October 2024: Sinophagia: A Celebration of Chinese Horror

This month, in time for Halloween, we have something a little different - rather than one author, we're featuring a whole collection of short fiction: Sinophagia: A Celebration of Chinese Horror, translated and edited by Xueting Ni, and published by Solaris.

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.

The book opens with Xueting's own introduction, where she discusses some of the difficulties involved in putting together the collection, in the context of a 'poisoning' of the genre, and a general disinclination within China to publish it. There's even an uncertainty as to what to actually call it in Chinese, with the common term 恐怖文学 (kongbu wenxue) making use of the same term as 'terrorism', and therefore bringing with it particular connotations. Xueting writes that she prefers to use 恐悬 (kongxuan), "in an attempt to invite a more nuanced approach to the genre, and express its diverse nature." (p20)

The Chinese view of Horror has always struck me as being unique. Where nearly every horror myth I have come across in the West is a cautionary tale, China has a long tradition of journal and documentational style writing, referred to as the zhiguai, or tales of the strange, that mixes history with legends and hearsay... Moreover, the mishmash of Chinese beliefs did not label spirits and ghosts as something evil and unnatural, but rather, just part of the normal order of things, with their own place in the world, and traditionally, the ‘frights’ have only arisen when the spirits are angered, restless, or the boundaries trespassed. (p15)

To get a taste of the collection, we have short extracts from three of the stories, by Cai Jun (蔡骏), Fan Zhou (范舟), and Su Min (苏民). You can read the extracts in Xueting's translation here, and in the original Chinese here.

There's a lovely review of the collection, with a brief discussion of each of the stories, on the Runalong the Shelves blog, providing a nice introduction for readers.

...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 it!

And we're delighted that Xueting will be joining us in Leeds on October 23rd, as part of her 'Sinophagia Tour', to talk more about the collection, and about the links between contemporary Chinese horror and older traditions of 'strange tales'. You can find a link to the event here.

The collection will also be scaring readers on our Book Review Network, so watch this space to see what our reviewers think!