Well, I finally finished reading Asian Ghost Short Stories. I don't mean that in a bad way. This is a big book with a lot of stories, mostly very short at 3 or 4 pages, but also some that are longer. Most of the stories are more like anecdotes, more like a little tale you might mention to your co-workers--if you happen to talk to your co-workers about ghosts. Not exactly the three-act-structure. I'm guessing this is due to being ancient and from various parts of Asia, though I'm no expert. There are some more modern stories that are closer to what current readers are used to. Though there is nothing wrong with the very short ghostly anecdotes. I learned a lot about past societies in Japan, China, and India.
The main problem with so having so many stories is that a few of them seemed quite a bit alike Beautiful teenage girl is a ghost or a demon or a fox. Not foxy like Jimi Hendrix' Foxy Lady but a literal fox. There are a bunch of stories where lovely teenage girls are either dead, demonized, or a fluffy little canine. Most of the girls are marriage material which gives it an ick factor, but these are old stories set in old times. Many are written by Western writers or translated by Western writers although there are Asian authors. A shout out to my favorite, The Silence of Farewells by Yelin Wang. I also really enjoyed Ghost Fire by Emily Teng. Thank you to Netgalley and Flame Tree for allowing me to read and review an eARC of Asian Ghost Short Stories.
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