Time for another book cover here! Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things by Lafcaidio Hearn http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwaidan:_Stories_and_Studies_of_Strange_Things I picked this up when I was about 16 or 17 and thoroughly loved it. I think the one story that really stood out for me was "Yuki-onna", the Snow Woman. Then again, Hans Christian Anderson had already hooked me on such beings with his story "The Snow Queen" about 5 years earlier. (I read myths and fairy-tales voraciously as a child/teen. To hell with Nancy Drew.) So, I've picked Yuki-Onna to be on the cover of this one. Of course, I had to go see the movie, when it came out. It was not a disappointment - gorgeous art-film in the Japanese style. "Kwaidan" means "Ghost Story" and that's what they are. Lafcadio Hearn was quite an interesting fellow. He was Irish on his father's side and of a noble Greek lineage on his mother's side. They moved to Dublin when he was two and he grew up there. At 19 he went to live in America, in Cincinnati, Ohio. There, he worked as a journalist. He also lived in New Orleans. "The vast number of his writings about New Orleans and its environs, many of which have not been collected, include the city's Creole population and distinctive cuisine, the French Opera, and Louisiana Voodoo." [Wikipedia]. He also collected Creole recipes and wrote a cookbook called "La Cuisine Creole". He wrote of Marie Laveau (the 'Witch Queen of New Orleans") and Doctor John Montenet. And then, he went to Japan, where he became a teacher and continued writing books about the culture, people and myths there. He was said to have been 'responsible' for 'glamorizing' and 'exoticizing' the places in which he lived and wrote about. I thought you might enjoy this, Roxy :) Thanks for your own fabulous pictures and stories. Fractals created in INCENDIA and Apophysis 2.09 - collage in P-Shop. Hope your weekend is an amazing one and everyone is fantastic! Rayvn