the culture and aesthetics of Japan that his books helped import to the West live on in art and architecture.”
— Smithsonian Libraries