Sinophagia - A Celebration of Chinese Horror edited by Xueting C Ni
I would like to thank Solaris for an advance copy of this anthology in exchange for a fair and honest review
Publisher – Solaris
Published – 24/9
Price – £9.99 paperback £5.99 Kindle eBook
An anthology of unsettling tales from contemporary China, translated into English for the very first time.
Fourteen dazzling horror stories delve deep into the psyche of modern China in this new anthology curated by acclaimed writer and essayist Xueting C. Ni, editor and translator of the British Fantasy Award-winning Sinopticon.
From the menacing vision of a red umbrella, to the ominous atmosphere of the Laughing Mountain; from the waking dream of virtual working to the sinister games of the locked room… this is a fascinating insight into the spine-chilling voices working within China today – a long way from the traditional expectations of hopping vampires and hanging ghosts.
This ground-breaking collection features both well-known names and bold upcoming writers, including: Hong Niangzi, Fan Zhou, Chu Xidao, She Cong Ge, Chuan Ge, Goodnight, Xiaoqing, Zhou Dedong, Nanpai Sanshu, Yimei Tangguo, Chi Hui, Zhou Haohui, Su Min, Cai Jun, and Gu Shi.
One of the big developments of the century is how western audiences are starting to get more exposed to how any genre is handled across the world and this also applies to horror. While humanity shares many ideas as to what scares us every region of the world has a slightly different focus and spin on the genre and as a reader learning to understand those similarities and differences is always rewarding. Now Xueting C Ni has delivered the excellent new horror anthology Sinophagia – A Celebration of Chinese Horror exploring China’s rich and varied modern horror scene and it is has a fascinating selection of tales that should entice any reader to find out more about what looks to now be a scene appropriately ready to come out of the shadows. One of the best anthologies of the year!
Ni has both translated an edited a huge selection of stories to give us many ideas as to the facets contained within modern Chinese horror. There is an excellent introduction where Ni explains their own love of horror and how horror has for many years been looked down upon in Chinese culture (many feelings of which will make British horror fans think back to the early 2000s) but now attitudes are changing with online sites and a new wealth of talented authors.. Setting that scene skilfully we then have a very fine selection of tales to pull us in and be scared by.
The Girl In The Rain by Hong Niangzi – The opening story confirms Chinese horror is rarely simple. We focus on a university where at the start a young woman dies horribly and then go back a few days to explore what is going on. We get a university that is filled with urban legends and a young couple seem to have the respective ghost’s attention. This is a tense flowing tale with a few onions skins of plot to unpeel and it comes together very well indeed as our character’s motivations are explored and the threats come ever closer.
The Waking Dream by Fan Zhou – I loved this tale where a young woman notices her boss has a monster hanging around her. What seems a monster tale is actually more of a black mirror style approach as we discover that our main character works within a new VR working life – 12 hours straight asleep just working - what a great and disturbing concept! But more and more monsters appear in the office and are appearing linked to a person’s fears. As well as a fascinating story this story touches upon universal fears over losing yourself in work that never ends and a salutary warning corporation rarely have employees interests at heart. A great story!
Immortal Beauty by Chu Xidao – From the modern world we then go to a historical horror tale that focuses on a noble lady cruelly replaced by her husband for a younger version who may bear his children. Her husband’s brother seduces her and this leads to her death. But such an injustice leads to an angry spirit calling for revenge, It’s a well told story making us feel for the main character trapped in an unforgiving system where men rule and also is a nod towards the beginning of a famous legend.
Those Who Walk At Night, Walk With Ghosts by She Cong Ge – One of my favourites and a delightfully creepy walk through the supernatural dark. Our narrator seeking some cash is persuaded to follow his young Doctor friend to a village. There a man needing hospital attention is found but on the dark and stormy night this means a race in a van across mountain roads and for good measure the villagers warn it’s the anniversary of a dangerous gang’s deaths who they believe haunt the place. Nothing goes right, the tension builds and builds as we worry about our small cast in this terrible location and then a dangerous race across the land is filled with strange sights and sounds. This is very good chilling horror keeping us nervous and slowly ramping up the scares. It is one of several stories exploring the way rural Chinese settlements get viewed by urban residents but also touches on recent history and the past forever haunting people. It is a fantastic piece of storytelling.
The Yin Yang Pot by Chuan Ge – A man unexpectedly meets his ex at a restaurant and they share a meal. That’s all I’m going to say on this one as it’s a beautiful piece of mixing the supernatural with character work. As the narrator explains what is going on you feel your loyalties shifting and a wonderfully nasty tale of betrayals comes to pass. Another favourite but also the description of food really makes you hungry!
The Shaxiao by Goodnight, Xiaoqing – Another historical tale that also treads into weird fiction territory that really works thanks to narrator looking back at this incident when he was a young man always seeking adventure and lust. A trip into a mountain forest cases him to get attacked by an evil monster and only a mysterious beautiful woman saves him. That could easily have been the end of the story but then the adventurer is told the remarkable truth of the rescuer which I did not see coming. Its scary, bloody and disturbing in all the right ways.
Have You Heard of ‘Ancient Glory’ by Zhou Dedong – Another favourite as it is a fascinating concept (built around some real events). A young couple finally find their first home but are shocked to discover that every other house belongs to a family using it to store the family remains (as rent is cheaper than a graveyard). That itself is a powerful story and as you expect things get worse from there. The story weaves back and forth in time, touches on themes of grief and corporate exploitation and its wonderfully eerie and haunting all the way through. I loved this one a lot.
Records of Xiangxi by Nanpai Sanshu – This is a story exploring histories in history, with tales of battles, magic and the supernatural rolling into each other. A historical horror epic in miniature that sweeps along as if it was real.
The Ghost Wedding by Yimei Tangguo – Starts with a wedding where expensive gifts are being prepared and we are told a corpse is nearby. That is a hook isn’t it? This is a family tragedy that explores the exploitation of woman and a character we initially dismiss as vapid is we find full of trauma herself which we have to then witness. This story has little in the sense of a happy ending here and supernatural events slowly entrap the characters to bring us back to the tale’s start. The outcome is a gut punch that there is very little of a happy ending awaiting us. Another favourite.
Night Climb by Chi Hui – This short but memorable tale has all the hallmarks of classic weird horror as our narrator is suddenly seeing very strange people on his walk. Just for good measure another strange event makes us think this mountain is not a place to hang around for long on. Nothing is explained just experienced and sometimes that’s the best kind of horror.
Forbidden Rooms by Zhou Haohui – This feels initially a ghost story as we follow a young woman haunted by memories of where she used to live and a strange child she sees in her dreams. Then Haohui pulls the rug from under the reader and plunges us into a more modern horror style and that reveal is worth the wait. Our character’s past has come back to haunt her and another character we meet, and they have a desperate hunt to try and escape. It’s a very dark story with a searching look to see if there is good in anyone in the modern age and the answers are very uncomfortable. A nasty slice of dark horror I really enjoyed reading.
Ti’Naang by Su Min – A young woman and her fiancé decide reluctantly to go back to her childhood home that she escaped many years ago. A strange unwelcoming village that is suspicious of strangers and has a lot of people who seem to look the same. Our lead character is once again facing her horrible father and her silent mother. This is a beautifully layered tale of secrets and w find out what the village is hiding and what the family too has been hiding. There is a sense of the folk horror here that the village uses its own myths again and again for their own uses and nothing is quite what it seems. An uncomfortable ending awaits. Again, has themes of rural areas being viewed with suspicion and family pressures that the young try to escape finding their own lives. A very well told tale
Huangcun by Cai Jun – This gorgeously strange and eerie tale will feel familiar to lovers of the modern gothic. Our narrator is strangely enough a horror writer who at a signing meets a woman from the location of his last book – The town of Hungcun which he made up. This compels him to follow his fan to a remote and desolate town by the sea and stay a few days. From the strange landscape, the fan’s strange looking father and the various legends and events that the transpire the story is constantly flowing and changing shape. Our suspicions as to the truth are pulled into lots of directions and there is a wonderful build up the tale’s finale which explains everything and yet leaves more mysteries for us to ponder. A gorgeous tale to savour.
The Death of Nala by Gu Shi – Finishing the collection is this short but wonderfully bitter take of a mother, her lovely cat and her strange scary child. It touches on the death of a pet and then gets darker and darker. Touching on themes of motherhood, grief and mental health this story neatly makes you re-appraise every short scene you read. It’s the final shot of expresso you need to swallow before finishing the anthology, and it stays with you long after reading it. Powerful storytelling
As you can see I loved this collection and think this is a very welcome introduction to the modern Chinese horror scene which based on this collection is growing in strength, variety and a host of authors that I’ll be looking out for. I also recommend reading NI’s notes that explore each story’s themes, references and inspirations. I strongly recommend this to readers seeking their reads in the approach to Halloween and this is a collection I think is extremely important to share a spotlight on a horror scene we should be paying attention to! Run and get get it!
