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ShadowAuthor: Okamoto Kidō
| Original Title | 影 |
|---|---|
| Author | 岡本 綺堂 |
| Genre | Popular Fiction |
| Author Type | Male Author |
| Summary | On a moonlit autumn night in the mountains of Sagami Province, charcoal burner Jūbē comforts his trembling son Taichi in their isolated hut. The boy’s terror deepens when a weary Traveler arrives, singing folk songs of shadowed roads. Though polite, the stranger’s presence unnerves Taichi, who cowers wordlessly. Otsuya, a brash geisha fleeing a quarrel, soon joins them, her boisterous laughter masking unease—until a gust extinguishes the lamp. In the darkness, she glimpses something unsettling about the Traveler’s shadow, sparking visceral dread. As winds howl and owls shriek, tensions rise: Taichi’s whimpers grow frantic, Otsuya’s cheer curdles into suspicion, and Jūbē wrestles with growing unease. When village youths arrive hunting a fugitive murderer, the Traveler’s meek demeanor cracks—a pistol shot echoes through the pines. Shadows blur the line between human and spectral menace, leaving all to wonder what lingers in the mountain’s embrace: a killer, a ghost, or something far older, watching from the cedars’ depths. |
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