Bush, Lawrence C. Asian Horror Encyclopedia: Asian Horror Culture
in Literature, Manga, and Folklore. San Jose: Writers Club Press,
2001. 227 p.
The Asian Horror Encyclopedia is a pioneer work in its field, as
literally no text of its kind exists. In fact, a quick WorldCat search,
which queries virtually all online library catalogs in the United States,
reveals that only eleven texts that even marginally deal with Asian Horror
currently can be found on U. S. library shelves. Nonetheless, Bush's
encyclopedia stands out amongst these monographs and collections because
it is to date the only text solely about Asian horror that is intended for
a Western audience. In his introductory material, Bush states in no
uncertain terms that his encyclopedia was written to fill this void.
To that end, the Asian Horror Encyclopedia does its job well. Bush
writes entries on Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Phillipino, and Hong Kong novelists,
poets, and writers of short tales. In addition, the encyclopedia informs
western readers of Asian horror motifs, recurring characters, monsters,
mythological beings, movies, plays, folkloric beliefs, anime and manga series,
and occult treatises. Therefore, readers will find entries such as
Onmyodo, which is a way of Taoist magic; Ikiryo, which translates
as a living ghost, and The Ring, which refers to the modern Japanese
horror novel turned manga series that inspired the blockbuster American hit,
The Ring. In addition, Bush covers some terms associated with
Western horror, such as The Necronomicon, explaining their influences
on and incorporation into Asian horror.
In his introduction to the Asian Horror Encyclopedia, Lawrence C.
Bush "a large part of this book is a product of internet research: querying
libraries and databases, and searching online encyclopedias of film, comics,
and mythology.... It is meant to be a research tool, assembling names,
titles and other clues for the Western reader and scholar to pursue." This
sentence sums up the limitation of Bush's encyclopedia, which is that entries
are intended to be the first line of research into the field of Eastern
horror; thus, they tend to be brief and generalized. So, for example,
Bush identifies The Ring by chronicling the history of its publication,
as well as its evolution into its popular form as a manga series. However,
if one wanted to know exactly what The Ring was about, one would have
to turn to other sources, more than likely internet resources.
Despite this severe limitation, the Asian Horror Encyclopedia is
an enjoyable and informative read, and one that every horror aficionado should
peruse. It may not be the final word on Asian Horror, but it is the
first word on a rarely visited subject.