History Academy

William Stephenson

A Goblin without a Body and a Monster without a Face. A resourceful Samurai and a loyal daughter. A Moon Spirit and a Dragon King.

This collection of popular Japanese Myths brings ancient traditions to modern readers in an atmosphere of Unrest, Adventure, Fear and Enchantment. Taken from the original works, these tales can be terrifying, but hilarious and poetic at the same time.

A deep dive into Japanese Mythology, including extraordinary tales, malevolent spirits, disturbing monsters and supernatural creatures.

By reading this book you will enter a world that is neither Legend nor History. You might consider this book a sort of "hybrid" between reality and fantasy. The text is based on folk tales, beliefs and sightings, but also on old official documents that are often more disturbing than horror stories. 

This text does not simply collect descriptions and illustrations of the mythological creatures of Japan, of Popular Folklore and of its frightening Myths, but sets itself the ambitious objective of transmitting the moods, and give life to the situations, events and places that gave birth to them, poised between good and evil, light and shade, between what is known but not said out of fear and what is unknown but fascinating to discover. 

Monsters, Ghosts, Mythological Beings and Supernatural Phenomena of all sorts haunt the Folklore and Popular Culture of Japan. So called "Yokai", Creepy Hybrid creatures, half human and half animal, manifesting in infinite shapes and sizes, from the Tengu Mountain Goblins and Kappa Water Spirits, to Shape Shifting Foxes and Long Tongue Lickers. 

You will be plunged into a world where we constantly wonder whether what we see is real or the fruit of our imagination, our fear of the dark, or repulsion for dirt or our distrust of the different.

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