Japanese Grimm Fairytales
Let's do a mash-up and see what we get!
After the comments that I was provided by Professor Gibbs, I'm thinking of going the route of combining two of my style choices into one. Japanese Fairytales and Grimm Fairytales into one genre seems to be a great take on some of the folklore and myth that stems from Japan in a creepy or twisted way. When I was younger, I really liked to indulge in horror games that were made in Japan. Some like the Fatal Frame games or even the video game interpretation of Ju-On. So with that, I looked into the Freebookapalooza and came across some stories that I think would help to inspire my writing for my end project!
The first story I came across was the book "In Ghostly Japan" by Lafcadio Hearn which can be accessed from the Freebookapalooza site. This book is a recount of many supernatural stories and oriental mysteries that are centered around Japanese imagery, speech pattern, and slightly mirrored religion. What I liked about this book that helped in providing me with inspiration is that it isn't solely focused on scaring the reader or being overdone. It really draws out stories so that you may not know if something is good or bad, whether you should be scared or not scared, even how far the writer is going to go with the story so that it could be a happy ending or an unsettling ending. Since I wanted to take a Grimm approach to my storytelling, this was a great choice to stumble upon for future reference.
The second story I wanted to use in order to help with my semester project was the "Dragon Jewel" by Teresa Pierce Williston which can be found at the Sacred Texts website. This is a short story that accounts for the blind ego of a prince who wants to prove that he is not a coward to his people. He has a quick foil which is something I appreciate about fairytales because they often bring forward raw character development in such a short amount of time. Based on just the genuine feeling you can get from the prince's character made it inspirational to me because I want to be able to inject that much into a reader of my stories regardless of how long or short it may be. This one is more of a Japanese fairy tale that doesn't necessarily follow myth and lore.
The last story that gave me some inspiration is more on the Grimm Fairytale side of things. The passage I read was from Brothers Grimm (Hunt) section for "Thumbling" translated by Margaret Hunt and found on Un-Textbook. This story tells the journey of a small boy no larger than a thumb being separated from his parents and using his quick wit and small size to make his way home. All the while causing misfortune to the beings that have unintentionally helped guide him home. I like that not only is this a pretty serious story that has gruesome circumstances for some characters, but it also shows the evils in the world from both the main characters acts and the thoughts of the side characters throughout the story. It kept me interested and hopeful the whole time because I wanted to see if he would make it home before actually not being smart enough to keep going.Image 1: Ghostly Scene (Pixabay)
Hi Jasmine!
ReplyDeleteI never played Fatal Frame, but it's on my list for sure. I grew up on ancient 90s horror and am a huge fan of both silent hill and resident evil (the old stuff, anyways). I'm also a sucker for old computer games like Penumbra, Myst and almost anything atmospheric/point and click.
The idea of combining Japanese and Grimm's could be amazing! I can't to check out your project, and I can't wait to see what kind of feel your site will have. A lot of Japanese art is downright spooky, and I love that :)
Looking forward to it!