Tales of Mystery and Imagination

Product Description

Octavo, black cover with pasted illustration. 31 plates, some in color loosely attached to pages.

Japanese Tales of Mystery and Imagination

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Weird Fiction that deserves recognition
Japanese Wierd Tales
A wonderful collection of stories!
An Oriental Poe, without the Poe Punch
weird...

Japanese Tales of Mystery and Imagination
Edogawa Rampo
Manufacturer: Tuttle Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0804803196

Customer Reviews:

Weird Fiction that deserves recognition.......2006-09-09

First let me say that I picked this volume up with low expectations and now I must say that I'm deeply impressed.Here is a writer whose vision is entirely his own, his style succint and easy to understand.
Although frequently labelled as a mystery writer, Rampo`s short stories are best viewed as weird fiction with pulp mystery flavour.
All stories are worth reading but THE HUMAN CHAIR is an undisputed masterpiece and in my humble opinion one of the best weird short stories ever written
Edogawa Rampo is an original and deserves recognition and a larger audience.

THE JAPANESE TALES OF MYSTERY AND IMAGINATION:

The Human Chair ======================== *****
Psychological Test ===================== ***
The Caterpillar ======================== *****
The Cliff ============================== ****
The Hell Of Mirrors ==================== *****
The Twins ============================== ****
The Red Chamber ======================== ***1/2
The Two Cripple Man ==================== ***1/2
The Traveller with the Pasted... ======= ***1/2

Japanese Wierd Tales.......2004-10-19

I can think of few more truly disturbing stories than Edogawa Rampo's "The Chair." A psychologically fable describing in minute detail how a master furniture maker, obsessed with an unachievable woman, creates a chair with himself hidden inside. This chair is given to the woman, and each time she sits in it she nestles unknowingly in his lap, puts her weight onto him, lays her head against his face. The furniture maker silently feels her every night, without her ever knowing. The atmosphere, the detail of the language, and the sheer nature of the story combine for one of the classics of this genre.

"The Chair" is of course included in "Japanese Tales of Mystery & Imagination," a compilation by the father of Japanese mystery writing. Much is made of his adopting the Japanese pronunciation of Edgar Allan Poe as his pen name, but Rampo's style is his own. He favors psychological horror, and there are few elements of the supernatural to be found. Sociopaths and obsessives seem to be his stock in trade, with detailed exercises on how to commit the perfect, untraceable murder. Many of the stories end with some unexpected revelation, although I would not call it a "twist ending." The obsessive nature of the stories renders them all the more disturbing, as almost every story is something that could conceivably happen.

In addition to the excellent "The Chair," you will find "The Caterpillar" featuring a cruel wife's abuse of her de-limbed husband, "The Cliff," a back-and-forth story that will leave you wondering who is manipulating who, "The Hell of Mirrors," a man obsessed with optics and reflecting surfaces descent into insanity, "The Red Chamber," revealing the true nature of those who are attracted to stories of others deaths, "The Two Crippled Men," a story of a murderous sleepwalker who commits crimes without ever knowing it and "The Traveler with the Pasted Rag Picture," the only story with a supernatural twinge, showing brotherly devotion and love of the unreal.

Each story in "Japanese Tales of Mystery & Imagination" is well-selected, and James B. Harris does a fine job with the translation, maintaining the tension and original intention. The only real shame is that this is the only collection of Rampo's works that has been translated into English. After reading this you will long for more.

A wonderful collection of stories!.......2004-04-18

I am a huge Japanophile and a lover of dark tales of mystery and I found that this book is the best of both worlds. After reading these stories, I pulled out my dusty old collection of Poe stories and started reading them all over. The translations are excellent (despite a few questionable spellings) and the overall feel of the novel is very Poe-esque (undoubtedly because Edogawa Ranpo, himself, assisted the translator in the creation of this collection).

While a few reviewers have criticized Edogawa Ranpo for his stories lacking Poe's feel for the dark horror novel, one must know that Edogawa Ranpo is regarded as the father of the Japanese MYSTERY novel, not horror. So, for anyone hoping to get a good scare from this book, you will be let down.

But, with that said, the stories are wonderful and I, quite honestly, would have forgotten that the stories were set in Japan if not for character names. A beautiful collection of dark mysteries that would please fans of Poe's "The Purloined Letter" and "The Tell-Tale Heart," but not necessarily fans of "The Pit and the Pendulum."

I highly recommend this book to fans of Japanese literature, those who like the "Kindaichi Case Files" (Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo) and fans of a good mystery.

An Oriental Poe, without the Poe Punch.......2003-06-20

One of the hallmarks of Japanese civilization has been its propensity for adopting foreign ideas, improving them slightly, and then remarketing them competitively with brutal efficiency: from Japanese ideograms to corporate inventory systems to economy and luxury cars, this cultural tactic has served the island nation well.

It is unfortunate, then, that Hirai Taro, who adopted the pen-name Edogawa Rampo (a play on the Japanese pronunciation of Edgar Allen Poe's name, which James Harris's boring introduction spends far too much time on) was not able to draw on that distinctly Japanese capacity to modify and improve with his "Japanese Tales of Mystery and Imagination", inspired by his love affair with the works of that Godfather of the American horror tale, Edgar Allen Poe.

There are some sleek, black little slivers of grue in this collection, to be sure, and the book is highly recommended for horror completists and those who are interested in what is certainly a literary curiosity. For instance, there is "The Chair", a nasty little shocker about a deformed and lonely chairmaker who gives in to his fantasy of being sealed up in a chair of his own making: at first to steal from the hotel in which the chair is placed, and then, by degrees, to derive his own pleasure from the sensation of being so close, separated only by cloth and leather, from the bodies of those who sit in the chair.

There are two other stories in this little volume that approach the raw grue of "The Chair": "Two Crippled Men", a tale of somnambulism and trickery, and "Caterpillar", a nasty, perverse little story about a woman and her horribly maimed husband, a veteran with no limbs and no ability to hear or speak; this last story resembles in form and in tone the classic French 'contes-cruelles', where the greatest of horror is found, not in the supernatural, but in the perversities and nastiness that men practice on their neighbors, friends, and lovers.

The other tales in the book are variations on the same theme: committing the perfect crime. These are typically well staged, slightly eerie, and all make good use of their Japanese settings, but ultimately the redundancy becomes tiresome, and the stories lack that nasty final bite that characterizes the true tale of terror. Even with the stunning "Chair", Rampo manages to undermine his own ending, sapping the tale's initial unsettling power.

"The Chair" is unique; it is hard to imagine a similar horror tale that manages to creep under the skin so effectively; for that reason, I give Rampo's little volume 3 stars. If you're intrigued by the prospect of "The Chair" and "The Caterpillar", then by all means buy the book, but don't expect Rampo's other tales to have the pungency of evil and the thrill of these first two stories.

weird..........2003-03-21

I've just finished reading this book today and let me tell you that it was quite a ride. I use to read horror fiction quite often, but as I got older I kind of let it fall to the wayside. But for my modern Japanese literature class we had to read this book, and Let me tell you that it really, really was something else. I don't want to go into any details about the short stories, because one should experience them for oneself. Some of you out there might remember a film about Edogawa that was released a few years ago. Well, if you liked that film I am pretty sure that you will enjoy this book also.

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A Fun Read!
Delightful!
Where are they now?

Iris, Messenger
Sarah Deming
Manufacturer: Harcourt Children's Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0152058230

Book Description

Dreamer Iris Greenwold doesn't care much for the real world. It's generally pretty disappointing: divorced parents, unsympathetic peers, and a middle school that is hell. But then, on her twelfth birthday, Iris mysteriously receives a copy of Bulfinch's Mythology and discovers that the entire pantheon of gods are living in the greater Philadelphia area. Poseidon's running a clam shack, Aphrodite's doing makeovers, Apollo's playing tenor sax. . . .

Suddenly the day-to-day life Iris found so humdrum is rich with new meaning and excitement, and all her dreams are not quite what they seemed.

Includes an author's note and a key to the gods and goddesses.

Customer Reviews:

A Fun Read!.......2007-09-16

Yes, it's another Greek pantheon novel (no doubt attempting to capitalize on the success of Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series). It's distinctive, though, because the voice is so good. Witty, light; this book moves fast. The plot is a little slight and episodic, but the told stories (several deities relate their back stories) are wonderful. And the dynamic between Iris and her soybean-ologist mom is terrific.

One thing that bothered me is the cover (and I know the author has no control over this; her publisher could have done better by her). The girl, Iris, is the protagonist, yet the cover features a character who, while somewhat important to the plot, is peripheral. And male. Iris protags, why not have her as the central actor on the cover? Even so, I'll definitely look for more from this author, with the hopes that she takes on something more substantial next time.

Delightful!.......2007-09-11

Iris, Messenger is a wonderful book for young and old alike! I thoroughly enjoyed the humanity she imbued into the Greek Gods as well as all the splashes of Philly in the book! A definite must-have for your library. Can't wait for her next book:)

Where are they now? .......2007-05-10

In "Iris, Messenger" we meet wonderfully flawed gods and goddesses in suburban east coast America. This short novel is a wonderful vehicle to get reacquainted with Greek mythology. Sarah Deming's clever retelling of ancient stories enable me to recall the myths much more than I ever did in my 6th grade English class.

Iris suffers the Sturm and Drang of many modern preadolescents and adolescents. This book effectively weaves 21st century concerns of how we search for meaning in our lives with stories that have held up for eons. When I reached the end of the book I realized I had been hoping for redemption of these mythic characters. The book's conclusion reminded me that transformation occurs in quieter, individual ways.

This book is written for "10 and up" and this does not convey what a gem this novel is for all ages. Highly recommended for everyone you know who is attracted to mythology and great storytelling.

Poe: Illustrated Tales of Mystery And Imagination

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diverse, imaginative illustrations of tales of Poe

Poe: Illustrated Tales of Mystery And Imagination

Manufacturer: Dgv
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Poe Illustrated: Art by Dore, Dulac, Rackham and Others

ASIN: 3899551591

Book Description

Edgar Allan Poe, widely recognized as one of the greatest American writers of short stories and poems and acknowledged as the inventor of detective stories, greatly influenced the modern thriller. A master in creating characters and plots that send shivers down your spine, his dark, gothic, and horrifying tales and poems of mystery and imagination now come to life in this book, featuring artworks by eminent international designers.

POE contains nine short stories, including his celebrated masterpieces, "The Pit and the Pendulum", "The Masque of the Red Death" and "The Black Cat" as well as poems including "The Bell" and "The Raven", certainly Poe's best known work and arguable the most popular poem ever written. Poe's works are complimented by elaborate illustrations by contemporary designers such as Usugrow, Casaramona, Jen Ray, Brian Ewing and others.

This lavishly illustrated hardcover volume is sure to enthrall Poe's most rabid fans and arouse the interest of those who are reading Poe for the first time.

Customer Reviews:

diverse, imaginative illustrations of tales of Poe.......2007-01-03

Thirteen artists from countries ranging from France to Japan illustrate as many Poe short stories. Among the stories The Tell-Tale Heart, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Masque of Red Death, and other Poe classics of the macabre and supernatural are styles in the vein of computer art, graphics, wood blocks, fantasy, and comics and illustrated book art seen throughout popular culture as well as creative and commercial art. Intended as a showcase for the 13 artists as well as a contemporarily illustrated edition of Poe stories, at the back of the book are email and website contacts for each artist.

The Complete Tales of Mystery and Imagination: The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym ; The Raven and Other Poems (Treasury of World Masterpieces)

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The Complete Tales of Mystery and Imagination: The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym ; The Raven and Other Poems (Treasury of World Masterpieces)
Edgar Allan Poe
Manufacturer: Octopus Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Tales of Mystery & Imagination (Paperback Classics)

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Tales of Mystery & Imagination (Paperback Classics)
Edgar Allan Poe , and Tony Allan
Manufacturer: Usborne Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes (scholastic Classics) (Scholastic Classics)

ASIN: 0794501869

Tales of Mystery and Imagination (Everyman's Library (Paper))

Average customer rating:

Here is where greatness lies!
E. A. Poe's Tales of Mystery and Imagination
Truly a masterpiece! Full of horror and graphic imagination.
One of the greatest books ever written!!

Tales of Mystery and Imagination (Everyman's Library (Paper))
Edgar Allan Poe , and Graham Clarke
Manufacturer: J.M. Dent & Sons
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0460873423

Amazon.com

Award-winning fantasy illustrator Gary Kelley writes, "I have selected three of Edgar Allan Poe's best short stories.... I chose 'The Fall of the House of Usher' for its classic Gothic images and its dark, melancholic central characters, including the house itself. 'The Black Cat' is ... appealing to me for its use of mystery and foreboding that takes us to a horrifying climax. 'The Cask of Amontillado' ... my personal favorite, [is] a simple narrative of revenge set in the contrasting worlds of carnival and catacomb." Click on the book's cover for a closer look, but the reproduction doesn't really do justice to the richness of color in Kelley's shadowy, atmospheric paintings. (The cat's eye is green, and its tongue is pink.) This gorgeous edition has 20 full- and double-page paintings, including a melancholy portrait of Poe; each page of text is surrounded by subtle decorative frames. The images of Roderick and Madeleine Usher are especially effective.

Book Description

Locked doors, bricked-up alcoves and premature burial close in on Poe's narrators as they, like their victims, are cut off from light, air and human society. The "disordered chambers" of the author's mind resonate with archetypal, if extreme, psychological states; these 46 tales also present the incurable hoaxer and teller of excessively tall tales, a master of this difficult genre.

Customer Reviews:

Here is where greatness lies!.......2005-11-26

I had read some of Mr. Poe's tales at different times during the course of my life, but I had never before sat down to read all of his most important ones before I picked up this book. I found this an incredible thing to do, because I was faced with the genius that was Poe. Most of us know that he was the father of the short story genre, and that many famous authors (not the least of which were Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie) tried to follow in his footsteps. This is an almost impossible task because the genius of Poe was his poet's nature which allowed him to write very beautiful prose too. He also had the gift of mixing his impalpable shadows of mystery which run through all his tales with an almost obsessive attention to detail. This brought his stories to life when he wrote them, and this power still brings them to life today. It is difficult to pick a favourite tale out of so many gems, but I'd have to go with "The Black Cat", I think. In this tale Poe's protagonist allows a very intimate glimpse of the darkest recesses of his souls, and we descend into madness with him. This is an eerily beautiful world here and not for the faint of heart.

E. A. Poe's Tales of Mystery and Imagination.......2003-12-16

Having never read Edgar Allen Poe I was quite pleased with his writing. One of my favorite stories out of the plethera of choices was the Gold Bug. At first I was relucant to continue with the book. It was going slow and was hard to interpret. Then in the middle of the story it picked up pace and had some mystery and magic in it. I became fixed with reading it and figuring out how they found the treasure and how it was all possible. The process of the way the treasure was found was fantastic. This book has many of Poe's greatest writings. And that is what made it great. You didn't ahve to get a lot of books to read many of his stories, you could simply just get one and read many. This book contained many great short stories. It is a must read.

Truly a masterpiece! Full of horror and graphic imagination........1998-04-17

I felt chilled reading this collection of Poe's all time best stories. I especially loved the eerieness of The Cask of Amontialldo and the insanity of the narrator in the The Balck Cat, all so frightly believable. The illustrations top it off by adding a magical touch of frightful imagery to the collection.

One of the greatest books ever written!!.......1998-04-16

I read this book about a year ago and loved it. I'm the type of person who reads before they go to sleep and I had to put this book down because it was so frightening. I loved the way Poe drew me into the story and kept me begging for more. I was always curious to know what happened next, even if I was terrified. My favorite of all the stories was the "Cask of Amontillado". It was so creative how you became almost like a part of the story.

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TALES OF MYSTERY & IMAGINATION

Manufacturer: The Easton Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Leather Bound
ASIN: B000BVIYBU

Product Description

Collector's Edition Bound in Genuine Leather.

Thank You for the Flowers: Stories of Suspense & Imagination

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Nicholson Shines
Thank you for the Stories....
A solid dose of great short stories. 5 stars *****
Everything a Collection Should be!
No, Scott --- Thank you!

Thank You for the Flowers: Stories of Suspense & Imagination
Scott Nicholson
Manufacturer: Parkway Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1887905243

Book Description

Thank You For The Flowers is a collection of thirteen stories of suspense and imagination by award-winning author Scott Nicholson. The stories are a mixture of mystery, fantasy, and ghost stories. All have previously appeared in national publications.

Customer Reviews:

Nicholson Shines.......2004-02-17

The only short story collection where each story shines. From touching your heart in The Vampire Shortstop, to chills and thrills, this is by far the best collection of stories I have ever read.

Thank you for the Stories...........2004-01-11

In this collection of 13 chilling stories by Scott Nicholson, you will not be disappointed if you have an appreciation of that tingly odd shiver that teases your spinal cord from time to time. In summary, here are the stories.

Haunted - One of my favorites, a story of who's-haunting-who?

The Vampire Shortstop - Probably my least favorite. I'm not a fan of humanized vampires or sports either. A young vampire boy just wants to play baseball.

Skin - Another favorite. Do donors haunt their parts?

Dead Air - Great story of a disc jockey's telephone relationship with a serial killer.

In The Heart Of November - A haunting relationship between two friends that crosses the border of the living.

The Three Dollar Corpse - A tale of prisoner's who sell the right to take corpses out from their camps in order to buy goods, and a revelation of who watches them.

Thirst - What, or Who, are the elements anyway?

Do You Know Me Yet? - The madness of a writer, and a bit of a dig at S. King.

Homecoming - Another of my favorites. A down to earth man is visited by the corpse of his son.

Kill Your Darlings - Not one of my favorites, another surrealistic writer's fantasy of his pages coming to life.

Metabolism - Not one of my favorites, a walk through insanity with a frail woman.

The Boy Who Saw Fire - Another story of what, or who, are the elements? Similar to Thirst.

Constitution - Another favorite. Loves crosses all boundaries, even death.

Afterwards - I listed this like it was a story, but it is not. It is Mr. Nicholson's tales of each of the 13 stories here, how he thought them up and where they were first published. Since I enjoyed his musings on his selection of tales, I included it as a story worth reading.

All in all, a fine collection of dreamy tales that are short and easily read, a worthwhile addition to your collection. Enjoy!

A solid dose of great short stories. 5 stars *****.......2003-09-13

The one thing I came away from after reading these stories was, that Scott Nicholson is not confined to the horror genre: he can write solid pieces of fiction that I would suggest anyone read, even if they are not into horror.

Picks in this collection are the entire book; just read them all and enjoy.

Be sure to read the author 'after words' section at the end. There's some interesting info on where Nicholson got his ideas for these and what mags they were published in, for any writers out there.

5 STAR ESSENTIAL RATING. *****

Everything a Collection Should be!.......2003-07-19

Scott Nicholson, author of the very successful The Red Church, first began his career writing short stories. This short story collection assembles some of his quieter, more affecting pieces. And what a collection it is! You will not find a single story that rings false in this book.

Two of the best pieces, The Boy Who Saw Fire and Thirst, are two stories set in a strange mythology Nicholson has created. These stories explain the reasons behind rain and wind and the sunset/sunrise. They fully display Scott's great imagination and his skill with words.

There are also many ghost stories in this book. Haunted is a traditional haunted house story (every author needs to have one!) and The Three-Dollar Corpse is a strange ghost tale set in a concentration camp. Then, there is also In The Heart of November a very poignant and sad love story set around a ghost.

These are only some of the good pieces. The great ones are the ones we should talk about. First, there is Kill Your Darlings, a great little story that borders satire about writers and where they get their ideas. There is also The Vampire Shortstop, a great vampire tale about a little boy who just wants to play baseball. The ending will leave you all choked up.

The one story I enjoyed most was Dead Air, about a radio dj who receives calls from a murderer. The story is simple but the characters so likeable and the dialog so witty that I found myself grinning through the whole thing.

This is a great collection to have in your personal library. Every story has its own voice and style. Scott will surely become a great name in horror fiction, so you should grab his debut before they're all gone.

No, Scott --- Thank you!.......2001-07-18

Thank You for the Flowers is a rare book-- a single author collection without a single wasted page --- Scott's voice varies enough from tale to tale to avoid the reader being about to get a firm grasp on his world view --- no way of telling what's coming from second guessing him.

The mood of the stories shifts as well, from disquieting glimpses into aspects of human behavior to straight up fantastic with an odd not-ammoral twist . . . Scott is not precisely a moralist --- He does have opinions about right and wrong, good and evil --- while the reader may not always agree with his opinion the integrity of his fiction is such that you go along for the ride.

One of the stories in this volume is on my list of best stories I've ever read ---- several of them are worth the price of the book.

This is Scott's first book --- I suspect that collectors should grab it now ---

Average customer rating:

Definitely apparitions...

Apparitions of Things to Come: Edward Bellamy's Tales of Mystery & Imagination
Edward Bellamy
Manufacturer: Charles H Kerr Pub Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Historical | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0882861646

Product Description

Collected in this volume are nine of Bellamy's finest tales of mystery and imagination. Defying conventional genres, his speculative fiction is far-ranging in mode and theme. In 'To Whom This May Come' we find ourselves on a South Sea Island inhabited entirely by mindreaders; there's the bizarre humor of 'With The Eyes Shut', a disquieting satire on technology gone mad; 'Two Days Solitary Imprisonment' has all of the brooding atmosphere of a modern whodunit. Franklin Rosemount's provocative introduction explores the continuity between these early tales and Bellamy's later utopia, and argues that "the changes Bellamy made in his utopia during the last ten years of his life - the withering away of authoritarian features that had marred 'Looking Backward', and the expansion of its libertarian, working class, feminist and ecological dimensions in his last great work, 'Equality' - not only reflected the author's basically positive response to his anarchist, Marxist and feminist critics, but also brought his vision of the future into line with key elements of his own earlier fiction." Illustrated with the collages of Hal Rammel.

Customer Reviews:

Definitely apparitions..........2005-01-24

I was intrigued with Bellamy's "Looking Backward" and, besides the utopian philosophy, was fascinated by his technological visions. This book contains nine (9) short stories and an appendix with "Plots for Stories." According to the introduction, "each tale challenges the conventional, reified notions of reality, behavior, society or human nature." I'm not sure about that. Five of the stories seem to fit that bill, while the other four seemed merely Victorian in nature. Either way, the introduction was definitely detailed and informative.

The title, "Apparitions of Things to Come," is not really accurate either. There didn't seem to be many visionary tales. There was only one tale which definitely fit in the technological vision category. But, I would have bought a used version just to have read it.

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