Lafcadio Hearn's "The Faceless Ghost" and Other Macabre Tales from Japan

A Graphic Novel

Over one hundred years ago, the writer and Japanophile Lafcadio Hearn gathered together a selection of kaidan, traditional Japanese ghost, myth, and mystery stories, and published them in English in over a dozen books. The kaidan feature vengeful ghosts and bewitching spirits that mete out karmic justice in eerie and sometimes horrifying ways. Some of the tales were Japanese versions of older Chinese tales of divination; others were influenced by Shinto and Buddhism, including a Buddhist-influenced mystery storytelling game popular in the Edo era (1603–1868). In contemporary culture, these stories have found new expression mostly in movies and manga. In this graphic novel, acclaimed manga creator Sean Michael Wilson and illustrator Michiru Morikawa present six of these classic, supernatural stories.