Of Ghosts and Goblins

by Lafcadio Hearn

Introducing Little Clothbound Classics: irresistible, mini editions of short stories, novellas and essays from the world's greatest writers, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith.

Celebrating the range and diversity of Penguin Classics, they take us from snowy Japan to springtime Vienna, from haunted New England to a sun-drenched Mediterranean island, and from a game of chess on the ocean to a love story on the moon. Beautifully designed and printed, these collectible editions are bound in colourful, tactile cloth and stamped with foil.

In this haunting collection, the phantoms and ghouls of Japanese folklore stalk the page. Lafcadio Hearn, a master storyteller, drew on traditional Japanese folklore, infused with memories of his own haunted childhood in Ireland, to create these chilling tales. They are today regarded in Japan as classics in their own right.


'The stories occupy the reverie world our mind projects onto the backs of our eyelids, where the ordinary mingles with the supernatural' - Wall Street Journal

Genres: Classics, Short Stories, Horror, Fantasy, Fiction, Mythology, Japanese Literature

203 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1904

About the author

Greek-born American writer Lafcadio Hearn spent 15 years in Japan; people note his collections of stories and essays, including Kokoro (1896), under pen name Koizumi Yakumo.

Rosa Cassimati (Ρόζα Αντωνίου Κασιμάτη in Greek), a Greek woman, bore Patrick Lafcadio Hearn (Πατρίκιος Λευκάδιος Χερν in Greek or 小泉八雲 in Japanese), a son, to Charles Hearn, an army doctor from Ireland. After making remarkable works in America as a journalist, he went to Japan in 1890 as a journey report writer of a magazine. He arrived in Yokohama, but because of a dissatisfaction with the contract, he quickly quit the job. He afterward moved to Matsué as an English teacher of Shimané prefectural middle school. In Matsué, he got acquainted with Nishida Sentarô, a colleague teacher and his lifelong friend, and married Koizumi Setsu, a daughter of a samurai.
In 1891, he moved to Kumamoto and taught at the fifth high school for three years. Kanô Jigorô, the president of the school of that time, spread judo to the world.

Hearn worked as a journalist in Kôbé and afterward in 1896 got Japanese citizenship and a new name, Koizumi Yakumo. He took this name from "Kojiki," a Japanese ancient myth, which roughly translates as "the place where the clouds are born". On that year, he moved to Tôkyô and began to teach at the Imperial University of Tôkyô. He got respect of students, many of whom made a remarkable literary career. In addition, he wrote much reports of Japan and published in America. So many people read his works as an introduction of Japan. He quit the Imperial University in 1903 and began to teach at Waseda University on the year next. Nevertheless, after only a half year, he died of angina pectoris.

Reviews

[Gerry Grenfell-Walford · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel as though I have been lacking just this book for a long time. Hearn wrote rich and lively stories that, though short, have much tension and vividness contained therein. Startling in their originality. Deeply evocative of a strange and powerful folk-memory. I was entranced and read them avidly, and finish the book craving more. But alas, how many tales never were gathered in and written down, and so became lost? The feeling of being ever on the edge of something big, but ultimately no longer knowable is strong!

23.10.22 Update: I found time to reread this, and must say that the level of detail and careful scene-setting and mood-creating is really noticeable the second time around. These traditional Japanese folk-tales are startlingly contemporary and filmic in their clever twists and horrible originality. Of course there's great variety in the stories, but there is also enough thematic, stylistic and literary continuity for the collection to really work. It's easy to imagine an animation in the style of 'Over the garden wall' based upon this. Charming, creepy, bewitching. Brilliant.


***** Great
**** Good
*** Fair
** Poor
* Oh

[Austin Rindfuss · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Thanks Alyce) certainly the most interesting book I’ve read in a while. Learned a lot, was uncomfortable at times, and found others to be super entertaining!

Standouts: Of Ghosts and Goblins, Passional Karma, The Gratitude of Samebito, The Story of Kwashin Koji, Jinkiniki

[Georgia Brack · Rating 2 out of 5]

Short story of ghosts and goblins

[Lindenblatt · Rating 3 out of 5]

These tales can be roughly divided into two categories:

1) Charming Japanese folktales about a fisherman marrying the beautiful daughter of a sea god, a young samurai falling in love with a frog fairy, a priest being cursed to live as a flesh-eating goblin until his redemption, and more young samurais being bewitched by all sorts of ghostly maidens. Some stories also provide historical information about emperors, battles, and wars. So far, so good.

And then there are:

2) Creepy Japanese ghost stories often involving a deceased wife coming back to haunt her former husband or, preferably, his new, young, beautiful and innocent wife. These stories are remarkably disturbing, not necessarily for their scariness, but for their violence and malice. Why would a happy, loved, pampered wife begrudge her widowed husband future happiness? None of these women had any reason to feel such hatred and I found their portrayal quite misogynistic. However, most other ghosts also seemed to haunt random persons for no specific reason. At least none were given.

In general, these are not bedtime stories. The majority of the stories involve brutal deaths, violence, and vindictiveness.

2.5 ⭐

[Pyramids Ubiquitous · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of fun but unimpactful ghost stories that are more xenophobic travelogue than creative terror.

Favorite Stories:
A Passional Karma
Of a Promise Kept
Of a Promise Broken

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of Ghosts and Goblins by Lafcadio Hearn is a collection of short stories based on Japanese folklore and legends. The stories feature various supernatural beings, such as ghosts, goblins, demons, vampires, and shape-shifters. The author uses his vivid imagination and poetic language to create a haunting atmosphere and a sense of wonder. The stories are also influenced by Hearn’s own experiences of growing up in Ireland, where he encountered many tales of the paranormal.

The book is part of the Little Clothbound Classics series by Penguin Books, which features mini editions of classic works with beautiful covers designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith. The book is suitable for readers who enjoy horror, fantasy, and Japanese culture.

Some of the stories in the book are:

The Dream of Akinosuke: A young farmer falls asleep under a cedar tree and dreams of living in a strange city with a beautiful wife and children. He wakes up to find that his dream was actually a glimpse into his past life

Mujina: A man encounters a faceless creature on a dark road and is terrified by its eerie laughter

Yuki-Onna: A snow woman spares the life of a young woodcutter on the condition that he never tells anyone about her. Years later, he marries a woman who resembles her and discovers her true identity.

I enjoyed reading the book overall, but as is often the case with collections of short stories, some were more engaging and satisfying than others.

[David Blommaart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having finished "The Library Of Babel" I expected more or less the same type of short stories in this book. And how wrong I was.

The short stories are all (based on) Japanese folklore, mostly stories that revolve around ghosts and goblins (duh), as well as love and death. To be honest, I did not expect to enjoy this as much as I did, but all stories were intruiging, haunting and beautiful in their own way. For someone who is a big fan of folklore and fairytales, some stories in this book are up there with the greats, and I definitely found a new favourite.

If you enjoy reading folklore and fairytales, as well as some more gruesome stories of spectres and monsters, I would 100% recommend this. While every story is great, here are my favourites:

A Passional Karma, Of A Promise Broken, The Story of Kwashin Koji, The Story of Mimi-Nashi-Hōïchi, Fikiniki.

Can't wait to annoy everyone with all these stories :)

9.5/10

[J.M. Langan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this little book. I enjoy folk stories and Japanese fiction, and although Lafcadio Hearn is not Japanese, his telling of these spooky tales worked beautifully. The only reason I have given this four stars is because the women all tend to be sirens, or witches or goblins, or ghosts. This, I understand, is because this is historical fiction originally written by men and retold by Hearn in about 1904 and is culurally correct for the periods Hearn retells his stories. I would have just liked one story where the woman was the hero.

[Popescu Constantin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Couple good stories ("Fragments" was definitely my favorite)

[Keelin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of funny/spooky short stories. These four were my absolute favorite:
1. of Ghosts and Goblins
2. A Passional Karma
3. Ingwa-Banashi
4. Jikininki
I would absolutely recommend this and a super quick read! Very different fairytales from western culture, but with similar “lessons” mostly on courage and vanity.

[Clare · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love a good ghost story, and what better than something spooky for Christmas. Japanese ghosts are a bit different to those of MR James, but just as flesh-crawlingly, spine-tinglingly horrid. More please

[Hultman · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Lee Foust · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've already reviewed Hearn's Kwaidan here and this collection is more of the same, actually even includes a handful of tales from that very volume. I also own a copy of Hearn's In Ghostly Japan, which I see also has two tales in common with this cute Penguin hardcover from that company's "Little Cloth-bound Classics" series, which are popular here in Italy as all of the Feltrinelli chains are carrying a selection of them.

I picked this one up in the Naples' train station recently as my train to Rome was late by a couple of hours, hence an extended book browsing. Anyway, I very much enjoy Hearn's translations and/or adaptations of these old Japanese supernatural tales. In the stories that were here new to me there was even more presence of the translator/adapter framing and explaining the tales that in most of the Kwaidan texts. Still, these are lovely tales and I quite enjoy Hearn's tone and interesting presence as our guide to them. This is a fine collection, I imagine perhaps a kind of greatest hits culled from the several books he published of Japanese supernatural tales. But be aware you'll have some crossover if you have any of the original publications.

[Issi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved some short stories in the book especially A Passional Karma or The Corpse-Rider, and The story of Mini-nashi-Hōïchi which has it own tale and culture of the time era. I definitely re-read these again if I could.

The only thing that saddens me is how quickly the book can ruin while reading. Even though it matches some stories. Some of the stories do not really interest me or very memorable in certain way as they feel silimar but has different results in each ending of the story.

[Komal Hashmi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars.

As it is the case with most short story collections that some are the best, others are good and some just for a one time read; this book was the same.

I thoroughly enjoyed some stories and others gave me a creepy feeling but a few of them felt just okay, and one or two of them were like a sleeping pill because I dozed off constantly while reading them. Overall an interesting collection of Japanese ghost stories.

[Meagan]

we get closer and closer to Halloween each day. the preparation must begin.

[Jennifer イギリスジェン · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first heard about Lafcadio Hearn when he was featured as a character in Natsume Soseki’s Sanshiro, and I picked this up after visiting his house in Matsue.

I had a bit of a slow start with this one but the compilation format made it very easy to dip in and out alongside other books. I started this on Halloween for the spooky vibes but I think it’s best suited as a late summer read to coincide with the Obon festival.

Hearn includes tales from around the country and I loved being able to spot places I’ve previously visited. Japan has a rich history of ghost stories and this is a great introduction.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some of the stories are fine, but this narrative style excites so little in me. Anaïs Nin wrote with the same affect; little parables with ambiguous endings (some of them bordering on unfinished).

[Riley Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent love it

[Ben Hewer-Darroch · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was going to clown on this dude for doing “Keikau means plan” in the 1890s, and i will do that, but this ended up being a really enjoyable read. The stories are short but interesting and this clothbound mini edition is very pretty and nice to hold. My one gripe is that they added no information or context about the stories or author. Im used to these kinds of modern reprintings at least having some foreword explaining what you are about to read and the context it was written in. Was annoyed i had to do all my own research without any base knowledge to even begin understanding why this Irish dude was writing japanese folktales. I still don’t even know how many of them are collected retellings vs original works by the author! Anyway fun read i liked the one about the man with an egg face that reads like a reddit two sentence horror.

[Tom Donlon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting short stories set in late imperial Japan, mostly centring around love and its tragic nature, death is a key theme throughout also. Very easy to read and accessible as a classic.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I will be honest. I mostly bought this book because it was small and well designed. There is just something wonderful about holding a book like this and it is easy to take with you in case you need something to read not on your phone. It turned out to be a collection of ethereal and haunting ghost stories. I enjoyed reading this exploration of Japanese folklore but more knowledge of the language and culture would probably result in a deeper enjoyment.

[Ewan Courts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book, only reason given a 4/5 was purely due to my preference of a more in depth singular story rather than a multitude of smaller ones. Had no idea it would be Japanese folklore going in but it made the experience a whole lot more enjoyable

[Stratovela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Certainly a gem.

[Annabelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lafcadio Hearn is a name I associate with old gothic ghost stories and Japan, but not old gothic ghost stories of Japan, which is what this book is all about, and something I did not expect.

There are twenty stories in the book, and what Hearn, who lived and eventually became a citizen of Japan does is retell them to a western audience. At least that's how I understand it. Because this book, so beautifully bound and perfectly sized for easy reading, has neither introduction nor preface, just when you need it most--for context, if nothing else.

The stories are short, some less than three pages long, and has nothing in the way of characterization. Almost all the protagonists are honorable samurai, with most of the narratives following a template: young man veers off a path in the forest/riverside/alley and meets an elemental spirit/shapeshifter in the guise of an ethereal, beguilingly beautiful female; man is enchanted (literally), and succumbs to her charms. This is usually followed by some well-meant interventions, with varying degrees of success. All this may sound banal and predictable, but these old Japanese ghost stories are different from the western ghost stories I'm used to. In fact they're more like our Filipino ghost stories, hinged on tradition and superstition, and involving nocturnal and supernatural deities falling in love with humans, and luring them into their realms with music, beauty, and a palpable, sensory contentment. I was more fascinated by the stories which deviated form the usual formula, particularly the jikininki, who feasts on fresh corpses, and of the Rokuro-Kubi, whose heads, come evening, detach from the necks and float away in search of sustenance: humans. One way to kill them is to move their bodies to a different location, so "the head will never be able to join itself again to the neck." Which sound almost like our manananggals who, severed from their torsos, fly around in search of pregnant women to feed on. Endemic to the Philippines, our kill strategy for manananggals is less labor intensive: simply find the lower torso, apply garlic on it, and reconnection will be impossible.

Hearn wrote these stories in the last nineteenth century. But the scenery and visuals I'm getting, from cross-dimensional romantic interludes to corpse-riders, jikininki, or the floating heads of Rokuro-Kubi--variations of these are alive and well in today's Japanese anime.

Two and a half stars.

[Anthomansland · Rating 4 out of 5]

A special ad-hoc edition made half for decorative purposes (with a very pretty cover) and half for an introduction to Japanese folklore.

Lafcadio Hearn - of his Japanese name Koizumi Yakumo - was a Greek British writer and translator, famous for being the very first otaku. Over the course of his journeys in Japan, he collected, translated and commented some folklore tales, and became the West's original gateway to Japanese culture.

As a short and sweet book, this collection is light on the details and only a bunch of stories are included. Some footnotes from the original material, as well as a glossary at the end, provide some context. The life of Lafcadio Hearn is not described in some introduction, which is a slight loss. However it does make for quick and easy reading at only a hundred or so short pages.

The themes in the book are, as the title says, Ghosts and Goblins. As in Western stories, it is quite interesting to note that most of Japanese folktales are esssentially the same story, with some slight variations and twists. A very common theme in the stories is the deception and vow of secrecy that ghosts force their human victims to take; that vow is then broken by the victim under the pressure of their friends, or of a priest. The results of the oathbreaking vary. Sometimes, it is a curse for the human, as the ghost was a very powerful entity of a realm under the water. Other times, it is the only way for the human being to save their soul.

A common thread of those stories is love - usually, the forbidden love of a ghost for a human being. Such loves are presented as depraved, forbidden, and often result in the demise of the human being. Interesting, they often appear with an element of class difference. The ghastly woman is of a different rank - sometimes a higher woman who fell from grace, sometimes a poor mountain peasant - than the human who courts her. In a similar fashion, there is no example of a male ghost seducing a human female. However, there is at least one example of a jealous ghost woman cursing her living rival. These folk stories do tell, by small touches, a little bit of what Japanese culture was like back in the time of Hearn. It should, however, be kept in mind that this is but a very small collection without any real commentary. An interested reader would be wise to look for more material.

Another interesting and unique Japanese colour of these stories is their Buddhist elements. It is often a given that the characters are merely one incarnation of an eternal and travelling soul, which has existed before their birth and will continue after their death. Particularily vengeful ghosts are seen as consequences of a particularily bad Karmic life. Likewise, a powerful love is not merely contained to one existence, but is sworn "across seven lives". Lafcadio Hearn does comment how the impermanence of life in Buddhist cultures and their relationship to the afterlife contrast with more Western concepts of Heaven and Hell.

The stories are quite fun to read and paint an interesting picture of late medieval Japan. However, they are still merely blurbs and folktales, with repetitive patterns and clear tropes. A good book to read to get an idea of Japanese "couleur locale", but by no means anything original or ground-breaking.

[Molly Parsons-O'Connor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciate this may not be the most relatable anecdote that I have, but if you grew up in Ireland and studied Japanese, you heard a lot about Lafcadio Hearn. Hearn is a Greek-Irish writer who travelled to Japan in the late 19th century and who gathered stories of Japanese folklore, translated them and introduced them to a Western audience. Being the great link between Japan and Ireland, he came up a lot over the course of my study of the language for my Leaving Certificate and so I couldn’t resist buying a beautiful, clothbound anthology of his work when I stumbled across it in a bookstore. I read the whole thing in one go on Halloween night and happily lost myself in the strange and eerie world of Japanese demons, goblins and spirits. I highly recommend this to anyone looking for an atmospheric and spooky read this autumn.

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Historias con montones distintos de yokai. Muchas de ellas tienen como protagonistas samuráis o monjes y se entrevé parte del Japón feudal en donde están ambientadas. Leerlo se siente un poco como ver El viaje de Chihiro donde a través del bosque uno se transporta a un lugar lleno de criaturas fantásticas, con diferentes reglas y aventuras comparado con la vida cotidiana.

Al leerlo creo que un buen consejo es buscar los grabados sobre todos los espectros que se mencionan.

Dentro de todas las cosas que son distintas a las historias de terror occidentales, una de las que más me llamó la atención es que el concepto de reencarnación en el budismo hace que el acercamiento a la muerte sea muy distinto cuando se trata el tema de la vida más allá de la muerte.

[Tim Hicks · Rating 5 out of 5]

This little bento box of stories is delicious.
They were published in 1904 but it doesn't matter because the stories are from long ago.
And they're presented by a Greek-Irish author! *

Each one leaves you with "that was deliciously creepy" and a few add "aw, that was nice."

Hearn presents his versions much more crisply and efficiently than what I've seen in similar works by others. Maybe it's his background in journalism.

* If you liked this, or if you can't decide about reading it, click on the author link at the top, or look him up on Wikipedia. He led a really interesting life.

[Guenter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cannot pinpoint exactly what enamours me to the works of Japanese literary masters such as Lafcadio Hearn, Osamu Dazi and Ryonsuke Akutagawa, but all three strike a chord that harmonizes perfectly with my soul and I come away reading their work like one who has drank the purist water after being parched for a very long time. This collection brings together many of the best ghost stories from Lafcadio Hearn's other great books including 'In Ghostly Japan', 'Kwaidan' and 'Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan' which are all equally worth reading.