Japanese Horror Culture

Fernando Gabriel Pagnoni Berns is assistant professor at the Universidad de Buenos Aires.Subashish Bhattacharjee is assistant professor of English at the University of North Bengal. Ananya Saha is PhD scholar in the Centre for English Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University.

• Introduction: Fernando Gabriel Pagnoni Berns and Subashish BhattacharjeePart 1: National Traumas and RepressionsChapter 1: The Ghost of Imperialism: Japan’s Forgotten Horrors in the Shadow of Sadako. Calum WaddellChapter 2: A Modern Monster: Shin-Godzilla and its Place in the Discourse Concerning 3.11 and National Resilience. Barbara GreeneChapter 3: Cultural Trauma, Cross-Flow of Aesthetics, and the Child: A Comparison between Ringu and The Ring. Bipasha MandalChapter 4: Space, Smoke and Mirrors: The Frightening Ambiguity of Ju-On: Origins (2020). Daniel KrátkýChapter 5: “The Dead Speak: Horror and the Modern Ghost in Eiji Otsuka’s The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service. Megan NegrychPart 2: Posthuman Monsters and Grotesque BodiesChapter 6: “Love in a Chair”: Industrialization and Exploitation Edogawa Rampo’s “The Human Chair” and Junji Ito’s Manga Adaptation. Leonie RowlandChapter 7: The Monstrous Feminine in Mari Asato’s J-Horror Films. Canela Ailén Rodriguez Fontao and Mariana Zárate

Japanese Horror Culture is a surprising read that ties together a wide variety of fields. The 14 essays show how culture, history, religion, folklore, social anxieties, and expectations shape the Japanese horror genre and how, in return, Japanese horror influences film and art across the globe…. Each essay includes thorough references, and some essays have additional notes. Horror fans will appreciate the many references to horror films, literature, and video games, but the squeamish may find the occasional details of some film scenes uncomfortable—even though the contributors do an excellent job tying these scenes to outside factors and anxieties. This reviewer gained a much greater understanding of and appreciation for the complexities and influences of J-horror. Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.