Unquiet Spirits Essays by Asian Women in Horror

by Murray, Lee; Smith, Angela Yuriko; Kröger, Lisa

• ISBN13: 9781645481294
• ISBN10: 1645481298
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2023-02-14
• Publisher: Black Spot Books Nonfiction

Summary

From hungry ghosts, vampiric babies, and shapeshifting fox spirits to the avenging White Lady of urban legend, for generations, Asian women’s roles have been shaped and defined through myth and story. In Unquiet Spirits, Asian writers of horror reflect on the impact of superstition, spirits, and the supernatural in this unique collection of 21 personal essays exploring themes of otherness, identity, expectation, duty, and loss, and leading, ultimately, to understanding and empowerment.

Author Biography

Lee Murray is an author, editor, screenwriter, and poet from Aotearoa, and a third-generation Chinese New Zealander. A USA Today bestselling author, double Bram Stoker Award® and Shirley Jackson Award winner, her work includes military thriller series, the Taine McKenna Adventures, supernatural crime-noir trilogy The Path of Ra (with Dan Rabarts), and short fiction collection, Grotesque: Monster Stories. Lee is the editor of nineteen volumes of dark fiction, among them Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women (with Geneve Flynn) and Asian Ghost Short Stories (Flame Tree Press). Angela Yuriko Smith is a third-generation Shimanchu American and an award-winning poet, author, and publisher with 20+ years of experience as a professional writer in nonfiction. A three-time Bram Stoker Awards® Finalist for excellence in long fiction (Bitter Suites, 2018), excellence in poetry (Tortured Willows, 2021) and excellence in short nonfiction, she was also selected as HWA Mentor of the Year for 2020. In addition, two of her poetry chapbooks have been nominated for the Elgin Awards. Lisa Kröger holds a PhD in Gothic Literature and is the author of Monster, She Wrote and the forthcoming Toil and Trouble. She also co-hosts the Know Fear and Monster, She Wrote podcasts. Her work has won the Bram Stoker and Locus awards. Lisa’s fiction and nonfiction work may be seen in Lost Highways: Dark Fiction from the Road, EcoGothic, and Horror Literature through History. Her edited essay collections include Shirley Jackson: Influences and Confluences and The Ghostly and the Ghosted in Literature and Film.

Table of Contents

Nadia Bulkin: Becoming Ungovernable: Latah, Amok, and Disorder in Indonesia. Comparing male versus female “berserker” states in Indonesia. Grace Chan: Holy Revelations. Juxtaposition of Christian spirituality and Asian expectations in the Asian-Australian immigrant experience. Eliza Chan: Lucky Numbers, Or Why 28 > 58 East versus west numerology and the converging influences of superstition. doungjai gam: tethered chokeholds The naphiron (tree with women-fruit to be consumed) and conflicting Thai American expectations of filial duty. Tori Eldridge: The Agency of Modern Kunoichi: The Women of Ninja Stealth and Perseverance Empowerment and agency of the Kunochi warrior woman: historical and modern perspectives. Geneve Flynn: Some Things Are Dangerous, But Can Be Lived With: The Ghost Baby of Malaysian Mythology A personal experience of the kwee kia ghost baby as a symbol of generational grief. Vanessa Fogg: Hungry Ghosts in America Expectation, education, and self-actualisation observed through the lens of Asian hungry ghost mythology. Kiyomi Appleton Gaines: Plant a Cherry Tree over my Grave Japanese mountain witches and notions of motherhood and monstrous. Ai Jiang: The Unvoiced, The Unheard, The Unknown, The Unquiet Exploring Asian traditional expectations of womanhood and identity. K.P. Kulski: 100 Livers Identity and loss as seen through the shapeshifting kumiho (Korean Fox spirit) Gabriela Lee: Sightings Predation and consumption of Asian women as evidenced in current events and the White Lady of Balete Drive (Philippines). JAW McCarthy: Thai Spirits & Longing to Belong Krasue, pret, and phi pop, and lived experience of identity and otherness at the intersection culture Rena Mason: Lady Nak of Phra Khanong: A Life Inspired by the Female Duality Archetype Thai ghosts, phi, Mae Nak (the lady of Pra Khanong), loss, expectation, and filial guilt. Lee Murray: Displaced Spirits: Ghosts of the Diaspora Displacement, generational loss, and persecution as hungry ghost spirits. Celine Murray: Fox Daughter Through the huli jing (Chinese fox spirit) a young woman reconciles identity, otherness, and belonging. Frances Lu-Pai Ippolito: Belonging to Fear Horror and myth as an integral part of the Asian immigrant experience. Angela Yuriko Smith: Tearing Ourselves Apart: The Nukekubi Displacement, sacrifice, and authenticity as experienced through the disembodied head of the nukekubi Christina Sng: The Demon-Haunted Girl The Pontianak as a symbol of vengeance for centuries of abuse and predation of Asian women. Yvette Tan: Fallen Leaves, New Soil Blending of Christian and Chinoy cultural values as observed in a Filipino upbringing Benebell Wen: Ghost Month in Taiwan A family suffering generations of longing and loss is rescued from the clutches of hungry ghost demons. Yi Izzy Yu: The Substitute Marriage and our authentic selves as viewed through the tisigui (substitute-seeking ghost). A personal journey.