A review by natasha29singh
Japanese Tales of Mystery & Imagination by Edogawa Rampo

4.0

After reading so much literary fiction, it’s nice to read classic mystery and horror. Having some context on the process of translations made the dramatic descriptions so much more enjoyable for me. I noticed a few themes recurring across the stories, which gave me a pleasantly familiar feeling. I think this collection is curated very well – you have your ‘gotcha’ detective stories (The Psychological Test, The Twins) as well as existential horror, which leaves more up to the imagination (The Hell of Mirrors, for example, is the kind of story you can really think about later.) My favorites, however, are the deliberately satirical stories: The Red Chamber in particular, but also The Human Chair to some extent. Nice one & shout-out to Edgar Allen Poe.