全书透过鬼眼看人生，描划了一个个在黑暗中或孤独或寂寞的故事，深得日本文学之三昧。其间的故事大多带有浓厚的扶桑乡土气息，还有一部分则源于中国的古典小说，有的将日本山海的雄浑瑰丽形诸文字，有的把自然描写和神话传说糅于一体，试看此中多少篇章，摊开来竟是满目萧索，幽雅而凄迷。那种阴阳两界间的对话、逾越、互换，是那么精彩奇妙、奇诡可怖，令读者在神秘、幽玄中感慨世态炎凉，叹息人间的诸多无奈。

Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Thing, often shortened to Kwaidan, is a book by Lafcadio Hearn that features several Japanese ghost stories and a brief non-fiction study on insects. Kwaidan is full of goblins and ghosts, snowwomen and treewomen, a kingdom of dead warriors, and a kingdom of ants where a man might spend a lifetime in only a few moments. "Kaidan" is Japanese for "ghost story".

Patrick Lafcadio Hearn (27 June 1850 -26 September 1904), known also by the Japanese name Koizumi Yakumo, was an international writer, known best for his books about Japan, especially his collections of Japanese legends and ghost stories, such as Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things. In the United States, Hearn is also known for his writings about the city of New Orleans based on his ten-year stay in that city.