Week Three: Japanese Horror






            One thing that might separate folk supernatural and ghost stories to Hollywood horror is that they are also meant to expound lessons relating to the culture it was created in. “THE RETURN OF YEN-TCHIN-KING” from “Some Chinese Ghosts” From Lafcadio Hearn of those and one in the collection in particular feels like it has a message to say. I can only speculate from a western viewpoint, and so I cannot say what the author’s intentions were, only what my own personal interpretations are.
            The big theme of this story is loyalty and how even in death you will be rewarded. Throughout the short he displays exemplary poise in the face of those than can- and do, harm him. This story is set up so that his resolve keeps being tested, from terrifying imagery to the mockery of the rebels, and eventually to offering a lucrative position. Yet we see him remain loyal, even in death he lays in such a way to bow to “his beloved Master.” Then we learn even though enough time has passed for him to decompose, his body remains uncorrupted in death, which tells us and the people he is rewarded “Verily the blessed Tchin-King hath taken his place among the divinities of Heaven!”
The promise of rewards beyond life is something that is seen in other cultures, notably Christianity.

In The Tattooer we see an obsession with creation that is reminiscent of Frankenstein. I’m unsure how to take this story. First I thought it would be body horror, about forcibly having an attacker leave a permanent tattoo mark, but then it seemed the real horror of this story being fundamentally changed? In the end it seems the tattooer will get the same ending most people do who create a monster- the end up being victims. I’m not entirely sure of the significance of the spider being wreathed in flames is. Does this imply that the tattoo flames off or is it supernatural in nature that flame designs appear graphically on the skin? Maybe I’m too much of a visual designer but that’s a cool idea.

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