Into the Maze of Human Nature with Mystery Narratives: Chinese Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Fiction Writers: An International Outlook

I was invited to a showcase of ‘mystery and suspense’ writer in China by the China Writer’s Association recently, as one of the international experts, to hear the authors speak and to give a short talk on my work in curating horror literature. I found the author speeches a very interesting window into their attitudes as writers and their work, and was delighted to see Cai Jun, one of the most contributors to my anthology Sinophagia, with the greatest renown. Here’s the short talk I gave. 

The roots of China’s mystery and suspense traditions go all the way back to the earliest zhiguai tales. I’ve always maintained that, like any other literature, mystery, suspense, and horror all examine human nature, and the dark veracity of existence. Yet China’s relationship, particularly with horror literature has been complex. I can tell that the writers are struggling to avoid “kongbu wenxue”, and that when I brought my anthology, Sinophagia, out, there were huge risks for both the project, and the reputation I’ve worked to build. But, I knew the first collection of contemporary horror fiction from China would find an eager, hungry audience in the West, where horror literature is immensely popular, accepted and developed.

I was delighted to have won acclaim from scholarly circles and the general public. With the Anglophone world’s love of classic Chinese ghost stories, the inclusion of a Pu Songling reinterpretation seemed like a necessity, as are examples of modern traditional Chinese horror. Readers have also connected with the accessible food fiction, the locked-room survival tale and the reportage-style story about burial customs, which enabled me to demonstrate how Chinese writers have combined Western influences of psychological horror writing with incisive social commentary and Chinese traditions.

One of the first writers I wanted for the anthology was Cai Jun, whose works are excellent explorations of suspense, the Gothic and the multiple facets of the human and non-human condition, moving seamlessly between Western and Chinese influences. His reputation as a horror writer is so extensive, that even characters in other stories featured in my collection, talk about his books.

Over the last couple of years, I’ve spoken with delight in Western media about the translation of A Yi, Zi Jinchen, and discussed some of the others we’re celebrating today with publishers. Though I’m working on Fantasy and Sci-Fi books at the moment, I certainly plan to return to this genre.

I hope to continue to see the amazing development of Chinese horror and mystery on an international stage, and elements of this kind of storytelling across Wuxia, detective, science fiction and other genres.

I’d also like to see the publishing and promotion of more brilliant female voices, such as Hong Niangzi and Goodnight, Xiaoqing, Yimei Tangguo with whom I was very happy to work.

I hope that the lessons learned here is that talent grows in every corner of this industry, and we need to try a little harder to recognise, and nurture it….


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