Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio: The Story Edition

In a deserted village at midnight, beneath a solitary lamp, I’m a storyteller who tells only old tales of the strange and supernatural.

Someone asks if ghosts really exist. I tell the story of “The Painted Skin,” and the next day, the greedy shopkeeper Wang’s face rots and sloughs off. I tell “Nie Xiaoqian,” only to learn that Ning Caichen isn’t a lovesick gentleman, but a hypocrite who curries favor with the powerful.

In this world, ghosts wear human skin to wreak havoc, while people hide wicked hearts behind their evil deeds. In those strange tales passed down for centuries, the scariest things aren’t demons and monsters, but the hearts of people who appear virtuous.

It’s late. Listen: those footsteps outside the window, are they human, or ghost?