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

3.0

There are three 5-star stories in this collection: "The Human Chair," "The Caterpillar" and "The Traveler with the Pasted Rag Picture." About the first story- if you thought a chair was just for sitting...think again. This one had a O'Henry-ish ending that I loved. "The Caterpillar" is a twisted tragedy about a woman's relationship with her veteran husband after the latter is mutilated beyond recognition in the war. The kind of story that stays with you for a long time. The third story ("Traveler") is a bittersweet tale about a man losing his brother in a very unusual way that involves binoculars.

As for the other stories in the collection...couldn't get into them. The writing seemed labored and conceptually, they just didn't measure up to the above three. "The Red Chamber" read like a long-winded Poe knock-off. Still, the collection is worth getting just for the three brilliant tales.