Richard Gordon Smith (1858–1918)

So, I borrowed this book from the Amazon kindle lending program and was very excited for a new source of Japanese ghost stories. I was sorely disappointed. I got about a fifth through the book and my version was very poorly edited. Words ran together and some sections of sentences were completely missing, but so it goes with digital conversion. What really annoyed me is that the title says Ancient Japanese Ghost Stories. Only the first half of that title is vaguely true. These stories do take place in Japan and in the past at some point, be ghost stories? Not really. About half of the tales tangentially do contain ghosts, usually in the last paragraph. The rest are generally supernatural-ish but not at all unnerving, terrifying, or morality plays, qualities found in most Japanese ghost stories. I finally stopped reading when I read a tale that was just about a guy who everyone bought was great. No ghosts or supernatural pretense. My excitement was quelled and turned to disappointment. Oh well, time to look for another source.… (mehr)