On Chinese Horror: A Sociocultural and Multimedia Journey Through China’s Storytelling
Sinophagia launched on the 24th of September, with me giving a horror lecture at the Horse Hospital in Bloomsbury, which opened this year’s autumn season for the Miskatonic Horror Institute, followed by a signing. It was a superb and thrilling evening, well attended by an interested and enthusiastic audience, who also greatly enjoyed hopping as the jiangshi in the audience participation after the lecture, and having their books signed and sealed with fu. As many of you have asked where can you find the works I spoke about, I will post them here with the Chinese titles and indicate where you can access them, if they are available in English or on Anglophone platforms. A lot of the output from Hong Kong and Taiwan can be found on DVD. I will put links to the works from China where available in English.
This is by no means an exhaustive list of what is out there, nor everything I would like to have discussed, just what was explored within the framework of the lecture. Do see out these works, enjoy them and I hope to have more opportunities of exploring Chinese horror storytelling with you in the future.
Texts Discussed (in historical order)
Records of an Inquest into the Spirit Realm by Gan Bao 搜神记, dual language edition published by Foreign Language Press (Beijing), 2004.
Hidden and Invisible Realms: Early and Medieval Chinese Tales of the Supernatural and Fantastic, 幽冥录attributed compiler Liu Yiqing, translated by Zhengjun Zhang, Columbia University Press, 2018.
Extensive Records of the Strange 广异记 by Dai Fu (early Tang Dynasty).
The Tale of Miss Ren by Shen Jiji (mid-Tang)
Passing on the Strange 传奇by Pei Xing (late Tang).
Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio 聊斋志异by Pu Songling, translated by John Minford, Penguin edition, 2006.
-specifically the following tales : The Disembowelment 抽肠, Demonic Saliva 鬼津, Spraying Water 喷水，Liang Yan 梁彦
Notes from Yuewei Cottage by Ji Yun, published in English as The Shadow Book of Ji Yun, translated by Yi Izzy Yu and John Yu Branscum, Empress Wu Books, 2021.
Chinese Ghost Stories (a selection of popular classics including a section on Pu Songling’s tales), introduced by Xueting C. Ni, Flametree edition, 2024.
Candle in the Tomb 鬼吹灯novel series by Tianxia Bachang, 2008 onwards
Censored by Confucius 子不语by Yuan Mei, translated by Kam Louie and Louise Edwards, Routledge edition, 2016.
Strange Tales of Mumei Mountain 木魅山诡录Li Qiong, 2015.
Chinese Weird Tales 中国怪谈, Zhao Zhiming, 2017.
Seen A Ghost 见鬼 by Huang Xaiofeng, 2020.
Sinophagia: A Celebration of Chinese Horror, translated and edited by Xueting C. Ni, Solaris, 2024.
Films and Television Works Discussed
Ma-Xu Weibang’s films
–The Stranger Lover 情场怪人(1926)
–Stranger of the Dark Night 黑夜怪人(1928)
–Devil Incarnate 混世魔王(1929)
–Song at Midnight 夜半歌声(1937)
Beauty Raised from the Dead by Lee Sun-fung 艳尸还魂记 (1956)
Nightly Cry of the Ghost by Chun Kim 夜哭 (1957)
Web of Death by Chor Yuen (1976)
Bat Without Wings by Chor Yuen (1980)
A Touch of Zen by King Hu (1971)
The Butterfly Murders by Tsui Hark (1979)
The Shadow Boxing by Lau Kar-Leung (1979)
Encounter of the Spooky Kind, Sammo Hung (1980)
The Dead and Deadly, Wu Ma (1980)
Mr Vampire series by Ricky Lau (1986 onwards)
A Chinese Ghost Story by Ching Siu-tung (1986)
Confessions of a Graverobber 古墓惊魂by Dong Tao and Sun Zhiqiang (1986)
Bandits of Dongling 东陵大盗series (1986 onwards)
Lonely Ghost in the Dark Mansion 黑楼孤魂by Mu Deyan and Liang Ming (1989) https://mubi.com/en/gb/films/the-lonely-spirit-in-an-old-building
Mortuary Blues, Jeff Lau (1990)
Chinese Ghost Story animated by Tsui Hark 1997
Ronny Yu
–Bride with White Hair (1993)
–Song at Midnight (1995)
–Freddy versus Jason (2003)
Song at Midnight TV series by Wang Lei (2005)
The Eye, Oxide Pang, 2002.
Dumplings by Fruit Chan, 2004
Painted Skin by Gordon Chan, 2008
Wai-man Yip films
–Blood-Stained Shoes, 2012
–The House that Never Dies, 2014
–Phantom of the Theatre, 2016.
Rigor Mortis by Juno Mak, 2013
Lift to Hell 电梯惊魂 by Ning Jingwu, 2013
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8in1rs
Possession 中邪by Ma Kai, 2016
Curse of the Chopsticks 筷仙 by Ji Yu, 2018
Games Discussed
Firework, by Gamera Games.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1288310/Firework/
Paper Bride series by Heartbeat Plus Studios
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1735950/Paper_Bride/
Bibliography
Bettinson, Paul and Daniel Martin, eds. Hong Kong Horror Cinema. Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh Press, 2018.
Campany, Robert Ford. Strange Writing: Anomaly Accounts in Early Medieval China. New York: State University of New York Press, 1996.
Chiang, Sing-chen Lydia. Collecting the Self: Body and Identity in Strange Tale Collections of Late Imperial China, Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers, 2005.
Far East Films Festival (Udine), Maxi Webang: A Biography, fasteastfilm.com
Pang, Laikwan. “The Making of a National Cinema: Shanghai Films of the 1930s”. In The Chinese Cinema Book, edited by Song Hwee Lim and Julian Ward, 56-64. London: BFI, 2011.
Pu, Muchou. Ghosts and Religious Life in Early China. Translated by Zixuan Huang. Beijing: New Star Press, 2023.
Rea, Christopher. Chinese Film Classics: 1942-1949. New York: Columbia University Press, 2021.
Zeng, Li. “Ghostly Vengeance, Historical Trauma: The Lonely Ghost in the Dark Mansion (1989)”. Journal of Chinese Cinemas, 7:2 (2014), 109-121.
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