recent books Eerie Tales from Old Korea

Eerie Tales from Old Korea

Compiled by Brother Anthony of Taize; Seoul Selection: 176 pp., $15

Everyone loves a good ghost story and Homer B. Hulbert and James S. Gale, North American Christian missionaries who came to Korea in the 1880s, were no exceptions. During their stay in Korea, they became fascinated about the Korean folktales that featured ghosts, goblins, fairies and magical beasts, and committed themselves to translating these stories for international readers.

Hulbert published a magazine, "The Korea Review,’’ from 1901 and 1905, which was focused on denouncing the Japanese colonial rule and introducing Korean history and culture to the international audience. The monthly also introduced many folktales about ``dokkaebi,’’ a mythical being frequently representing grotesque-looking spirits and goblins.

While having a similar passion for folktales, Gale also showed much interest in classic literature like "Chunhyangjeon,’’ a 17th century romance novel, and "Guunmong,’’ a fantasy adventure written by Kim Man-jung in 1687. Gale's 1913 book "Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies" also included "yadam,’’ or non-official historical accounts.

Brother Anthony, Sogang University emeritus professor of English language and literature, revived 29 Korean tales from Hulbert and Gale's books. The tales in the book have Shamanistic, Buddhist and Taoist influence altogether, just like typical Korean folk stories. He spared the original translation as much as possible to keep the early 20th century English, but added footnotes and changed to modern Romanization for easier reading.

Kwon Mee-yoo