Yurei: The Japanese Ghost

Yurei: The Japanese Ghost by Davisson, Zack. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780988769342.

"I lived in a haunted apartment." Zack Davisson opens this definitive work on Japans ghosts, or yurei, with a personal tale about the spirit world. Eerie red marks on the apartments ceiling kept Zack and his wife on edge. The landlord warned them not to open a door in the apartment that led to nowhere. "Our Japanese visitors had no problem putting a name to it . . . they would sense the vibes of the place, look around a bit and inevitably say Ahhh . . . yurei ga deteru. There is a yurei here." Combining his lifelong interest in Japanese tradition and his personal experiences with these vengeful spirits, Davisson launches an investigation into the origin, popularization, and continued existence of yurei in Japan. Juxtaposing historical documents and legends against contemporary yurei-based horror films such as The Ring, Davisson explores the persistence of this paranormal phenomenon in modern day Japan and its continued spread throughout the West.