Unquiet Spirits: Essays by Asian Women in Horror

by Lee Murray (Editor), Angela Yuriko Smith (Editor), Lisa Krïger (Foreword by)

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781645481294
Publisher:	Black Spot Books
Publication date:	02/14/2023
Pages:	300
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

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.

Editorial Reviews

The 2023 Bram Stoker Awards Superior Achievement in Short Non-Fiction for Nadia Bulkin's essay, “Becoming Ungovernable: Latah, Amok, and Disorder in Indonesia"

Ignyte Awards Finalist in Outstanding Creative Nonfiction for "The Substitute".

"Unquiet Spirits is a collection of intimate, insightful essays that will become essential reading for those looking to understand the voice of women of the Asian diaspora in horror. I can’t overstate how important this book is." —Priya Sharma, British Fantasy award-winning author of Ormeshadow

"As an expert in the paranormal I’ve researched ghosts around the globe, but there’s a vast gulf between studying hungry ghosts and fox spirits in scholarly journals, and reading first-hand experience of these extraordinary stories. The pieces in Unquiet Spirits are beautiful, enlightening, poignant, and yes, haunting. This is a must-have book for anyone who is interested in the folklore of Asia and how it has impacted the lives of the women actually living it." —Lisa Morton, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Ghosts: A Haunted History

"A haunting and phenomenally intriguing undertaking. With the variety of perspectives, Unquiet Spirits is powerful, poignant, and very, very moving. An emotionally draining experience in the best way possible!" —Steve Stred, Splatterpunk-nominated author of Sacrament and Mastodon, and reviewer at Kendall Reviews

“Fierce and fervid, Unquiet Spirits... deserves ascent to the literary canon for both the Asian diaspora and feminism. This volume is a must." —Austin Gragg, Editor-in-Chief at Space & Time Magazine

    “Raw, emotional, honest, and empowering.” —Amanda Headlee, The Horror Tree

"A captivating collection of hungry, neglected, abused ancestral beings, with each piece ending in a treasure trove of reference material to inspire and teach." —Linda D. Addison, Award-winning author, HWA Lifetime Achievement Award recipient and SFPA Grand Master

"The spirits don't whisper in this collection, they roar across the pages–every word carefully selected and earning its place. These personal stories traverse time and space to be everyone's stories. A book for the collection, to be read many times over." —Renata Pavrey, Horror Addicts

"A powerhouse of cultural revelation.” —Midwest Book Review

From the Publisher

02/10/2023

In this collection of intimate essays, women writers of Asian and Pacific Islander heritage, often living in Eurocentric countries, such as Canada, the United States, and New Zealand, link their experiences and identity to that of the diaspora of ghost stories from their respective heritages. This includes reflecting on their encounters with misogyny, being women of color in countries with rampant white supremacy, the pressures of motherhood, and more. The stories involve finding kindred spirits, hungry ghosts, nine-tailed foxes, the angry spirits of deceased fetuses, and many others. A particular highlight is "The Substitute" by Yi Izzy Yu, a powerful and well-paced piece about the unjust fate of Yu's great-aunt and how it reflects the Chinese "substitute ghosts" that seek to replace the living and free themselves from their cursed existence. This book is well-edited, and the references behind the essays may inspire further reading. VERDICT A collection of autobiographical works that are personal, moving, and frightening, plus some recounted ghost stories, that will likely appeal to both memoir and horror readers.—Jack Phoenix

Library Journal