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From Buddhist paintings to J-Horror, from Hokusai’s woodblock prints to Pac-Man, the figure of the ghost has haunted the Asian imagination for centuries. In China, Thailand and Japan, popular enthusiasm for horror is very much a reality and one that permeates a whole gamut of cultural productions. This book gathers the contributions of the best specialists in the field – university professors, curators as well as film directors – to enlighten readers on the wandering spirits of the forest, avenging cat women, famished revenants from hell, jumping vampires or yokais (supernatural creatures of Japanese folklore), all of which appear in multiple guises in various eras and media, instilling in the ‘living’ the fear of social disorder, and confronting them with the arbitrary and the horror which prevail in their society. Although Buddhism has contributed to the formation of these imaginary figures, it is indeed on the fringes of religion, in popular and profane art, that the representation of specters has truly come into its own. Through three major themes – from the vision of hell to ghost hunting – this book offers to explore the ubiquity of these spirits in the performing arts, cinema and comics.