Forget Godzilla. Forget the giant beasties karate-chopped into oblivion by endless incarnations of Ultraman, Kamen Rider, and the Power Rangers. Forget Sadako from 'The Ring' and that creepy all-white kid from 'The Grudge.' Forget everything you know about tales of terror before reaching for this book.
"Yokai Attack " is a nightmare-inducing one-stop guide to Japan's traditional creepy-crawlies. Yokai are ethereal sorts of beings, like ghosts, nearly always encountered at night; everyone has their own take on how they might look in real life and what sorts of specific characteristics and abilities they might have. This book is the result of long hours spent poring over data and descriptions from a variety of sources, including microfilms of eighteenth-century illustrations from the national Diet Library in Tokyo, in order to bring you detailed information on almost 50 of these amazing creatures for the first time in English.
Illustrations, created by the talented Tatsuya Morino, detail the potential appearance of each yokai. Alongside each illustration is a series of "data points," with each yokai's important features at a glance--especially handy for any potential close encounters.
"Yokai Attack " will surely convince you that Japan's tradition of fascinating monsters is a long one--yet far from being history.