A Robe of Feathers: And Other Stories

What an incredible book! I had to force myself to put it down from time to time and I have to blame this wonderfully written tome for making me late for work on at least two occasions! This wonderful collection of short stories provided insights into the culture of Japan that I would probably never have acquired otherwise. The stories are fascinating and left me feeling...well, SPOOKED a bit. This would be a great book to grab while you snuggle up on your couch with a blanket on a stormy night...! I'll be re-reading this book over and over...it's really that good! Honestly.

Thersa Matsuura's: `A Robe of Feathers - And Other Stories' is undoubtedly the most insightful, thought provoking and realistically frightening books I have ever read. When the fusion of Japanese folklore, superstitions and supernatural phenomena combine, I was immediately drawn into each of the seventeen superbly crafted stories. Each story features the Youkai (bewitching apparition) and is brought to life by the author. `A Robe of Feathers' has indeed a long lasting affect which will stay with you long after the book is read. An intelligent, outstanding achievement that I recommend as a must read for all.

Like many horror buffs, I have become desensitized by repeated scenes of outlandish violence. Simply put, they no longer frighten me -- probably because they don't seem real. "A Robe of Feathers: And Other Stories," however, is an entirely different animal. I had little idea of what to expect, and the first page or two of this ethnic anthology's opening story lulled me into passivity. The prose was elegant and sophisticated, but since when is elegant and sophisticated scary? Read the ending of the first of Thersa Matsuura's seventeen short stories and you'll find out for yourself. "A Robe of Feathers" frightens not with blood, but with subtlety. It sends chills up your spine not with gore, but with insidious journeys into the subconscious. "A Robe of Feathers" gave me nightmares. But not in the ways you might expect. Instead, it slithered into the dark recesses of my mind and found things cowering there that are better off left alone. All in all, this is a brilliant yet disturbing work. Even the Stephen Kings of the world could learn a thing or two from Matsuura. -- Jim Melvin, author of The Death Wizard Chronicles, a six-book epic fantasy