Yurei Yokai to Kyuketsuki, desu ne?! (Ghosts, Demons, and Vampires, oh my!)

Recently I seem to be obsessed with ghost stories and Japanese monsters. Been reading things like Bleach, Tactics, and Yokai Attack! Been watching Ghost Hunt, Saiyuki, and mainstream Japanese horror. So, here are two of the paranormal stories that caught my eye.

The Waking Book 1: Dreams of the Dead by Thomas Randall

I was a bit worried when I started this one. It is a Japanese style paranormal mystery written by an American. It had all the chances of just becoming a manga and anime-influenced rehash of Japanese culture with no real ideas of how modern Japan functions or grasp of Japanese culture. However, I was pleasantly surprised.

Kara is a 16-year-old girl from Boston who moves to Kyoto prefecture with her father, an English teacher at a prestiguous Japanese high school. They have both always wanted to live in Japan and, after the death of Kara's mother, the move is both wanted and needed. Along with worries about fitting in, Kara faces the trauma and stangeness of several suspicous student deaths that appear to be caused by the murder of a student in the Fall. Is it supernatural? Or is it only the victim's sister trying to get revenge?

The strongest parts of this story are Randall's ability to evoke the beauty of Miyazu City, his well-drawn characters, and his obvious grasp of Japanese folklore and love of horror. Kara details her love of the city and the people who live there in simple but striking language. She references both anime and American cultural standards (Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz) but doesn't only see the world through pop culture eyes. She is also a good judge of character and a normal teen; she doesn't like everybody and she questions here choices in friends, fashion, and behavior, especially in a country where propriety is everything. I love that Randall refuses to use both the American and Japanese stereotype characters and instead creates characters that are foremost teenagers and secondarily Japanese.

The folklore, of course, was one of the main draws for me as well. Was it a ghost? A monster? and if so, what kind? Japanese monsters are very different from American ones. I was genuinely surprised by what the outcome was. The plot was well thought out and masterly crafted. The bullying was important, but not simple. The monsters were both supernatural and human.

I look forward to the next installment in this trilogy, Spirits of the Noh.

Ghost Hunt by Fuyumi Ono and Shiho Inada

Now for a manga with similar topics.....

Mai Taniyama is a typical teen in high school. When Shibuya Psychic Research comes to her school to investigate a possible haunting, she becomes an assistant on the team after causing the usual assistant (Lin) to be injured and destroying an expensive camera. The school also hires a Buddhist monk (Takigawa), a Shinto miko (Ayako), a Catholic priest (John) and a psychic medium (Masako). This becomes their first case together and the series continues with multiple cases of varying creepiness and validity.

Mai discovers that she has her own paranormal power (dream prognostication) and has an unhealthy crush on the head of the company, 17-year-old Kazuya Shibuya (Naru the narcissicist, for short). After the case, she is also hired as an office assistant. This mainly involves making tea....

In any case, the cases are fascinating and some of them are quite scary. Japanes folklore and paranormal science intertwine in every case, as the team uses whatever is available to them to help their clients. Occasionally, the plot is a bit formulaic, but that is to be expected in an episodic manga such as this.

Originally, this story was a series of "light" novels in Japan. That is what they call their YA. It was highly popular and was later adapted into manga and anime form. The manga is still being written and is supposed to follow through to the end of the novel series. The anime is complete and ended before the end of the current manga volume.

So, a creepy time had by all? These two are a great pick for your horror lovers out there, especially if they would like something a little different. And they both promise to serve up plenty of yurei, yokai, and kyuketsuki!!!

Strange Angels by Lili St. Crow

Whew, been awhile. My computer died on me and it took me some time to replace it. Anyway, I did keep reading!

Dru has moved from place to place with her ex-military father, hunting creatures that the normal world doesn't know exist. She helps her dad through use of "the touch," a psychic ability that allows Dru to sense the supernatural beings. When he returns from a hunt as a zombie, Dru must decide what to do: find her father's killer, move on, or try to live a normal life. The creature that is now hunting her may make that choice for her.

I have to say that I liked the pace and the unique creatures that are in this story. It is not a paranormal romance, although I could see it going there in the future. It is definitely an action story. St. Crow weaves in some little used mythology in her story and makes it believeable.

Graves, the Goth boy who helps Dru decide what to do and gives her a place to stay, is probably the most likeable character. However, Dru's constant references to his "half-blood" status and features are obnoxious and borderline racist. Do we really need to be constantly reminded of his half-Asian features and mathematical abilities? It is a horribly overdone cliche for an otherwise great character.

Several reviews I read really like Christophe, the other main character, but I reserve judgement for later novels. Something about him really bothers me.....Just can't put my finger on it.

As for Dru herself, she is plucky and foul-mouthed, cynical and soft-hearted, knowledgable yet still in some ways quite innocent. She is complex enough to carry the story, but understandable and recognizable as a teenager who has lost her whole family and discovered that the secrets they kept are larger than the ones that they shared.

So, overall, not a masterpiece, but I do look forward to future installments. It is a good choice for all those Twilight lovers out there (with better writing and swifter plot). All in all, a new guilty pleasure for those of us who love our paranormal hotties.

Untamed by P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast

Guilty pleasure time! I love that part of our job is to read things that we enjoy just for fun, not just literary merit.

SPOILER ALERT--If you haven't read the House of Night books, this synopsis might spoil a few things from the previous books.

So, I read the newest episode in the House of Night story and it is probably my favorite so far. It is action-packed, serious, and much less angsty than its predecessors. In the beginning of Untamed, Zoey Redbird has alienated her circle of close friends, lost all three boyfriends from the previous volume (1 feels betrayed, 1 is no longer Imprinted, and 1 is violently dead), and has incurred the wrath of the school's principal and Head Priestess, Nefret. And while Stevie Rae is no longer the walking undead, we're not sure what she is and in saving her, Aphrodite is now human.

Now a new student shows up, the mysterious and hot Stark, an archery champion from the Chicago House of Night. What part will he play in the ongoing drama? And which girl will snag him? And Erik is not out of the picture completely, either. Did Heath survive the breaking of the Imprint and is he angry? Plus, what are these strange flapping night creatures that seem intent on attacking Zoey when she is alone?

This volume has it all: demons, angels, dogs, new cats, nuns, witches, war, blood, redemption, and a new evil for the group to face. How will they thwart what could possibly be the end of the world as they know it?

One other cool part of reading this series is finding out who in our world is actually a vampyre. Here is my favorite reveal in this volume:

" Feeling better now that Nala was working her purr magic on me, I tried to lose myself in the book I was reading, Ink Exchange by my current favorite vamp author, Melissa Marr, but not even her hot fairies could keep my attention from wandering."

Yeay, Melissa Marr! So, if you enjoy your vampire stories with a little bit of teen angst, check out House of Night. I consider it YA lit's answer to Laurell K. Hamilton!