Asian Ghost Story is another winner for Flame Tree Press. Collecting another excellent short story collection is another feather in their well-rounded literary hat.

There are over 200 stories that deal with original, folklore and some interesting takes on the ghost story from another culture. There is some repetitiveness but with all ghost story collection this is to be expected. Personally, I love this collection and great to have a collection that lends itself to ‘J’ Horror that I come to love since the 90’s.

There is a series of dread and like all great stories from this land, they haunt and pick at your cerebral vortex long after you read each story. The book is not one to be read in one sitting but to read a story a night before bedtime will fully give you the haunts and scares that will crawl beneath your skin and haunt you to morning.

I loved everyone and cherished each and every story and although it has taken me some time to get through this collection, I will read and re-read again and again. This is a great collection to add to any horror collection and to any reader of great fiction. This is a prize-winning selection.

I requested for this based off the fact that it covers Asian Horror stories that I love. What I didn't expect was the two hundred stories that were in there. This is not a book that you can finish in one sitting. I had to read this gradually cause some of the stories tend to be quite repetitive.

This is collection of stories and folk tales from across Asia dating back to more than a century ago. It is filled with cultures, traditions and values from the past and how they came to be perceived by us today. It is also interesting to see some overlapping of stories between different cultures.

I didn't really fancy the format I received on Netgalley which hindered a little of my reading experience but overall, I really enjoyed reading some of the stories and could resonate them with some of the stories I heard growing up.

Thank you Netgalley and Flame Tree Press for the arc.

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

Asian Ghost Short Stories is a gothic story collection of stories and folk tales from across Asia dating back to more than a century ago. This in mind that cultures, morals, values and life normalities are very different from today added intrigue to this read. I've always had a fascination with old ghost stories from being a child and telling them/listening to them under a blanket with a torch in the dark! This was a great compilation and can be read at any starting point not just cover to cover. Some of the stories really gave me the chills. This would be a great book for discussions on the stories within a literacy group. I was initially drawn to this book by the cover and I'm really pleased I gave it a read!

A lot of story about Asian ghosts, the lore and folklore. There's a lot to read and learn. Not all of them are horror, lots of them are fascinating.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I was disappointed in this anthology, if I'm being honest. A more accurate title would've been "Asian Folklore and Short Stories", as a lot of these didn't feature ghosts? Also I appreciated the deep dive and historical explanation of the introduction very much, but then in the anthology itself the dates of the stories weren't provided, and no "author blurb" for the additional context that the introduction set up for us. If you're going to include such a wide range of voices and origins for the stories, a country and date indicator would've helped improve the flow.

3.5/5 (rounded up to 4 in Netgalley rating.)

I love these collections from Flame Tree Press but I rarely like the originalmore recently published stories as much as the ones from the 20th century and earlier. These, however, I really loved. They all really hit it out of the park and I was impressed with the quality--all of them were wonderfully written and had some really excellent imagery and prose. My personal favorites were "Stories Our Parents Told Us" by Ayida Shonibar, "Ghost" by Karen Tay, "Purple Wildflowers" by Alda Tuan, "Last Train Onwards" by Lena Ng, "The Fortune of Sparrows" by Usman T. Malik, and "Qian Xian" by Frances Lu-Pai Ippolito.

Where my big problem comes in is the amount of inclusion of stories from writers like Lafcadio Hearn and Richard Gordon Smith. Hearn's stories I liked more, but Smith's I struggled through, and I was questioning why there were so many of them--twelve of Hearn's and sixteen of Smith's. I can understand their inclusion somewhat--Hearn immigrated to Japan, married, lived, and died there, and both authors were a part of the export of Japanese folklore and culture to the West--but when I pick up a book of Asian ghost stories, I want ghost stories written by people who are from that culture, not stories filtered through the lens of whiteness. Again, I understand why these authors were included, and I did enjoy Hearn's writing, but I question why so *many* of their stories were included. I would have much preferred additional original stories by Asian authors or more stories in translation rather than 40 short stories by white dudes who either moved there or were born under British colonization (Rudyard Kipling).

When I started on Smith's, I was wondering around story three why he was included, then (after a short foray into Wikipedia) I scrolled forward to see how many more of his stories I would have to get through, then groaned and soldiered on. I usually read these omnibuses over a long period of time, reading a short story or two on the train, gaps at work, etc. For this one, that wasn't an option, and I was on a time limit, so I just soldiered onward. But had I been reading a physical copy of the book I likely would have skipped them (along with Kipling's) or just put the collection down entirely.

In conclusion: more modern own voices authors, please, because they were the stars of the show!

This was a really comprehensive look at ghost stories from the Asian continent, with inclusion from countries such as China, Japan, India, Sri-Lanka and the Philippines, to name a few. I appreciated the wide number of different voices present in this collection, but I did feel that there was a bit too much emphasis on western voices telling Asian stories, particularly those from Japan. I also felt that the collection felt quite repetitive at times and wondered whether it would be better arranged thematically rather than by author, so that there weren't numerous stories of the same voice in a row. Overall, this is an interesting collection, but it didn't blow me away.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

These stories are beautifuly creepy. Some I liked others gave me the chills. I got to know so many ghosts and spirits.

This is a MASSIVE book of Asian ghost stories and legends. Not only does it have easily over 50 one-to-three page stories, but the forewards include a lot of history on the traditions and origins of many Asian myths and legends and some major areas of Asian folklore so that the reader has a solid base of reference before reading the stories. Not all are scary, some are mysterious, some are tragic, and some are just reflections on morality or ways to live (or die). It is a huge compendium of Asian lore and history from many different countries and traditions that give you a very good look at Asian culture while being delightfully spooky at the same time.

I truly enjoyed reading this book and the stories and legends contained within it. This is a wonderful book for a rainy day or stormy night; a book that takes you to a very ethereal and moody place that is full of mystery and eerie happenings. If you have a love for Asian culture and yokai, or if you just love a good thick anthology of brief but creepy stories, you will probably enjoy this book!

I want to thank the publisher for the free digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. My reviews are honest and not in any way influenced by my receipt of a review copy of the book. I'm happy to be able to share my thoughts and opinions with others, and gladly give this one a five out of five stars.

Asia is home to some of the most horrifying horror stories and creatures on the planet and this collection of stories brings them into the public eye! Some great horror reads here for fans of the genre!

Enjoyment: 3.5
Total rating: 4

It is always hard to review an anthology, but this one literally has a story for everyone. I loved the own voice of Asian horror, and I was very unnerved at times. Some stories weren't up my alley, but they were all well written and well translated. I thought that the editors did a fantastic job collecting stories from modern horror to folklore-inspired and utterly original.

I'll be checking out other Flame Tree Collections.

Disclaimer: In exchange for an honest review, I am thankful to the publishers and NetGalley for providing a copy of Asian Ghost Short Stories.

An overall great collection of ghost stories. A few did not engage me as well as most of them, but that's just personal taste. Add in the high quality of Flame Tree hardcover books in this series, and this would be an excellent gift for horror readers.

I loved this anthology. There were so many good stories within its pages. I would recommend this for readers interested in, well, Asian ghost stories. The editor included a range of tales of terror, old and new.

𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝑵𝒆𝒕𝑮𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑷𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆-𝒂𝒓𝒄.

.

As much as I want to love this book and give this a much higher rating, I'm afraid I won't be able to do so.

Upon finding this book, I'm excited to read this as I'm having fun with this genre and of course, I wanted to know more about Asia especially.

This book had my eyes and brain hurting because of the formatting and also the way it was presented- each story was presented.

Aside from that, I would have enjoyed it more if the country was stated in most of them since after the first story (I think), the country that the setting took place was vague in a sense that most of the time, I had to play a guessing game and that just put my enjoyment off or I could have missed it while reading because of the way how it was presented? I don't know, I struggled with the writing.

Overall, this was kind of a saddening book.

Please don’t hate on me. But, as much as I loved scary stories all over the world, I think that Asian Ghost stories are the best in the world. Asia is so diverse in cultures which makes them more interesting. Of course, some stories make your eyes roll so hard but it’s still interesting how and why this story was created anyway. This is a good introduction to the different cultures in Asia. This book is not all about ghosts, more like supernaturals and not all of them are scary. But all in all, I enjoyed it and I finished it in 2 days.
Thank you Netgalley & Author for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Anthologies are a bit hard to review since they can truly be all over the place. I think this one had more hits than misses. I really enjoyed The Ghost in Love and the first story Juramentado. I was hoping for a bit more of a scare, but folk tails are usually creepy in a slow creeping sense, a foreboding feeling rather then an in your face scare.

I do wish the book was a bit shorter, this could easily have been two volumes. A long anthology can really take a long time to get through and the stories can start to really swim together. Overall I think this is a perfect book to have by your bedside and read a story from every night. I love the culture and all the new scary creatures I have learned about.

When I requested this book, I guess I expected some <I> The Ring </i> level of horror. Instead, we are treated to some Panchatantra Tales (or Aesop's Fables) types of stories. In every Japanese story, there is a young woman pining away and dying for a guy most probably she hasn't even met. The Indian stories are from Bengal only and involve ghosts in trees who help or trouble people. The ones by Rudyard Kipling are written from an Englishman's POV and I'm not sure why they are included as a part of Indian stories.

Once, I was travelling overnight with a group of friends and the stories we told each other to keep awake were scarier than this set.

A tiny suggestion for the publisher to include the country of each story.

I read an ARC and the formatting was way weird with <b> Strictly not for sale </b> and <b> Addressee only </b> printed on every page between the text. It was distracting and in some places, I suspect, it also replaced the original text.

2 stars only.

Thanks to Netgalley and FlameTree Press for the ARC.

Anthologies can be an amazing read or a slog as you go from story to story hoping to find the gems. While I expected Asian Ghost Short Stories to be the former, it was, unfortunately, the latter. None of the stories were a home run, but none were a foul ball either. The collection didn't have a flow of its own which made reading it choppy.

Thank you NetGalley and Flame Tree Press for the opportunity to read an advance reading copy.

This book of Asian Ghost Short Stories was the perfect read for dark academia lovers. It is a Gothic Fantasy anthology full of new and classic tales, adapted and translated from Asia's traditional (often oral) folktales about death and the afterlife. This collection brings together classic tales as well as new submissions from across East, South, and Southeast Asia. There is lots of information in the introduction about the history of ghost stories, which also details the differences between ghosts in various cultures. It is an insightful intro that provides great understanding for beginners before jumping into the stories. Of the tales, I had a few favorites that stood out: The Pious Woman, A Ghostly Wife, In A Cup of Tea, The Grateful Ghost, and Little Bone Collector were some of my personal favorite shorts, but you will have to read the collection to decide for yourself!

The stories in this collection was ordered by the names of the authors, this I felt was a bad step when they should have been grouped by country (I know some stories are cross-country) but it would have made it more organised. The stories were a mixed bag. Many were very short. With the occasional longer story. These longer stories were actually better because I felt the world was more developed and the writer had more space to actually hone the writing and the narrative.
I think it is a great collection of stories from all over Asia and the introduction is an absolutely necessary section to be read to provide context. I think this would be better read as a physical copy rather than an unfriendly kindle arc.