Sinophagia is a fantastic collection of horror short stories from a number of Chinese authors. Like any anthology, some of the stories were better than others, but overall this is an absolute treasure trove of horrifying tales. In fact, I think one of them, Forbidden Room, is my all-time favourite short story.

Highly recommended to any horror reader!

Thank you so much to Solaris for the eARC of Sinophagia!

I wanted to love this so bad but ended up DNF’ing it when story after story were all misses for me. I kept forcing myself to pick it up & getting nothing out of it.

With that being said, I do encourage you to pick this up if you want a horror anthology to read, as maybe it’ll work better for you! Also, the editor clearly loves the genre & put a lot of work into putting this together, as mentioned in the beginning note of the collection! There are also editorial notes after each story that really explains inspiration/background on each story.

It’s possibly that I’ll retry this collection in the future — but for now, I’m gonna have to put it down.

If you are looking for a spooky season read, this is definitely the book for you! Normally, I try to pick out my favorites from a short story collection to discuss, but honestly, I loved each and every story in here. Ni mentions in their introduction that they tried to ensure they hit every kind of little niche sub genre in horror and they truly did from absolutely bat shit crazy humans that are scarier than any ghost or monster to ghosts and monsters and even technology as a killer this is just fantastic.

What truly made this collection of stories stand out though is that many of them correspond to a current social issue, and while yes some of them are more relevant in China than in other countries they are still relatable. And that made the reading of this all the more enjoyable. It wasn't horror for the sake of being horror. Many stories were a conversation on topics that affect so many of us.

The other portion that I want to make special mention of is the introduction. I do read the introduction to every book I pick up that has one, and more often than not, they are a snooze fest. Ni's is brilliant. Knowing the reason this collection exists and how difficult it was to put together brought an extra layer into this collection, it gave me the opportunity to understand why a particular story was chosen for the collection before I even got into it. The fact that Ni includes a commentary on the authors inspiration for their contribution as well as just some interesting facts about the author really helped to make this one of the most cohesive collections of short stories I've ever read.


Overall, I definitely recommend it, Sinophagia would make a perfect addition to any horror readers' shelves!


As always, thanks to Netgalley and Rebellion for the eArc.

(ARC for review via Netgalley. Thank you, for providing me with a free copy of this book!)

This was a very enjoyable collection of horror short-stories by contemporary Chinese authors. Naturally, some stories caught my attention more than others, but given the diverse amount of stories included that is not really a surprise - ghosts, marriages with the dead, legendary monsters, chances are high that something that will strike your fancy will be there. After every story, the editor /translator provided some background information about the topics of the stories and how they relate to Chinese society and culture. I thought that was a very good choice and there were quite a few things I could learn. In general, I felt there was a lot of thought and care put in the translation and compilation of this collection.

I am convinced that horror, meaning what we find unsettling and maybe intriguing at the same time (after all there has to be a reason why many choose to read scary tales right?), is something very subjective. Therefore, the stories I enjoyed the most, might just be okay for others and vice versa. For me, my definite highlight was 'Records of the Xiangshi' by Nanpai Sanshu, a novella about a group of soldiers hunting a monster deep in the mountains. Of course, there were also others I really enjoyed, but that one was my favorite for sure. I now have quite a few new authors that I want to check out and read more of.

If you like horror and want an interesting read for the upcoming spooky season, I highly recommend giving this a go!

This kind of compilation is daunting for an editor, how to do a survey of horror fiction in China right now, what do you choose to be representative, give a flavour of the scene, and try to cover a billion people and a massive country of countries? This job is made much more difficult, as editor Xueting Christine Ni explains in the excellent introduction, when the genre itself is discredited itself in China, the online and popular consumption on horror had been tainted in the last fifteen years by gratuitously gory content heavy on sexual violence, The word horror in itself put off collaborators. Pair this with the taste of your editor (again she is very open about the kind of horror she likes) and that could lead to a bit of a moribund collection. Luckily this is not the case here, potentially because I also share some of that taste (there is in the back end of the book a successful search for the Chinese Gothic).

The tales are heavy on folklore in places, a number of them rely on history repeating itself, or the "village that wasn't there" kind of narrative - the most successful of these is also a wonderfully foodie deconstruction of Yuanyang hotpot whose made-up mythology has already seeped into modern folklore. That is also a theme here, that of urban legends, or inverted folklore actually coming true (or in the case of Huangcun, a village invented for a horror story turns out to be real). Urban nightmares are not neglected, and spinning off of actual news stories for content (the idea that people are buying cheap suburban apartments to intern their dead relatives as the leases are longer than in the cemetery). Thematically the editor suggests that Chinese horror is less likely to be a cautionary tale, and that is true here - there are a few whose twists catch out an immoral protagonist but they are not that common. There is a more journalistic feel to many of these, which suggests that these things just happened, a different but effective form of horror.

There is sometimes a contradiction in horror anthologies like this which I got in the similar Japanese-themed one from Rebellion, which is that dichotomy between horror playing on the realistic, everyday fears and scenarios, and an anthology of foreign fiction being automatically othering. I think the editor has squared that circle nicely, not least around the modern set stories which play well in globalised world, but even the spookier ones set in a past that a tourist might come across. As with any anthology, it is a mixed bag, but even the tales I liked least had something of interest to them, and the good ones are very good.

I’ve read a variety of translated literature from China, but this was going to be my first dip into Chinese Horror. When I think about Chinese Horror, my brain immediately goes to one of the older movies with the jiangshi, or hopping vampires. We watched a couple of them in the Horror club when I was in university. They were entertaining, but a little campy, however, I wouldn’t have considered them to be particularly scary.

I wouldn’t really consider myself the biggest fan of the Horror genre, however, I keep on going back to it with the hope that something will either scare me or capture my attention in some way. I have to admit to being very rarely creeped out and this collection wasn’t really any different, but I quite enjoyed this collection as a whole.

Something that I really appreciated was that each story was accompanied by an editorial notes to help clarify anything that may have been lost on a western audience member. Some terms or bits of history won’t be familiar to all readers, but it is clear that Xueting C. Ni wanted to help readers embrace each story as much as she could.

Overall, this collection was really successful for me. I loved diving into Chinese Horror in this way and the editorial notes I think will make it really successful for people who have even less knowledge of China than I do. I will say that it did make me miss China and my friends there, but perhaps I’ll see them again. It also made me miss Chinese food, but that’s nothing new. I’ve had cravings everyday since I left. I hope that a lot of horror fans pick this up, particularly those that like supernatural horror, like me.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an eARC of this collection, however, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Rating: 3.5/5⭐
Review:
✨This review is really tough to write because I have a lot of thoughts on this anthology.
✨Growing up, I’m not familiar with the horror genres in any medium. I do watch and reads horror stories but not frequently,
✨However, as someone born and raised in Malaysia, I’m quite familiar with Malaysia’s horror stories (I do listen to horror penglipurlara (storyteller) on YouTube. But, the downside of this is I only associate horror with spirits, ghosts, and black magics.
✨I’m interested in Sinophagia because of Nanpai Sanshu. But Sinophagia as a horror anthology as whole, it’s a blank slate actually.
✨When I’m reading the introduction by the author, I’m really grateful for the effort in making this anthology.
✨However, when I’m starting to go through and read these stories, I kind of realize the challenges faced by the editor based on my reading.
✨Truthfully, in terms of spine-chilling, none of the stories managed to really truly creep me out. I’m sorry. But, I’m still enjoying a lot of these stories.
✨I saw most of these stories as horror mixed with other genres. And for most of them, for me, they kind of lean more towards other genres. Yet, based on the information from the introduction, I do understand if the horror stories need to be mixed with other genres to balance them out, or some kind of camouflage?
✨In terms of the stories, it is inevitable to like some of the stories only. Surprisingly, the story from Nanpai Sanshu is not my favourite. My reasons are it is quite long and for me, the story may get more attention from readers that are fans or who are familiar with Daomu Biji universe and tomb-raiding stories.
✨My favourite is Night Climb by Chi Hui . This is because it reminds me of the horror story that I listened to on YouTube, but of course only in terms of the feelings only, the plot of that story is different. Short but punchy, and I kind of relate with the protagonist in terms of body measurement.
✨From this anthology, I learned there are various types of horror and I’m much more interested in horror books now. For me, this anthology suits readers who are beginners in reading horror because it is not too disturbing, but still triggering.
✨I actually want to read more of these authors’ works, especially their full length works. I’m not sure if any of them is available in English translation.
✨Lastly, my opinion on what is the scariest thing in the world still does not change. It is the human heart.
✨Thank you to Solaris (@solarisbooks) and NetGalley for this ARC! This review is voluntarily written by me.

Sinophagia is a fantastic story collection that time and time again subverted my expectations and kept me wrongfooted over what was going to happen! Having not read much Chinese literature going into the book, I really enjoyed how many stories went in unexpected directions, and didn’t rely on the tropes I’ve become used to in the western canon. The opening story ‘The Girl in the Rain’ is a perfect example of this, and sets the tone for the book wonderfully in that regard.

I thought the standard of stories in Sinophagia was pretty high overall, and demonstrated a fantastic range of horror subgenres throughout. It’s quite hard to choose a favourite when the quality is high across the board, but I think Huangcun stands out particularly for me for its fantastic gothic atmosphere blended with elements of Chinese history. There were of course a few stories I didn’t really connect with, though this is generally true for me when I read short story collections.

Sinophagia was a very interesting window into horror writing from a culture with a very different relationship to the genre. Not only did I enjoy the collection of stories it had to offer, but I feel like I’ve learned something too! The book doubles up as a little cultural history of Chinese horror, with each story finishing with a notes section providing a bit of social commentary and public impressions of the horror genre in China. I thought this was a fantastic addition to the collection, and was a clever way of helping the reader appreciate the genre alongside the stories.

"Sinophagia" is a fantastical horror anthology that thoughtfully brings together a diverse collection of stories and authors. The settings range from urban to rural, highlighting the stark contrasts between each environment and allowing readers to explore how changes in setting shape themes of fear and survival.

I especially appreciate the editor’s introduction, which explains the current landscape of the horror genre in China—something I was unaware of! The challenges of assembling such a collection are evident, and the focus on a wide range of voices adds to my admiration for this publication.

As with any anthology, not every story will resonate with every reader, but I believe most will find at least one story to admire. My personal favorite was “Immortal Beauty” by Chu Xidao. The prose is vivid and conjures striking images that juxtapose beauty with horror. I love how the story subverts traditional storytelling by reclaiming a woman’s narrative, rather than merely presenting her through a male lens.

I also enjoyed the afterwords provided by each author, which offer valuable context for Western readers new to Chinese literature. Overall, this is another fantastic release from Solaris! If you enjoy this anthology, I highly recommend “Sinopticon: A Celebration of Chinese Science Fiction” from the same publisher.

Thank you to the authors, Solaris, and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Horror anthologies are like a mixed bag—some stories will chill you to the bone, while others may not land as hard. That's just the nature of the beast. Sinophagia lands in the middle - it contains a refreshing variety of stories, and a few of them really stand out for their inventive scares and atmospheres that linger long after you've put the book down.

A major highlight is the inclusion of stories showcasing Chinese perspectives on horror,. The cultural influences add a distinct flavor. It’s clear that Chinese horror taps into different fears than what I'm used to and it's a good thing.

Of course, as with any anthology, not every story hits the mark. Some feel predictable or lack the punch you expect from a truly great horror tale. But that’s the trade-off with collections like this—you’ll find a few gems, some so-so entries, and maybe one or two that don’t quite leave an impression.

Overall, the anthology is worth a read, especially for the unique stories that explore lesser-known cultural horror traditions. The diversity of voices here elevates it beyond your typical collection, even if not every piece is a home run.

From cover to contents: I loved this! ❤️‍🔥
Plus how perfect is that title, SINOPHAGIA bringing to mind visuals of a ravenous devouring of the other, recalling gods and monsters and supernatural entities, as well as a phonetic simile in Sinophobia, reminding the reader that mankind is more than capable of being the most terrifying monstrosity imaginable. In a time of much division and dehumanisation, anti-Asian racism heightened in the wake of the recent global pandemic, this anthology seeks to celebrate the diversity of stories written by Chinese writers with a focus on its local horror literature.

Any anthology is only as strong as the quality of works included, a reflection also of the editor in charge of curating the final selection. Editor and translator Xueting Christine Ni has done a fantastic job in putting together and translating a wide-ranging collection of entertaining horror literature, diverse in terms of locale and focus, with authors of various age and backgrounds, from the emerging to the more well-known. The collection explores the different regional mystiques and concerns, both rural and urban from North to South, all entwined with the specific landscapes they are born from. In such a large landmass, it is only natural that there will be a multiplicity of stories, commonalities still traceable through overlaps in folklore and cultural beliefs, alongside the relative singularity of a modern state and all that entails.

Moreover, editor-translator Xueting C. Ni makes a point of showcasing the various styles and genres in Chinese horror literature, from homages to existing literary traditions to more contemporary social horrors - essentially, translating China. In her curation, she also endeavours to include a number of female writers to open up perspectives beyond a mainstream dominated by established (often male, not uncommonly misogynist) voices. I thoroughly appreciated her brief, insightful commentary at the end of each story, highlighting each writer and the inspiration behind their stories, whilst also contextualising each story in the genealogy of Chinese horror traditions and within Chinese literature more broadly.

If horror literature is a gateway to a society’s anxieties, then this reveals the many interior concerns of the young and old, from misogyny and violence against women, to the twin stresses of urbanisation and lack of economic support in rural communities, to the effects of isolation and marginalisation on mental health, to the unbearable love between parents and their children, and just the universality of how people choose to treat one another on a personal and societal level. There’s also a sense of collective memory being carried forward in these stories as a whole, whether through harrowing experiences of war and historical struggles, or through imagining stories born from a shared cultural heritage where the spirit world is honoured in a way that changes over time and circumstance, not always in synchrony across regions and communities.

A fantastic collection of strange tales and spooky stories that were fun and insightful, fantastical and melodramatic, poignant and just downright spine-chilling - a catalogue of riches! Some were creepier than others, but that is of course also dependent on what is likely to get under each reader’s skin! It seemed to go from strength to strength, I thought, until that final, impactful shortest of stories - certainly the one that most made me want to hurl the book away! 🙈❤️‍🩹

I had the best time reading this and will miss my (probably unwise lol) nightly ritual of ending the evening with one of these stories! Definitely a copy for the shelf. Thank you so much @solarisbooks @netgalley for the reading copy!

Sinophagia is a chilling collection of modern Chinese horror stories. Most were hits for me but even the misses had something interesting to offer. In particular I really loved the stories in isolated countryside locations in the mountains. But the ones in modern settings especially the stories involving social horror were intense and left a strong emotional impact. There is also quite an overlapping of horror and science fiction in this collection which was really interesting and intriguing.

The editors notes in the introduction at the end of each chapter discussing each story were insightful and interesting in themselves and were really appreciated. I also felt this was really nicely translated with many lines being quite impactful and staying in my thoughts long afterwards. This was a well curated collection and even the order the stories were introduced in were well thought out beginning with the moody haunting The Girl in the Rain and ending with a story that left me absolutely destroyed with The Death of Nala.

If your looking for ghosts and folklore, social horror and urban legends, you will find it in this collection. It’s a thought provoking collection of modern Chinese voices in horror and should not be missed.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and Solaris Books. I received an advance review copy, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

An excellent anthology featuring new to me Chinese horror writers. There's echo of the tradition, there's the contemporary China.
Well done, highly recommended
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

THIS BOOK WAS SO GOOD. Just before reading the last story, in fact, I preordered the book since it comes out in a few days.

This is an anthology of Chinese horror short stories which begins with a very helpful introduction which states that the horror genre in China has become touchy due to too many slashers and actual crimes which were blamed on horror films. So the editor, Xueting C. Ni, had to work very hard to convince the popular online horror writers to contribute their work, and I am so glad that they did. There was also a note in the Introduction which I appreciated, in which Xueting discussed coming up with a new term - kongxuan - to say that their horror anthology would be a terror-thriller rather than just jump scares and gore. This is the kind of horror that I like, the psychological thrillers and ghosts without getting too gross. I also appreciated that many of these stories were about the terror of the forest or other rural terrors. Fear of the unknown is one of humanity's greatest fears, and it always comes out in the shadows.

Here are the short stories:
1. The Girl in the Rain by Hong Niangzi- Urban legends on a college campus that kill. A very satisfying way to start an anthology, I think, by starting with a "you will die in 7 days" or "chant Bloody Mary in the mirror" style of college story.
2. The Waking Dream by Fan Zhou- Workers of the future work in a virtual world with virtual offices, and they are followed by the monsters of their nightmares.
3. Immortal Beauty by Chu Xidao- The feminine terror of being a woman trapped in a marriage to a marriage to a man who only desires beauty.
4. Those Who Walk at Night, Walk with Ghosts by She Cong Ge- Watch out when you go walking in the woods at night.
5. The Yin Yang Pot by Chuan Ge- A man splits hotpot with his ex and gets more than he bargained for. I think this might have been my favorite short story in this anthology.
6. The Shaxiao by Goodnight, Xiaoqing- A romantic enters the forest in hopes of finding and rescuing a maiden from a monster.
7. Have You Heard of 'Ancient Glory'? by Zhou Dedong- A couple is finally able to buy an apartment, but it's strangely deserted and the woman wakes up with a coin in her mouth (like the dead carry to pay the ferryman).
8. Records of Xiangxi by Nanpai Sanshu- A writer assembles local folklore about Earth Maidens, infanticide, and Zhang Qishan's army sent to hunt the mountain god.
9. The Ghost Wedding by Yimei Tangguo- How Xue Shuangxi became a ghost bride. I love a ghost bride story.
10. Night Climb by Chi Hui- Creepy hikers on a mountain.
11. Forbidden Rooms by Zhou Haohui- This one messed me up so much I had to take a break and switch to the romance novel I was also reading at the same time. A woman is kidnapped by a mysterious man who wants to torture her for her guilt in a child's death.
12. Ti'Naang by Su Min- A woman brings her fiancé to her xenophobic hometown to meet her abusive (and estranged) parents. Don't forget to ignore the help.
13. Huangcun by Cai Jun- During a signing, an author discovers that his made-up, Desolate Village is not actually made up, so he decides to go for a visit. This is a gothic story, which we all know I adore.
14. The Death of Nala by Gu Shi- A woman with a psychopathic child mourns the kitten killed by her son.

I loved this anthology, and I don't think there were any "bad" stories. This ranges from truly horrifying to my favorite kind of ghosts and spirits, and I hope that its success brings more translated Chinese horror to the English market.

Thank you to Netgalley and Solaris for this excellent ARC.

I was given this as an ARC from NetGalley and Rebellion | Solaris for an honest review of this collection of translated stories.

The writing is good, clean and easy style to read. However, I personally wouldn't call them "horrors" as they came across more as contemporary fiction with a side of thriller mixed in there. I am not sure if the stories weren't coming across correctly in the translation. I am excited for the idea of more translated stories, but we all know that there isn't a lot of horror coming out of China.

I am sad to say that the stories bored me and I didn't have a single one I connected to. it's a shame because the idea was perfect.

Perhaps it needs some work still?

This is so incredibly underrated, please consider this for your Halloween plans!

I am now incredibly jealous of people who have access to and can read Chinese books. The way I am devastated that I cannot read more works from most of the authors featured here without learning to read a whole language is driving me slightly insane. Never have I regretted not taking Mandarin lessons seriously as a child more than at this moment.

As a massive horror fiend, I need to explore the manifestation of this genre in other, particularly non-Western countries. I grew up in a culture that celebrates Tomb Sweeping Day and Hungry Ghost Festival, where TV shows featuring the underworld and supernatural beings are just your everyday fantasy binge shown even to children. When reading the introduction to this anthology by Xueting C. Ni, I was so surprised to discover what a taboo the horror genre is now in China, attributed mainly to the "besmirching" of the genre by over gratuitous gore and sexual content in modern horror media.

Holy moly did this book absolutely slay what it set out to do. With the exception of a couple stories, each collected tale resonated with me, either with its creep factor, its bold exploration of complex contemporary issues or the pangs of nostalgia evoked by familiar myths. This book better be sold in Australia so I can devour my favourites all over again and annotate a ✨forever mine✨ physical copy.

Thank you Xueting C. Ni for compiling this anthology and trying to bring the "Chinese gothic" to an international audience, thus bringing Chinese horror to the mainstream like in SFF (e.g. the works of Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù and Cixin Liu, in anthologies like The Way Spring Arrives and Other Stories) as well as contemporary genres.

Thank you to the authors, Solaris and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Before reading this Chinese horror short story anthology, most of what I knew from Chinese horror came from horror movies, podcasts about the mythology and urban legends and finally online creepy pastas and so I was incredibly intrigued by this anthology to see what else was out there. Starting out I was immediately further intrigued and encouraged by the editor’s introduction where she talks about how it was initially hard to find Chinese horror she wanted to include in her anthology, especially while avoiding violent misogyny. This made me very excited to read the short stories as it can be incredibly tiring to read an anthology and read story after story by cishet male authors with misogynistic characters. It definitely made me hopeful that I would encounter something new and interesting and get to read stories with interesting characters. I also appreciated that trigger warnings are given in the front of the book, but that the page also includes a spoiler warning if you're the type of person who'd rather skip them. One thing I also found incredibly interesting is that after each short story we are given a short editor's note providing cultural knowledge as well as a biography of the author and sometimes thoughts by the editor, which made the stories even more interesting to me.
The short stories themselves encompass a wide variety from horrors born from our modern times to traditional ghost stories to futuristic technological terrors and include ghosts, futuristic technology, monsters, serial killers and more and travel across the vast expanse of China to include local folklore from various corners of the country. The stories take place in small isolated mountain villages, in vast expanses of forest, but also in small inner city apartments or at university. The stories also often explore societal ails from the downsides of technology to small mountain village medicine, misogyny or the troubles of finding an affordable home near Beijing. While not all short stories where to my exact liking, there were others I really enjoyed. As each short story was written by a different author, but translated by the same translator, I found the writing style to flow well together, without the stories becoming repetitive or boring.
All in all, this is a really interesting short story collection and one I can absolutely recommend if you enjoy or are simply interested in reading more Chinese horror. As the horror is not too extreme, I think this can also be interesting for people who can’t handle more brutal horror or those who enjoy the psychological build-up of dread (but there is also more than enough blood and gorey deaths for those horror fans who do enjoy a gruesome murder :D). I really enjoyed how many different horror aspects are covered by this anthology and was never bored (because again, even if one of the short stories wasn’t to my liking, I knew there’d be another one I’d surely love!)! And there are quite a few short stories I loved in here, my favorite being: The Waking Dream by Fan Zhao, Immortal Beauty by Chu Xidao, Those Who Walk at Night, Walk With Ghosts by She Cong Ge, Have you Heard of Ancient Glory by Zhou Dedong and Ti’Naang by Su Min.
All in all, I am deeply thankful I received an ARC of this book and very happy that I got to gain this amazing view into Chinese horror and can only recommend it to anybody who enjoys horror!

The Girl in the Rain by Hong Niangzi: A short story following a triad of university students, two girls and one boy, who encounter terrifying urban legends on their way back to their dorms from university. At times the horror felt a bit contrived, particularly after the second twist in the end, but I liked the urban legends horror in the beginning a lot as well as the first twist. Definitely an interesting beginning to this anthology. tw: cheating, murder, suicide, childhood trauma, coercion

*FAV* The Waking Dream by Fan Zhou: A futuristic horror about the future of work, where thanks to new technology workers can go to the office in their dreams. This seems to be fine for most people, but for one worker who has always had problems with nightmares, it becomes an incredible burden. Very interesting and incredibly haunting this showcases the dangers of capitalism and technology encroaching on the private home and inner lives of people, I quite enjoyed it! I also wonder if the translation choices of “men” vs “females” and “the healthy” vs “disableds” was intentional, because if so. Very interesting in showing the different treatment of marginalized groups of people. tw: suicide, murder, spiders, body horror, coercion, drugs, depiction of mental illness, needles, imprisonment

*FAV* Immortal Beauty by Chu Xidao: A more traditional ghost story about love and betrayal and vengeful wives, this story follows the wife of a powerful man, who replaces her with the younger model all too soon. Gruesome violence and incredible rage flows through this story and I adored it! Angry ghosts vs misogynistic society is always a fun story! Tw: misogyny, murder, domestic violence, abuse, graphic violence, imprisonment, sexual abuse, torture

*FAV* Those Who Walk At Night, Walk With Ghosts by She Cong Ge: A rather long ghost story set in a small mountain town where a young doctor insists on leaving to bring an old man to the hospital despite the warnings of everybody else in the village. Felt more like a traditional Chinese horror story, but manages to become interesting both with the way superstitions and folk medicine meet modern medicine, all while history is much more alive than anybody thinks, very well written and builds dread incredibly well. Also historically very interesting. Tw: graphic injury, death, alcohol, needles, torture.

The Yin Yang Pot by Chuan Ge: A young man looking for a place to eat meets and old flame and decides to share the same Yuanyang pot with her as they did before they lost touch, only this time she is weirdly insistent he not eat from the white side of the dish. But can he handle the heat to keep his promise? An interesting ghost story with a fascinating twist at the end. Tw: car accident, suicide mention, imprisonment

The Shaxiao by Goodnight Xiaoqing: A warrior dreaming of fighting monsters and rescuing maidens finds his dreams shattered when he finally encounters his first real monster and finds himself defenseless. Interesting and I enjoyed how common fantasy tropes were turned on their heads here. Tw: death, animal death, domestic abuse, imprisonment, torture, implied sexual assault

*FAV* Have you Heard of Ancient Glory by Zhou Dedong: A young couple finally finds an apartment they can afford, but something incredibly weird is going on as they notice that none of their neighbors ever turn on the lights. Very scary and with an interesting twist on the haunted house trope. I really enjoyed it! Tw: death, suicide, mental illness, ptsd, trauma, alcohol, imprisonment

Records of Xiangxi by Nanpai Sanshu: The longest short story in the collection by far (it alone takes up 50 pages of the collection) tells of a grandchild piecing together a story from folklore that their grandfather used to tell them before he died, engaging in research and travels, connecting a few pieces of folklore from a specific region to gain a full picture of the folklore from there. The longest part of the short story is taken up by a retelling of a group of military men being tasked to carry a child sacrifice up the mountain to protect the town. It is an interesting story, but really very long. If you are interested in folklore and military horror this might interest you more than it did me. I found the horror very well done though and found myself filled with dread at times, but was not particularly interested in the characters, which is a personal issue of mine and will certainly not apply to every reader. Tw: child death, death, gore, body horror, corpses, alcohol, graphic violence, insects, racial/religious slurs, torture

*FAV* The Ghost Wedding by Yimei Tangguo: A horrifying story about a small town kidnapping a woman to find a suitable bride for one of their town’s young men. Very violent and gruesome and with a focus on the all too human monsters among us this story is sickening and great. I loved it, but you need to have a strong stomach for it! tw: abduction, human trafficking, rape, suicide, very violent domestic abuse, animal abuse, child abuse, childhood trauma, threats of graphic violent punishment, unsanitary, dehumanization, self-harm, strangulation, torture

Night Climb by Chi Hui: During a hike up the mountain at night to arrive on top in time to see the sunrise a climber encounters a group of very strange beings also travelling towards the top of the mountain, very short, but interesting and I enjoyed reading about a fat character in here as well!

Forbidden Rooms by Zhou Haohui: A saw-like trap is set for a neighbor who heard a little child cry in her apartment and did nothing until it was too late. She wakes up in a locked room with the child’s father, who had abandoned the boy with his father and receives phone calls that might lead her to freedom. Very intense and quite interesting. tw: child death, child neglect, murder, violence, starvation, voyeurs, strangulation, suicide, torture

*FAV* Ti’Naang by Su Min: A young woman returns to her hometown to introduce her fiancé to her family, but soon the town’s secret and the father’s temper start to cause issues. Really interesting story, heartbreaking as well and I loved the dread it built a lot. Tw: domestic abuse, child abuse, childhood trauma, gaslighting, racial/religious slurs

Huangcun by Cai Jun: An author is approached by a person from a small town that featured in his latest book during a book signing. The only problem is that he made the town up. Intrigued by this coincidence, he accompanies the reader to her hometown and discovers that something incredibly strange is going on in Huangcun. Really great story with many references to western horror stories as well, which I found interesting. Tw: suicide, childhood trauma, domestic abuse, graphic violence, racial/religious slurs, self-harm

The Death of Nala by Gu Shi: A mother who is terribly afraid of her son, a young boy who seems to take pleasure in cruelty, reaches her breaking point when she adopts a little kitten only to find it dead in her son’s hands. Interesting look at mental health issues, but I do wish the child had been given a bit more depth instead of simply being a “natural born killer”. tw: animal death, child death, murder, cruelty, graphic violence, imprisonment, mental illness, strangulation, ptsd

A spectacular dive into Chinese horror, each short story in Sinophagia is accompanied by editor notes from curator Xueting C. Ni, which provide valuable cultural and societal context, adding extra dimensions and perspectives to the already chilling tales. As with any anthology, some stories will resonate more with different readers, but they are all unique in their own way. This book took me some time to finish, as I am more accustomed to novels and sometimes struggle with shorter formats, but it was a treat from start to finish.

I dove into "Sinophagia" with some enthusiasm, eager and curious to learn how the Chinese people understand horror and what kind of tales are popular there. The book is obviously a work of passion and dedication: the editor has put a lot of work and even her heart into gathering the best Chinese horror authors out there (at least among those who responded to her invitation or agreed to collaborate with her - apparently, horror fiction is not big in China). However, I soon found myself bored by the stories. First of all, they're all tied to regional lore, local myths, and past legends, even those taking place in urban centers. Those that try to create an "urban legend" feel, end up carrying so much detailed folklore, the narrative immediately drags and the lore becomes the kind of baggage which ruins a good story. Second, most of the stories are far too long and take their time to make a point: this is typical of Chinese horror (according to the editor), but it's difficult for a non-Chinese audience to appreciate a slow burn without any kind of payback. Third, the tales themselves rely too much on childhood terrors and simplistic folk horror: they mostly originate in their authors' experiencing the dread of fairy tales or, again, local lore when young. To wit, it proved impossible for me to relate under these terms. It was like reading an encyclopedia, an anthology of stories curated for students who want to write a paper, rather than genuine horror lovers who read to be astonished, shocked, and creeped out.

Thematic troubles aside, the writing was quite unattractive. All the stories read like young adult dark fantasy rather than contemporary, adult horror. The prose is too descriptive (in some stories solely descriptive), there's no atmosphere, and when it's necessary to convey emotions, the writing gets too flowery. The dialogue sounded totally unnatural. It was impossible for me to relate to any of the characters. Perhaps an American co-editor on board would have given to the editor some pointers about the state of modern horror; perhaps the stories would not have ended up sounding so much like teenage fan fiction.

I give the book 1 star for the gorgeous cover, another for the superb editing, and a third for the editor's true love of the genre.

I do not know much about Chinese horror. So, when I saw this cover which is amazing by the way I knew I needed to give it a shot. The editor did a wonderful job explaining why stories were picked and giving some background information of Chinese horror. I didnt love all the stories but the ones that I enjoyed really stuck with me. I especially liked. The Girl in the Rain and Forbidden Rooms were both great, well written stories that kept me really engaged. Despite not liking all of the stories and not finding them all that creepy I really appreciated reading stories told differently than they would be here in the U.S. thank you so much for allowing me to read! I definitely have some friends who would absolutely enjoy reading these stories! 3.5 stars!