The Book of the Dead

The Book of the Dead (also known online as the "Book of the Dead series") is a long supernatural horror novel written by Yuexia Sang around 2006. Serialized and published in the form of standalone case stories, the complete set runs to seven volumes, released one after another by Xianhuan Culture (the first volume, Soft Whispers, was published in August 2006, ISBN 9789867005533; the seventh, The Dead Return, in February 2007). The series protagonist, Duan Lin, is a tutoring-class teacher who has just arrived in an unfamiliar city to look for work. Because he takes on a class with only one female student enrolled, he notices something strange in the classroom mirror and is drawn into an unending string of eerie incidents. His roommate, Mu Zi, is a coldly handsome youth of mysterious origins who seems to have a special connection to the world of the dead. The story is built around the core premise "never disturb the 'lingering thought' left behind by the dead"; from the sinister elevator and the temporary dwelling on the fourth floor to the infant corpse, the infant's cry, and the ghost train carriage, each case stands alone yet gradually pieces together Duan Lin's origins and Mu Zi's secret. The author builds fear through delicate detail but does not stop at gore and jump scares: the dead in this book are mostly bound up with cause and effect, obsessive attachment, and protection. The wronged who were bullied, elders shielding the young, sacrifices in which one life is exchanged for another—these form a layer of warmth beneath the gloomy atmosphere. Yuexia Sang herself said she hopes readers will no longer fear ghosts or death after finishing it—death is not the end, merely an experience everyone must pass through. The romance thread is extremely faint; the story's weight lies in suspense and mood, which is also why many readers regard the book as "the work of the female author who tells ghost stories best."