13.07.2023

“Japandemonium Illustrated: The Yokai Encyclopedias of Toriyama Sekien” by Toriyama Sekien, Hiroko Yoda and Matt Alt

Magick Matters
"Japandemonium Illustrated: The Yokai Encyclopedias of Toriyama Sekien" by Toriyama Sekien, Hiroko Yoda and Matt Alt
"Japanese folklore abounds with bizarre creatures collectively referred to as the yokai ― the ancestors of the monsters populating Japanese film, literature, manga, and anime. Artist Toriyama Sekien (1712–88) was the first to compile illustrated encyclopedias detailing the appearances and habits of these creepy-crawlies from myth and folklore. Ever since their debut over two centuries ago, the encyclopedias have inspired generations of Japanese artists. Japandemonium Illustrated represents the very first time they have ever been available in English. This historically groundbreaking compilation includes complete translations of all four of Sekien's yokai masterworks: the 1776 Gazu Hyakki Yagyō (The Illustrated Demon Horde's Night Parade), the 1779 Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki (The Illustrated Demon Horde from Past...>>
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13.07.2023

“Kwaidan: Ghost Stories and Strange Tales of Old Japan” by Lafcadio Hearn (2006 Dover illustrated edition)

Magick Matters
"Kwaidan: Ghost Stories and Strange Tales of Old Japan" by Lafcadio Hearn (2006 Dover illustrated edition)
"A blind musician with amazing talent is called upon to perform for the dead. Faceless creatures haunt an unwary traveler. A beautiful woman — the personification of winter at its cruelest — ruthlessly kills unsuspecting mortals. These and 17 other chilling supernatural tales — based on legends, myths, and beliefs of ancient Japan — represent the very best of Lafcadio Hearn's literary style. They are also a culmination of his lifelong interest in the endlessly fascinating customs and tales of the country where he spent the last fourteen years of his life, translating into English the atmospheric stories he so avidly collected."...>>
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13.07.2023

“Complete Works of Lafcadio Hearn” by Lafcadio Hearn (Delphi Classics)

Magick Matters
"Complete Works of Lafcadio Hearn" by Lafcadio Hearn (Delphi Classics)
"In the Victorian era, Lafcadio Hearn introduced the culture and literature of Japan to the West. Celebrated for his collections of Japanese legends and ghost stories, as well as writings about the city of New Orleans, Hearn produced a diverse and inimitable range of works. This comprehensive eBook presents Hearn’s complete works in English, with numerous illustrations, rare texts appearing in digital print for the first time, informative introductions and the usual Delphi bonus material."...>>
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13.07.2023

“Ghastly Tales from the Yotsuya kaidan” by Takashi Saitō (revised and corrected translation)

Magick Matters
"Ghastly Tales from the Yotsuya kaidan" by Takashi Saitō (revised and corrected translation)
"Perhaps the most famous and oft told tales of horror in Japan, the Yotsuya kaidan tells of a young woman named Iwa and the curse she carried out after her death against those who had wronged her in life. For nearly three hundred years in the repertoire of itinerant storytellers, in dramatic performances on stage, and in modern adaptations for anime and film, Iwa's story has lost none of its intoxicating power over the imagination. Just over a hundred years on from its original publication, the English translation has been radically revised for overall readability in the hope of securing its place among the classics of world literature."...>>
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13.07.2023

“Pandemonium and Parade: Japanese Monsters and the Culture of Yokai” by Michael Dylan Foster

Magick Matters
"Pandemonium and Parade: Japanese Monsters and the Culture of Yokai" by Michael Dylan Foster
"Water sprites, mountain goblins, shape-shifting animals, and the monsters known as yôkai have long haunted the Japanese cultural landscape. This history of the strange and mysterious in Japan seeks out these creatures in folklore, encyclopedias, literature, art, science, games, manga, magazines, and movies, exploring their meanings in the Japanese cultural imagination and offering an abundance of valuable and, until now, understudied material. Michael Dylan Foster tracks yôkai over three centuries, from their appearance in seventeenth-century natural histories to their starring role in twentieth-century popular media. Focusing on the intertwining of belief and commodification, fear and pleasure, horror and humor, he illuminates different conceptions of the "natural" and the "ordinary" and sheds light on broader...>>
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