Monstrous Monday

Four illustrations by Anthony Wallis from The Great Yokai Encyclopedia by Richard Freeman, just published by CFZ Press (you can find it on Amazon).

Yokai are traditional Japanese spooks, a blend of ghost, goblin and demon. He we have (top) a monstrous, malevolent skeleton; a weird, dumpy creature that likes to cut off women's hair; a giant sea-cucumber which grew out of a dead girl's discarded underwear and now menaces shipping; and a naked bloke with an eye in his bum, frightening off a Samurai.

Richard started work on the Encyclopedia when he realised very little had been written in the West about the rich heritage of the Yokai. He wrote an article on them for Paranormal Magazine in early 2009 but the book wasn't launched till the Weird Weekend in Devon last month. The Yokai are lots of bizarre and gruesome fun: no wonder Japanese comics and films are so monster-orientated. Pokemon characters can trace their family tree back to the Yokai.