Introduction: In Rafe Martin's introduction, he notes his interest in Japan and some aspects of Japanese culture. He mentions that "Hearn's work was based on old literary collections, on the writings of Zen, on Buddhist and Shinto sources, and on the versions of the stories told to him by his Japanese wife and friends."

Organization: There is a table of contents but the stories are not divided or ordered in any perceivable way. The illustrations by Tatsuro Kiuchi are not necessary, but they greatly enhance the stories. Before each tale there is a simple brush and ink illustration that illuminates the heart of the story. Each story also has a one page oil illustration. Some of the stories in this book also appeared in the classic Japanese movie Kwaidan. Those illustrations show a definite influence from the movie.

The stories themselves:

• I find Rafe Martin's retelling of the stories to be excellent. Compared with other collections of Japanese folklore, they are more readable and maybe slightly embellished.
• My one minor peeve was that he chose to spell the Snow Woman's name Yuke (you-kay) instead of the proper Yuki (you-key) maybe in hopes of avoiding non-Japanese speakers mispronouncing her name as "Yucky."
• As many of these tales are ghost tales and there is some blood and gore, I think that they are suited for eight or nine years old and older.
• These stories are excellent read aloud, but are also enjoyable reading.

Source notes: Detail the origin and sometimes wider history of the tales. Rafe Martin also mentions how he has changed the tales and sometimes mentions his experiences of telling the stories.