But don't worry, because Hiroko and I just wrote Yurei Attack! The Japanese Ghost Survival Guide. It's the sequel to Yokai Attack! and Ninja Attack! It's coming out in just a few months from Tuttle Publishing. And it's available for pre-order on Amazon right now!
Yurei Attack! is the world's first English-language survival manual for Japanese ghosts. It gets you through encounters with Japan's angriest ghosts and sexy spectres. Guides you to haunted places in Tokyo and beyond. Teaches you traditional games of the occult and how to play them. It even gives you a guided tour of what awaits in the world of the dead.
Yurei is the Japanese word for "ghost." They are the souls of the dead unable - or unwilling - to shuffle off this mortal coil. They are driven by emotions so uncontrollably powerful that they have taken on a life of their own: rage. Sadness. Devotion. Revenge. Or even the simple belief that they are still alive. Many are considered dangerous even today.
Scary stuff to be sure. Equally terrifying are the illustrations by lovely lady manga artist Shinkichi, with layouts by the equally lovely Andrew Lee.
So how's this different from Yokai Attack? Glad you asked. Although they're often conflated, yurei and yokai are very different beasts. Yokai are a "something." Yurei are a "someone." Someone with an axe to grind... Usually right against your neck.
Hiroko and I spent years conducting field research in some of Japan's spookiest places, and we've compiled detailed illustrated dossiers on 39 of the most frightening spirits in Japan, along with real-life haunted spots, occult games like Kokkuri-san and Hyakumonogatari, and even an illustrated tour of the underworld itself. It is your complete guide to the Japanese occult and afterlife.
Trust us: it's the last guidebook to Japan you'll ever need. Just don't blame us if you have to sleep with the lights on for a while.
More good news! Tuttle is also releasing new revised editions of Yokai Attack! and Ninja Attack! with all-color pages and additional new profiles. Stay tuned for more info!
This is the best news I've had all day! But it won't be the last guidebook to Japan I'll ever need, not unless you do a Kaiju Attack!, a Ghibli Attack!, and a Shigeru Mizuki Attack! And then those would probably be followed by, Copyright Infringement Lawyers Attack!
Posted by: Thedaoshichronicles.blogspot.com | January 25, 2012 at 11:24 AM
Nice!
Regarding the revised edition of Ninja Attack, it reminds me I wanted to ask a couple things about that worthy tome (hopefully not too late!):
Did you happen to catch later that you have the wrong constellation for Polaris (the North Star) in Ninja Attack? Polaris is in Ursa Minor (the Little Dipper), not Ursa Major. :)
Were you aware that ninja have sometimes been implicated in helping incite the Bakumatsu?
Lastly, there was also a typo on President Buchanan's name. :)
Anyway, looking forward to the next Attack! What's next now? I'm hoping for Kaijuu Attack... :D
Posted by: microbry | January 25, 2012 at 11:57 AM
Congrats, guys!
Posted by: Roger | January 25, 2012 at 02:13 PM
Awesome!
I'm glad to hear that Yokai Attack will be back in print too--I waited waayyy too long and then missed out on it.
Posted by: megan | January 25, 2012 at 03:38 PM
Thanks for all the support! We had a blast putting it together and hope you have as much fun reading it.
Bry, thanks a million for the editing work! We caught several of those typos already and a few more to boot, but the constellation info is new to me -- can you email me about what page are you talking about? Not sure we can fix at this late date, but we're game to try.
Posted by: MattAlt | January 25, 2012 at 08:00 PM
Damn!
Time to get my order in.
Posted by: Gilles Poitras | January 25, 2012 at 11:23 PM
Matt: glad to help! I'll look up that page ASAP and let you know. :)
Posted by: microbry | January 26, 2012 at 05:30 AM