This is volume 2 of a planned 4 volume collection of translated original short fiction by Japanese authors, These have been previously published in Japan but are basically completely new works and completely new authors to us English speaking westerners. Regular readers may know I thought the first volume was brilliant, a stunning triumph. My impression is more tempered this time but I also give this volume a resounding recommendation. We simply must have more of this Japanese fiction! I do hope Kurodahan Press, the publishers, reaps in lots of yen so they will be encouraged to keep us supplied with a steady stream of Japanese mythos fiction, not just these 4 volumes.

Some housekeeping: The price is $20. There is no discount from Amazon (boo!), but if you order more than $25 worth of stuff it ships free (yay!) for downgraded shipping (boo!). Page count was a just short of phenomenal 357, so quite a bargain really. This includes a 4 page introduction by Asamatsu Ken, a 10 page introduction by Robert Price (a familiar figure to all of us), 2 pages for titles in front of each story, another 2 page introduction by Price in front of each story, and the last 24 pages devoted to an essay on mythos role playing games and notes about the authors. No calculator available, but this left 291 pages for 7 stories, an average about 42 pages each. This book is generally longer than most homegrown mythos collections and has fewer stories. Some amount to novellas. Is that the Japanese way? Are short stories less short than in the US? In any event, the authors were allowed sufficient page count that characters and plot could be developed at leisure, imagery could be lingered over. The same lotus scented surreal atmosphere seemed to exude from this volume as from the earlier one. A special note must be made of the cover art by Yamada Akihiro. It is simply lovely, one of the most gorgeous mythos covers ever. An octopoidal thing drifts dreamily in the seaweed, but don't venture too close! The book is, I think, POD, and my copy was flawless. Alas it is already a bit beat up but it hasn't been handled too gently here. Mostly I have only grateful praise for the translators except in two instances that I will note later.

I think the forward by Asamatsu Ken, "Life with Gills" set the mood for the book perfectly. This time, however, I was not enamored of the Price's introduction. He was off on his pet themes regarding the mythos, now about mythos cult members. It was a trifle (or more) long winded and didn't really add to my appreciation of the subsequent stories. I did not read his individual story introductions until I had finished each one, as there were sometimes minor spoilers. Mostly I felt neutral about them.

My comments about the individual stories may contain spoilers so please skip the rest of this if that will be a problem for you.

Ashibe Taku: "The Horror in the Kabuki Theatre" translated by Sheryl Hogg

I believe this was the longest story in the book, practically a novella. I had some heartburn with it. A group in Japan has a copy of the Necronimicon and are trying to invoke the power or presence of the Great Old Ones by inserting chants or imagery about them into performances in the Kabuki theaters bear Edo in 1806. The premise that these entities can manifest into existence from thoughts or words on a page dovetails nicely with many mythos stories or themes here in the US. The spin here that was original that by writing a play about their defeat, humans, the playwrights and the players can combat the Great Old Ones using words, just as they are trying to be manifested through words. Unfortunately I found this tale somewhat dry. The back ground is true history of Japan and Kabuki, with much discussion of the names of playwrights, actors and prop makers, and listing their work. Here is where a detailed introduction could have done real service to the uninitiated westerner. I have no context for this story historically or culturally. I think I have only ever seen a minute or two of Kabuki on TV or in movies. The same is true for Chinese opera but in the film Farewell My Concubine the screen imagery was vivid enough that I could at least catch glimpses of what it must have been like. This text did not do the same thing for me (except the ceremony where the world was decreed), and I don't know whether the blame lies with the translator or the author (or me, for that matter). For example, as creatures manifest and swallow whole theaters full of patrons and performers there was no sense of fear or tension in the prose. The people who were there who were not swallowed up didn't evince much reaction at all. I wonder if I wrote a story for a Japanese periodical and listed the names of Shakespeare's plays, and the major actors and set designers of the period if it would read like so much word salad to my audience. I feel a bit guilty that I didn't Google Kabuki and read up on it instead of just griping about my lack of context.

Matsudono Rio: "Taste of the Snake's Honey" translated by Erin S. Brodhead

This is a Yig story and was quite fine. A young man with tastes for ghoulish and violent kinky sex gradually achieves self realization. His detachment from the atrocities inflicted for his enjoyment ends up internally consistent and necessary to the story. I would love to read some more of Mr. Matsudono's fiction. Initially I thought there were unusual juxtapositions of present and past tense, but this was only in the first part of the story. Author or translator? I dunno.

Matsuo Mirai: "Inverted Kingdom" translated by Usha Jayaraman

This was a superb story of a woman living a mundane existence as a housewife who then finds her destiny is not so mundane after all. Realization comes to her and the reader gradually, at first dimly glimpsed and then more clearly. If not for "Terror Rate" it would have been my favorite in the book.

Konaka Chiaki: "Terror Rate" translated by Kathleen Taji

Goodness, this was wonderful! A young lady in need of supplemental income agrees to participate in a scientific experiment where she merely has to spend the night in a house where her fear will be measured. Well plotted and deftly written it has pride of place in this anthology.

Tanaka Fumio: "Secrets of the Abyss" translated by Bruce Rutledge and Enomoto Yuko

In this nifty story a man in search of a cure for his gravely ill wife comes across an unusual fish in a nearby flooded quarry, after observing a dog eating something from the old mine. The flesh from this creature has perhaps less than salutary effects on her and him. It was a very agreeable read.

Nanjo Takenori: "A Night at Yuan-Su" translated by Usha Jayaraman

A man wanders one night through the streets of Yuan-Su in search of who knows what. Who is real? What is real? Is anything real? You might wish to reread "He" by HPL before reading this story. It was dreamlike and well crafted, another fine addition to the mythos. I really liked it.

Hirayama Yumeaki: "Summoned by the Shadows" translated by Sheryl Hogg

A family settles into a house where the rent is unexpectedly low just because there's a grave in the back yard. Complications ensue. Not a bad premise, not a bad story, it just did not knock my socks off the way some of the others did.

Yasuda Hitoshi: "The Cthulhu Mythos in Gaming" translated by Edward Lipsett

This essay was diverting enough, but seemed rather generic to me. I would have been interested in more complete or detailed description of homegrown Japanese mythos gaming or of the gaming community.

That's about it! I was not as completely won over as I was for Night Voices, Night Journeys. In particular I think "The Horror in the Kabuki Theatre" was too long and too dry, and, well, too obscure for me. On the other hand I would not part with my copy. Four of the stories were superb gems, rating with the best of modern Lovecraftian fiction. 1 was very good and 1 was OK. I think everyone should have this book on their shelves. It is indispensable reading for serious mythos fans. Heck you can't beat the value for the money so go for it! I await other opinions with interest. Even more so, I impatiently await volume 3! ( )

Definitely a freaky collection of mythos-type stories from Japanese "disciples" of HP Lovecraft. Very well written and a must if you're a collector such as myself. My rule of thumb is generally that when you pick up an anthology, you have to take the good with the bad, but there weren't any bad stories in this group.

Here's the contents list:

1. Ashibe Taku - The Horror in the Kabuki Theater: a novella-length story set in historical Japan in which writers of Kabuki horror have a lot more power than they realize and must use that power for good when the visitors from the angles of time and space begin to appear. Maybe a bit long, but still good.

2. Matsudono Rio - Taste of Snake's Honey: another somewhat lengthy offering, featuring a young man with some bizarre tastes in life and how his penchant for things strange came to be. This one will definitely hold your interest, keeping you turning pages until the very last word.

3. Matsuo Mirai - Inverted Kingdom: This one was a bit confusing, but still terrifying, in which a young woman fears she is losing her sanity when different events trigger her memories.

4. Konaka Chiaki - Terror Rate: IMHO, the scariest story in this book. A young woman, needing an extra job answers an ad -- and finds out exactly what the meaning of terror can be. Very creepy; this one raised the hackles on my neck.

5. Takana Fumio - Secrets of the Abyss - In which a man will do anything to save his dying wife, and pays the price.

6. Nanjo Takenori - A Night at Yuan-su - Stepping out of his home, a man meets up with modernity, while the modern world meets up with him. Very well written.

7. Hirayama Yumeaki - Summoned by the Shadows - Another quality story complete with creepy atmosphere and page-turning terror. Extremely well written; I hope to find more in translation by this author. Another one of my favorite stories in this volume.

There's also a section on Mythos gaming at the end of the story collection.

Overall...a fine read, recommended for anyone even remotely interested in mythos-based fiction. ( )