The ghost story, one of the oldest forms of narrative which has terrified and intrigued audiences for millennia. Now four early ghost stories, mostly forgotten in the depths of literary history are brought together for the first time in one graphic novel adaptation.Early Haunts collates four early supernatural tales which each inspired some of history’s greatest horror publications.These tales include :
Featuring the first appearance of a ‘chained apparition’, undoubtedly an inspiration to the legendary ghost of Jacob Marley who appears in Charles Dicken’s ‘A Christmas Carol’.
One of the main literary influences to Mary Shelley’s gothic horror classic‘Frankenstein’ taken from ‘Fantasmagoriana’ a book of ghost stories Shelley read whilst staying at the Villa Diodati in Geneva as a guest of Lord Byron.
The fast-paced German poem based around the ancient folklore of a cursed rider which acted as a major inspiration to Washington Irving, writer of Sleepy Hollow.
One of 48 versions of this classic Japanese folk tale featuring the ghostly Okiku, the ‘yokai’ (ghost) who would later undoubtedly act as an influence towards the terrifying antagonist of Koji Suzuki’s ‘Ring’.These haunting stories, which all have their roots in real-life accounts and ancient folklore are lifted and translated from their unwieldy original text and adapted into a more readable graphic novel format to be enjoyed by a whole new audience. All accompanied by the evocative work of four extremely talented illustrators.
