Japanese Tales of Mystery & Imagination

"Rampo is Japan's foremost writer of mystery and tales of suspense".
—The journal of Asian Studies
Japanese Tales of Mystery and Imagination,the first volume of its kind translated into English, is written with the quick tempo of the West but rich with fantasy of the East. These nine bloodcurdling, chilling tales present a genre of literature largely unknown to readers outside Japan, including the strange story of quadruple amputee and his perverse wife; the record of a man who creates a mysterious chamber of mirrors and discovers hidden pleasures within; the morbid confession of a maniac who envisions a career of foolproof "psychological" murders; and bizarre tale of chair-maker who buries himself inside an armchair and enjoys the sordid "loves" of the women who sit on his handiwork. Lucid and packed with suspense, the stories of Japanese Tales of Mystery and imagination have enthralled Japanese readers for half a century.