Japanese Ghosts and Monsters

These are stories about ghosts and monsters from an extraordinary world. Most of them are terrifying, but there are also benevolent spirits to think about as we fall asleep: the clacking wooden sandals betobeto-san, which we can get rid of by saying: "Please go ahead, Betobeto-san!" The bake-zōri—worn-out, haunted sandals—will stop playing pranks if we simply throw them away. And let us not forget that we can ask the nightmare-devouring spirit baku to help us by writing our name on a piece of paper and placing it under our pillow. We can also scare off the evil spirit mikoshi-nyūdō, who constantly follows us, with the words: "I see further than you!", or politely send away the frightening okuri-inu by saying: "Thank you for accompanying me!"

And if you are plagued by the ghost cats bakeneko or nekomata, just in case, get yourself one of the porcelain cats known as maneki-neko. They bring good luck.

Ognyana Ivanova

The book is richly illustrated with paintings by famous artists.