In the following, I will summarize, analyze and interpret the short ghost stories that are part of the so called “Kaidan: A Collection of New Tales” (Japanese Title: 怪談：新耳袋). Each story has a title and a number, is about five minutes long and usually in itself complete and independent. Rarely do they have a second part which is not clearly indicated to the viewer, but rather shown through other details like identical names or appearances. Additionally I will give a short historical summary of the development Japanese horror from the 1950s until today. Primarily, the first story I chose from the Collection of Tales is called臭い (Nioi) and revolves around a female high school student on her way back home from school. She encounters a woman in a kimono sitting in seiza with her back to the girl on the side of the road. The girl approaches the woman and asks whether she is feeling okay. By doing so she notices a strange smell, that of rotten smell, coming from the strange woman who does not react to the girl’s questions. The protagonist then decides to call the police but the phone does not go through with the call. As she is distracted the woman vanishes but appears behind her again while she is confusedly looking around. Still, the viewer cannot see the strange woman’s face and can by now conclude that there is something odd going on. The girl staggers back because of the rotten smell and suddenly the woman shakes her neck and upper body in an abrupt jolting motion similar to that of ghosts in popular horror movies. As she tries to escape the creature blocks her way again (all the while making unsettling cow-like noises), then lies out-stretched behind her and when the girl turns around to run the creature traps her food under hers. ... ... middle of paper ... ...2008. 2. Grétarsdóttir, Elisabeth Kristjana. Vengeful Ghosts in Japanese Contemporary Legends. Sigillum University, Iceland, 2012. http://skemman.is/en/item/view/1946/11628 3. Kenney, Elizabeth. Hanako, the Toilet Ghost. Kansai Gaidai University, N/A. 4. Tall, Teri. “Nambu World: Senninbari (Thousand Stitch Belts)” 04.02.2008 http://members.shaw.ca/nambuworld/senninbari.htm Accessed 16.5.2014 23:44 5. Smith, Chris. “Guide to understanding Japanese Horror” 18.02.2006. http://www.dreamdawn.com/sh/features/japanese_horror.php#10 Accessed: 13.05.2014, 11:48 6. Walter, Sarah. “Summer: Japan’s Ghost season“29.08.2013. http://www.tofugu.com/2013/08/29/summer-japans-ghost-season/ Accessed: 13.05.2014, 13:52 7. Meyers, Matthew. “An Online Database of Japanese Ghosts and Monsters” 2013 http://yokai.com/ Accessed: 14.05.2014 16:55 8. http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/怪談新耳袋
The storyteller is a 65 year old Hispanic woman from Riverhead, New York. I collected the story over the phone on April 2, 2006. She started off by telling me that the story took place in 1988 on Long Island. Her landlord had told her about a wonderful restaurant that she just had to go to, so on a Friday night the storyteller and her husband decided to try it out. When stepping up to the Jamesport Manor Inn she had a creepy feeling just from looking at the old mansion. She claimed that it had an eerie sort of feel to it and obviously did not look like a typical restaurant.
There are several other stories that I wish to share with you, but I will do so in Chapter 12, It’s All in the Photographs: The Ghost Writers. My daughters Stephanie and Megan, Ken O’Keefe, Scarlett McGrady, Leigh Schillings Edwards, Jon Matney, and I make up the key members of this team of paranormal investigators. Pamela Wilson Berry serves as an auxiliary member.
Chinese culture has many interpretations ghosts. One way they are seen as is people who have disgraced their family or country. An example of this in the novel is Maxine's aunt. She is considered a ghost because she disgraced her family by having a baby outside of marriage. They call her "Ghost! Dead ghost! Ghost! You have never been born." (Kinston 14) She drowns herself in the well to become one of the most feared ghost, the Shui Gui or watery ghost. These ghosts are said to be waiting for their victims, to pull them into the water to take the drowned ones place. In the novel another example of what the Chinese consider ghosts are American people. Sometimes they feel haunted by this unfamiliar culture, just as a ghost would haunt. "But America has been full of machines and ghosts- Taxi Ghosts, Bus Ghosts, Police Ghosts, Fire Ghosts, Meter Reader Ghosts, Tree Trimming Ghosts, Five-and-Dime Ghosts." (Kong 96) These examples are American people of any ethnicity. They are called ghosts because the Chinese are not familiar with the culture. Another example of the unfamiliarity is when, "Her husband looked like one of the ghosts passing the car wind...
This story, although somewhat unique in its exact plot, contains many elements that make it a typical and traditional ghost story. These elements suggest common fears in today’s society of people in general, and children specifically.
The Mammoth Book of Victorian and Edwardian Ghost Stories ed. Richard Dalby Carroll & Graf Publishers 1995.
Monsters have been depicted in different ways throughout history, but scholars like Jeffrey Jerome Cohen have been able to dissect how monsters are viewed by culture along with examining the various functions that monsters serve in horror fiction and films. His theses cover a broad expanse of interpretations, ranging from topics as different as how monsters represent cultural and societal conflicts to how they fascinate us. Stories like Peter Crowther’s “Ghosts with Teeth” make the reader reflect on a different type of monster, one that constantly undermines our societal and cultural expectations through taking the form of a human. Crowther’s story is profitably interpreted through Jerome Cohen’s “Seven Theses” about monsters, suggesting that “Ghosts with Teeth” is more than the horror story seen at face value.
to be a ghost story and is meant to be scary; the ghost really does
Thurber, James, and Sandra Higashi. The Night the Ghost Got in. Mankato, MN: Creative Education, 1983. Print.
Paman, Alex G. "Asian Ghost Stories." Yolk 31 Dec. 2000. Ethnic NewsWatch. Web. 14 Dec. 2011. .
Karr-Morse, R., & Wiley, M. S. (1997). Ghost from the Nursery. New York : The Atlantic Monthly Press.
The Nelly Butler hauntings is referred to as the first recorded ghost story in American history (LiBrizzi 5), and possibly the most exciting hauntings to date as there are still many unsolved mysteries. The apparition appeared on more than 30 separate occasions to over 100 witnesses in Sullivan, Maine, just over fifteen years after the American Revolution (5-6). Although the Nelly Butler apparition is one of the most convincing ghosts of all time, it was subject to suspicions of fraud. These claims turn out to be groundless as the evidence reveals the ghost to be genuine.
Ghosts, as with any other misunderstood group or people, have been preyed upon by others without understanding. The lack of knowledge about ghosts and haunting activity has led people astray as to what they really are. What Hollywood and television portrays is very inaccurate and cannot be relied upon as truthful. They show these spirits of the dead as being evil in nature, filled with malice and harmful intent. But that this is not the case. The field of paranormal activity is amazing. It has caught the imagination of people from every walk of life. It has always interested me and has influenced me to pick this as the topic for my research. Through this research I wish to uncover the truth about the existence of ghosts. I also wish to correct the wrong notions that people have about ghosts and enlighten non-believers.
Cheung, Theresa. The Element Encyclopedia of Ghosts & Hauntings. Element Encyclopedia Series. Unknown: Barnes & Noble, Inc., 2008.
A major aspect within ‘Ghost Dances’ is the characters and how they reflect the meaning of the story and what they resemble. There are two different groups of characters within this work, the Ghost Dancers and the Peasant Villagers. Each group acts o...
A mystery or ghost story is a story that contains a ghost or a supernatural element. Like in ‘The Signalman’ ghosts often appear as prophets of things to come.