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Kowabana #1
Kowabana: 'True' Japanese scary stories from around the internet: Volume One
Tired of the same old creepypastas? Look no further.Want to know how to open the demon’s gate, or reach a parallel universe?
Think you can withstand the curse of a god hidden deep in a place that’s not supposed to exist?
Would you play Kokkuri-san, knowing it might be the last game you ever play?
In ‘True’ Japanese scary stories from around the internet Vol. 1 you’ll find over 100 raw Japanese tales of terror. These tales, originally posted anonymously to the internet and translated for the first time right here, paint a picture of Japan that most don’t see, and a horror most have never experienced. These are the ‘true’ terrifying tales told around the internet campfire by everyday people; warts and all. You’ll find tales of vengeful ghosts and yurei, murder and suicide, cursed objects and haunted shrines, abandoned buildings and crowded city trains, yokai and much, much more.
You’ve never experienced horror like this before. Click the buy button to experience the true terror of the East right now.
Think you can withstand the curse of a god hidden deep in a place that’s not supposed to exist?
Would you play Kokkuri-san, knowing it might be the last game you ever play?
In ‘True’ Japanese scary stories from around the internet Vol. 1 you’ll find over 100 raw Japanese tales of terror. These tales, originally posted anonymously to the internet and translated for the first time right here, paint a picture of Japan that most don’t see, and a horror most have never experienced. These are the ‘true’ terrifying tales told around the internet campfire by everyday people; warts and all. You’ll find tales of vengeful ghosts and yurei, murder and suicide, cursed objects and haunted shrines, abandoned buildings and crowded city trains, yokai and much, much more.
You’ve never experienced horror like this before. Click the buy button to experience the true terror of the East right now.
384 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 13, 2017
124 people are currently reading
553 people want to read
About the author
Tara A. Devlin
62 books164 followersTara A. Devlin studied Japanese at the University of Queensland before moving to Japan in 2005. She lived in Matsue, the birthplace of Japanese ghost stories, for 10 years, where her love for Japanese horror really grew. And with Izumo, the birthplace of Japanese mythology, just a stone’s throw away, she was never too far from the mysterious. You can find her collection of horror and fantasy writings at taraadevlin.com and translations of Japanese horror at kowabana.net.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
February 5, 2018
I was given an e book version of Kowabana in exchange for an honest review.
For whatever reason Asian horror is just creepier than any other horror I read or watch. The stories in this book are no exception. Told in sparse narrative, these stories have the air of a friend telling you about a local urban legend. Some weren’t my cup of tea or just dragged on a little too much but overall this book was a fun, creepy read.
For whatever reason Asian horror is just creepier than any other horror I read or watch. The stories in this book are no exception. Told in sparse narrative, these stories have the air of a friend telling you about a local urban legend. Some weren’t my cup of tea or just dragged on a little too much but overall this book was a fun, creepy read.
March 1, 2018
Chilling tales
A compilation of short stories that leave up to the title. The tales are not gruesome but instill fear with hints of the supernatural that are stranger than fiction. I will be reading the next book in the series. I hope it will keep me up at night and make me not want yo be alone in the dark. For horror, thriller, SciFi fans looking for something short and not so sweet.
A compilation of short stories that leave up to the title. The tales are not gruesome but instill fear with hints of the supernatural that are stranger than fiction. I will be reading the next book in the series. I hope it will keep me up at night and make me not want yo be alone in the dark. For horror, thriller, SciFi fans looking for something short and not so sweet.
June 3, 2018
Creepy and Fun
Reading this book was a lot like sitting around a fire telling stories with friends. The stories are (mostly) very short and organised by theme. They are translations of Japanese urban legends, so anticipate that there will be some loose ends.
I first found Devlin while listening to podcasts, and reading her translations is equally enjoyable. If you are looking for some creepy stories to make you jump at noises in the dark, this is a good book for you!
Reading this book was a lot like sitting around a fire telling stories with friends. The stories are (mostly) very short and organised by theme. They are translations of Japanese urban legends, so anticipate that there will be some loose ends.
I first found Devlin while listening to podcasts, and reading her translations is equally enjoyable. If you are looking for some creepy stories to make you jump at noises in the dark, this is a good book for you!
August 27, 2021
I enjoyed this book! This is a collection of short scary stories based in Japan, and the author has translated them to English. The stories are interesting, and collected in a way that makes sense. I always really
enjoyed the little bits of Japanese culture/festivals that the book explained. Enjoyable read. I was also really happy to find out there is multiple volumes in this collection, which I will be purchasing now!
enjoyed the little bits of Japanese culture/festivals that the book explained. Enjoyable read. I was also really happy to find out there is multiple volumes in this collection, which I will be purchasing now!
February 27, 2018
i agreed to leave a honest review so i could get this book ahead of time
This book truly opens eyes to eastern culture and their views on the supernatural many of which seem to respect the dead. This book left my spin tingling and had my heart racing for more cant wait to read volume two at some point.
This book truly opens eyes to eastern culture and their views on the supernatural many of which seem to respect the dead. This book left my spin tingling and had my heart racing for more cant wait to read volume two at some point.
August 15, 2018
This book is hilarious! A few of the stories were actually creepy, but most of them gave me a good laugh. Great fun. I've already bought the next 2 volumes.
January 26, 2021
Review to come.
September 15, 2021
A bunch of stories translated from Japanese Creepypasta. Some of them are pretty creepy.
August 10, 2018
An intriguing combination of various Japanese urban legends and scary stories. Really worth a read even if (or maybe especially if?) you don't know nothing about Japanese folklore. Loved it!
November 11, 2020
This is a tricky book to review. I picked it up knowing very little about it; I see from reviews here now that a lot of people are familiar with Devlin and her work through a podcast, so perhaps existing fans would have had a better idea of what they were going to be getting.
Essentially, this is a collection of forum posts assembled into a book. Devlin has obviously spent an awful lot of time and effort trawling Japanese forums looking for scary things that people have posted, and I applaud her for that. The language of the translations is slightly... let's say idiosyncratic, but I think that's to be expected when trying to translate not only Japanese but colloquial internet-speak Japanese, and as far as I can tell Devlin's done a good job rendering the pieces easy to follow and understand.
What doesn't seem to have happened as much, if at all, is editing. On the one hand, I can see the merits of trying to recreate the spooky-Japanese-forum experience as faithfully as possible, but it doesn't look as if Devlin has done anything to any of the pieces to make them more interesting, succinct (not that most of them need it; the majority of pieces are under three Kindle-sized pages), or effective. She also seems to have included any piece that remotely fell into the category of 'scary', with the result that the majority of them boil down to something along the lines of 'I had an experience where I thought something was watching me. I can't explain it but nothing else happened.' Sometimes that's creepy, but it's the majority of the book; those pieces that really do have a lovely fear to them would have been more effectively presented if Devlin had included fewer pieces of higher quality, I think, and perhaps spent a bit of time on polishing them up. (Although, again, I understand the argument in favour of leaving them as close to their original expressions as possible.)
It does capture something, though. There's a certain sort of unsettled feeling that this sort of scary story can evoke, and at times that happens really well. Devlin does deserve some credit for that, since she has translated the stories in a way that I mostly find effective enough, although I would feel a bit odd about calling her the author of this book.
Basically, it's not bad. Some of the pieces are pretty good. Just be aware that what you're getting really is an Internet forum experience: unedited.
Essentially, this is a collection of forum posts assembled into a book. Devlin has obviously spent an awful lot of time and effort trawling Japanese forums looking for scary things that people have posted, and I applaud her for that. The language of the translations is slightly... let's say idiosyncratic, but I think that's to be expected when trying to translate not only Japanese but colloquial internet-speak Japanese, and as far as I can tell Devlin's done a good job rendering the pieces easy to follow and understand.
What doesn't seem to have happened as much, if at all, is editing. On the one hand, I can see the merits of trying to recreate the spooky-Japanese-forum experience as faithfully as possible, but it doesn't look as if Devlin has done anything to any of the pieces to make them more interesting, succinct (not that most of them need it; the majority of pieces are under three Kindle-sized pages), or effective. She also seems to have included any piece that remotely fell into the category of 'scary', with the result that the majority of them boil down to something along the lines of 'I had an experience where I thought something was watching me. I can't explain it but nothing else happened.' Sometimes that's creepy, but it's the majority of the book; those pieces that really do have a lovely fear to them would have been more effectively presented if Devlin had included fewer pieces of higher quality, I think, and perhaps spent a bit of time on polishing them up. (Although, again, I understand the argument in favour of leaving them as close to their original expressions as possible.)
It does capture something, though. There's a certain sort of unsettled feeling that this sort of scary story can evoke, and at times that happens really well. Devlin does deserve some credit for that, since she has translated the stories in a way that I mostly find effective enough, although I would feel a bit odd about calling her the author of this book.
Basically, it's not bad. Some of the pieces are pretty good. Just be aware that what you're getting really is an Internet forum experience: unedited.
March 5, 2019
Just like English-language creepypasta, there are some excellent stories hidden among a lot of really bad ones. This book is a little difficult to get through merely because the truly frightening stories are, in my opinion, few and far between. I love Japanese culture and horror, so I was thrilled to read this book. I really wanted to love this book, but overall I have to say that I didn't. There are several very bad stories that do nothing for me. This is not a reflection on the editor / translator / author of the book, Tara A. Devlin, but merely an observation on the nature of creepypasta itself. Some stories are great, but most are not.
However, when it does come to the author, this must be said. The stories are originally Japanese-language horror stories (so they already have an entirely different culture and mindset in mind for the audience). In this book, they have been translated by someone who is natively Australian, lived in Japan for 10 years, and then lived/s in Europe while compiling this book. This all leads to some uniquely odd vernacular and vocabulary choices. Not necessarily a bad thing by any means, but something worth knowing going into the book.
There were certainly a handful of stories that gave me the creeps or were well written enough to hold my interest. It's definitely a worthwhile book to read if you really enjoy Japanese horror, but be prepared to read through several badly written stories in the process.
In short, if I were to rate the amount of work the author had to put into this book, what with all the searching online for stories, translating them to English, and compiling them into this book, it's a 5 star book. But to rate the quality of the stories themselves brings it down to a 3 star book. For that, I settle with 4 stars.
However, when it does come to the author, this must be said. The stories are originally Japanese-language horror stories (so they already have an entirely different culture and mindset in mind for the audience). In this book, they have been translated by someone who is natively Australian, lived in Japan for 10 years, and then lived/s in Europe while compiling this book. This all leads to some uniquely odd vernacular and vocabulary choices. Not necessarily a bad thing by any means, but something worth knowing going into the book.
There were certainly a handful of stories that gave me the creeps or were well written enough to hold my interest. It's definitely a worthwhile book to read if you really enjoy Japanese horror, but be prepared to read through several badly written stories in the process.
In short, if I were to rate the amount of work the author had to put into this book, what with all the searching online for stories, translating them to English, and compiling them into this book, it's a 5 star book. But to rate the quality of the stories themselves brings it down to a 3 star book. For that, I settle with 4 stars.
March 20, 2019
Creepypasta is an interesting subgenre not only of horror but of the campfire story. It’s inherently tied to the internet, usually kept anonymous, and usually told in a direct manner. Taken at face value, a good creepypasta story scares the reader without making them question the plausibility of the story.
Thus, a translated collection of creepypasta can be challenging. Most translated horror tends to be difficult because fears can be personal on both an individual level and a societal level. Can a scary story be as effective to an audience that’s not immersed in the same cultural mores of its storyteller, especially if the storyteller is just some random person posting on a forum?
If the first volume of Kowabana is any indication, the answer is “yes.”
Read the rest of the review here.
Thus, a translated collection of creepypasta can be challenging. Most translated horror tends to be difficult because fears can be personal on both an individual level and a societal level. Can a scary story be as effective to an audience that’s not immersed in the same cultural mores of its storyteller, especially if the storyteller is just some random person posting on a forum?
If the first volume of Kowabana is any indication, the answer is “yes.”
Read the rest of the review here.
December 28, 2022
As I've proudly (?) proclaimed before, I'm a huge weeb. However, my love for Japanese horror would still be as strong without me being a huge nerd. This book is such proof.
Ms Tara has compiled a bunch of stories, experiences, rumours and what have you to make a potpourri of what makes JHorror so good. It even reminds me of Fuan No Tane, my favourite horror manga in which you realise true horror lies hidden around regular day to day life.
Though sometimes it's not as hidden as we'd like.
I think I'll take the leap and start the second book right away, even if I'm a scaredy cat and I have to hold back going to the bathroom because I'm scared whatever's compiled in these stories will get me as soon as I open the door.
THAT is the exact proof you need to know a book is good.
Ms Tara has compiled a bunch of stories, experiences, rumours and what have you to make a potpourri of what makes JHorror so good. It even reminds me of Fuan No Tane, my favourite horror manga in which you realise true horror lies hidden around regular day to day life.
Though sometimes it's not as hidden as we'd like.
I think I'll take the leap and start the second book right away, even if I'm a scaredy cat and I have to hold back going to the bathroom because I'm scared whatever's compiled in these stories will get me as soon as I open the door.
THAT is the exact proof you need to know a book is good.
June 15, 2023
I used to listen to Devlin's podcast, and that's how I found out about the books. They have been on my gift list for a while but now I have ran out of ideas for people, they are getting me books again!
This book is only really of interest to those who like Japan and its culture. The country has always had a fascination with the spiritual, and anyone who knows the artistic output knows about their love of horror(Ju-On, Ring, etc). These 'true' stories all follow a similar style so you kind of know what to expect with each story.However, that's not necessarily a bad thing. The stories are short, so it is easy to read them if you have a few spare minutes.
Interesting and fun, but a bit predictable after a while. Still, I'm up for reading volume 2...
This book is only really of interest to those who like Japan and its culture. The country has always had a fascination with the spiritual, and anyone who knows the artistic output knows about their love of horror(Ju-On, Ring, etc). These 'true' stories all follow a similar style so you kind of know what to expect with each story.However, that's not necessarily a bad thing. The stories are short, so it is easy to read them if you have a few spare minutes.
Interesting and fun, but a bit predictable after a while. Still, I'm up for reading volume 2...
December 8, 2025
Тук ще откриете разкази, преведени от японски форуми – истории, представяни като истински, реално преживени случки. Гаранция за автентичност н��ма, но едно е сигурно: част от тези сюжети могат да накарат косъмчетата по врата ти да настръхнат. Девлин ги подрежда в различни тематични блокове, сред които голям дял заемат произведенията, свързани с Обон – японския фестивал на мъртвите. Това е нещо като нашата Задушница, но възприето много по-директно и естествено в паранормалния му аспект. Други разкази са училищни истории, като силно впечатление правят тези за Кокури-сан – японската версия на уиджа дъските, които не по-рядко от западните завършват със злощастни последици.
Цялото ми ревю може да прочетете в Цитаделата:
https://citadelata.com/kowabana-1/
Цялото ми ревю може да прочетете в Цитаделата:
https://citadelata.com/kowabana-1/
September 28, 2020
A solid collection of creepy stories right from the land of the rising sun.
This book has lots of lovingly collected and translated stories from the Japanese websites by the author. Some are good, some not so good, the resulting enjoyment depends on your particular tastes and favorites in the large urban folklore. For example, this volume has just a few related to technology, most are probably in the other books. But I bet everyone will find some to their liking if they're at all interested in the genre. The first one that got me was probably the one with the old lady and her dolls, hehehe.
This book has lots of lovingly collected and translated stories from the Japanese websites by the author. Some are good, some not so good, the resulting enjoyment depends on your particular tastes and favorites in the large urban folklore. For example, this volume has just a few related to technology, most are probably in the other books. But I bet everyone will find some to their liking if they're at all interested in the genre. The first one that got me was probably the one with the old lady and her dolls, hehehe.
February 4, 2021
I enjoyed this, but due to the nature of it not all of the stories are great or even good. But some are really creepy, and the way Japanese culture impacts stories like these is very s from western ones so it’s nice to get to read these without having mastered Japanese. I’m going to read more since I ended up buying the collection.
January 28, 2023
A good selection of creepypastas and other strange tales from around the Japanese Internet. It’s a mixed bag. The translation is good and you’ll learn a thing or two about urban legends and Japanese culture more generally. The last section with the “guess what it’s really about” tales is the best part.
March 18, 2018
Nothing really great.
This isn’t a jab against the author. The translation work was done well. This is mainly a jab at the stories found in this book. None of them caught my attention and some of them simply didn’t make any sense.
This isn’t a jab against the author. The translation work was done well. This is mainly a jab at the stories found in this book. None of them caught my attention and some of them simply didn’t make any sense.
August 25, 2018
I wish I could give it a higher score. The translations are well done and the stories are interesting, but the book is heavily advertised on the podcast and yet if you listen to the podcast you have already read this book. No point in doing both.
May 26, 2020
Cool
I love J horror and the occult and this book didn’t disapppoint. I have spent forever looking for kowabana tale sin English online after watching so many on amazon here so I’m glad to have found this book to feed my need. I will check the other volumes ASAP!
I love J horror and the occult and this book didn’t disapppoint. I have spent forever looking for kowabana tale sin English online after watching so many on amazon here so I’m glad to have found this book to feed my need. I will check the other volumes ASAP!
August 19, 2021
Although the stories are entertaining and well translated…
Most of the stories are already mentioned in the podcast version. I think it would be more entertaining if there are more translated stories that are not from the podcast.
Most of the stories are already mentioned in the podcast version. I think it would be more entertaining if there are more translated stories that are not from the podcast.
December 10, 2021
This was such a fantastic collection of stories. Sometimes you just wanna read bite-sized spooky stories lol
January 4, 2023
I’ve been wanting to read this collection for a while as I love Japanese horror, and it delivers!
February 15, 2026
Cukup menghibur, hanya saja penulis terasa asal mengambil dan mengejar volume alih-alih "memfilter" cerita yang bagus. Tetap selingan yang menarik karena satu cerita hanya kisaran 2 halaman.
July 15, 2018
Not my thing...enough said
April 1, 2025
I love these translations, it feels like sitting around a campfire telling scary stories.
March 6, 2021
If you enjoy old stories from Reddit's NoSleep forum (or other such sites where creepy "true" stories are told) then this book is absolutely for you. The large differences between Japanese creepypastas and American ones are the legends, locations, and history/lore. For me, I think the more widely acknowledged belief in supernatural entities/ghosts/demons/curses makes these stories a little more creepy than their American counterparts. I also enjoyed the fact that many of the stories had no definite ending, and many of them read (as with many "older" creepypastas") more like an actual blog/journal of events than a full story with a beginning, middle, and end. The unknown "cliffhanger" type ending often left me chilled and unable to read the book when I was home alone at night. (Keep in mind, also, that I am quite possibly the biggest wuss out there. I absolutely love horror, but I cannot watch/read/play a scary game by myself, and NEVER in the dark.)
Because of the wide variety of stories, the book was broken up into different sections, featuring locations, curses, Obon (a Japanese "holiday" to honor the dead taking place at the end of summer), and many more. By far, my favorite section was the one at the end entitled "When You Understand." These stories are very open-ended and each one of them had a chilling, horrible twist. I also found this section slightly educational, since some of the "twists" were plays on Japanese words/pronunciation/phrases. As someone who's always had at least a passing interest in Japanese, I loved the little bites of information.
Not all of the stories were chilling or even scary, but the translation work was great, and I look forward to reading more in Volume Two. Also, as a sort of last word here, I enjoyed that the lengths of the stories varied, but many of them were quick enough to be read in the time it takes to get a coffee order at Starbucks (which for me, where I am, is usually between 3-6 minutes).
Because of the wide variety of stories, the book was broken up into different sections, featuring locations, curses, Obon (a Japanese "holiday" to honor the dead taking place at the end of summer), and many more. By far, my favorite section was the one at the end entitled "When You Understand." These stories are very open-ended and each one of them had a chilling, horrible twist. I also found this section slightly educational, since some of the "twists" were plays on Japanese words/pronunciation/phrases. As someone who's always had at least a passing interest in Japanese, I loved the little bites of information.
Not all of the stories were chilling or even scary, but the translation work was great, and I look forward to reading more in Volume Two. Also, as a sort of last word here, I enjoyed that the lengths of the stories varied, but many of them were quick enough to be read in the time it takes to get a coffee order at Starbucks (which for me, where I am, is usually between 3-6 minutes).
Did not finish
February 18, 2025Dropped at page 70 // 23%
I was expecting a similar format to Devlin's other books, like Bankai: Baffling Japanese Internet Mysteries: Volume One or Toshiden: Exploring Japanese Urban Legends Vol. 1, where each urban legend is given a brief analysis and some societal context. However this volume only contains the story without any explanation. This made the book feel lacking.
I was expecting a similar format to Devlin's other books, like Bankai: Baffling Japanese Internet Mysteries: Volume One or Toshiden: Exploring Japanese Urban Legends Vol. 1, where each urban legend is given a brief analysis and some societal context. However this volume only contains the story without any explanation. This made the book feel lacking.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews