WEEK 3 - J-Horror: "Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things"

If you're searching for short stories that ultimately tell tales of man-eating monsters and supernatural occurrences, look no further! Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things is a collection of just that, written by Lafcadio Hearn in 1998. These short stories take place all over asian countries-- both modern and ancient, giving readers a unique take on the culture as well as supernatural lore of the time period. While some may be more chilling than others, the concepts as a whole still fit under this week's category in focus: Asian Supernatural Narratives, while telling a story with a convincing and applicable moral to every day life.

For example, the Jinkininki story focuses on the protagonist Muso Kokushi-- a priest whose immediate conflict seems to be the need for food and lodging. Naturally, he finds himself strangely guided elsewhere by an even-tempered man (who we later find out to be the evil, man-eating spirit). But several questions remain-- why on earth would any person in their right mind follow the direction of a shady man who angrily refuses hospitality to his neighbors/visitors? He acted extremely suspicious. Furthermore, the villagers/inhabitants acted even more strangely when they mentioned the death of one of their own. Wouldn't they find it important enough to mention, instead of leaving Muso to figure it out on his own and "almost" die at the hands of the rumored Jinkininki? It IS an interesting twist at the end though, when the "priest" Muso met in the beginning was actually revealed to be the Jinkininki. Even though he eats corpses, perhaps the real "monster" is actually the villagers.

The other featured stories, including Of A Mirror and A Bell, Mimi Hashi Hoichi, Mujina, Diplomacy, Rokura-Kubi, although quite spooky and fascinating in nature, generate many other lingering questions long after they end-- Why did Umegae's plea for money get almost-immediately answered, while the farmer (who also seemed to need money) failed? Perhaps it was because he made a fake bell after hearing of Umegae's success, that caused him to receive no money... thus, enforcing the moral that you should be grateful for what you have. Greed is not a virtue, but rather, a sin. Why would Hoichi's friend leave him alone, knowing how vulnerable he was (especially when meditating)? How could he be so careless with covering Hoichi in the protective markings? Why was the man in Diplomacy executed so senselessly? They didn't even seem to have any reason for it other than mere suspicion (what happened to innocent until proven guilty?) Overall, that short story seemed too... well, short and abrupt, for lack of better words. In Mujina, why did everyone have no facial features whatsoever? What was even the point? Is the poor merchant simply trapped in some nightmarish reality that he cannot escape from?

While many questions still remain, the short stories overall still maintain some sense of mystery and moral-- both elements that keep the readers interested and hooked until the end. While reading these stories, I had a feeling similar to that generated by Greek mythology and Aesop's Fables-- again, one with some sort of moral or portrayal of humanity. Like many horror novels and films-- traditional and modern, there were stupid characters who made stupid choices, but the trade off for that was the fact that each story had an ending that prompted some sort of interpretation from the reader. Nothing is ever fully answered or solved, which makes these stories that much more interesting.