Lafcadio Hearn

Kwaidan Lafcadio Hearn

Stories and Studies of Strange Things: A hundred thoughts suggested by the book might be written down, but most of them would begin and end with this fact of strangeness.


Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things (1904) is a book by Lafcadio Hearn that features several Japanese ghost stories and a brief non-fiction study on insects.


Hearn declares in his introduction to the first edition of the book, which he wrote on January 20, 1904, shortly before his death, that most of these stories were translated from old Japanese texts. He also states that one of the stories - Yuki-onna - was told to him by a farmer in Musashi Province, and his was apparently the first record of it, both by his own account and according to the research of modern folklorists. Riki-Baka is based on a personal experience of Hearn's. While he does not declare it in his introduction, Hi-Mawari - among the final narratives in the volume - seems to be a recollection of an experience in his childhood.


In the last half of the book, Hearn lists collected Chinese/Japanese superstitions and his own personal thoughts on various members of the insect world.


A Great Book for Lovers of the Truly Strange!