Sandman: The Dream Hunters
Encyclopedia
"The Sandman: The Dream Hunters" is a novella by English author Neil Gaiman
and illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano
of Final Fantasy
fame. The story is tangential to The Sandman comic book
series, and can be read without prior knowledge of the main sequence. It won the Bram Stoker Award for Best Illustrated Narrative
. The story deals with a love affair between a Buddhist
priest and a fox spirit or kitsune
.
Gaiman's afterword states that it was based on an old Japanese folk tale
, drawn from Y. T. Ozaki's Old Japanese Fairy Tales and retooled to fit in the world of the Sandman, but no such tale is to be found in Ozaki's work. Gaiman has since stated when asked that the story was entirely of his own devising, most recently in the Foreword to The Sandman: Endless Nights. In December 2007, Gaiman noted on his blog, "I learned from Wikipedia that Sandman: The Dream Hunters was actually based on Pu Songling
's Strange Stories From A Chinese Studio
, which I thought I ought to read."
(fox) and a tanuki
(raccoon dog) make a bet that whichever of them drives a Buddhist
priest from his temple, they will claim it as their own. Both of them fail, and the raccoon dog flees in disgrace. The fox, however, has fallen in love with the monk, and in the form of an immensely beautiful woman, she apologizes to him for their behavior; he allows her to stay in the temple, provided that she does not cause him any more trouble.
Meanwhile, in a house in Kyoto, a rich onmyoji is consumed by a nameless fear, and consults three hags living at the edge of town. They give him instructions to alleviate this fear; the result is that the aforementioned monk will become trapped inside a dream, and his body will sleep continuously until it dies.
The fox overhears this from several demons employed by the onmyōji, and in an attempt to avert this, she travels to the Dreaming, where she meets Morpheus
in the shape of an enormous black fox (In the story, he is referred to as the King of All Night's Dreaming). He listens to her plight, and in the ensuing conversation, the fox formulates a plan to capture a baku
, and use it to take the monk's place on the third night.
The plan is successful, but the monk is distraught at the fox's condition, and leaves his temple so that he may find the means of awakening her. He encounters Binzuru Harada, who offers him physical abuse for abandoning his temple, then instructs him on how to find Morpheus. After a journey through the realm of dreams (during which he encounters what appear to be Japanese counterparts of Fiddler's Green and Cain and Abel
from the Sandman comics), he arrives at the palace. A raven
, who is the departed spirit of a poet, guides him through it, and he is granted an audience.
Morpheus tells him what the fox had done, and that if he rescues her, her efforts will have been in vain, but the monk insists, and goes to meet the fox, where she is trapped inside a mirror in her human form. Initially she is reluctant, but again he insists. The narrative then gives an ambiguous statement on whether they then give formal farewells or make love (possibly Gaiman's way of implying that there are contradictory versions of the story, giving it an extra layer of authenticity), and then he takes her place, giving her the advice, "Seek not revenge, but the Buddha
." The fox informs Morpheus of this advice, then tells him she will seek the Buddha after seeking revenge. She awakens, and the monk dies several days later.
The fox tracks down the Onmyoji and seduces him in her human form, giving no indication of her true nature, but insists that he cannot touch her because of his affluent position and power. Maddened with lust, he burns down his house and that of the hags, killing them and his family and servants, and meets with the fox. She cajoles him into disrobing, then reverts to her true form and bites out one of his eyes, leaving him with his madness.
In the Dreaming, Morpheus and the raven ponder the events and their significance; Morpheus is satisfied that events played out as they should have, and that everyone involved learned an important lesson, particularly the monk. The narration ends by saying that since then, some people have had dreams of the monk and the fox (in either of her forms) walking through a field together.
would adapt the story into comics form.
Sandman: The Dream Hunters was released by Vertigo as a four-issue monthly series
from November 2008 to February 2009, featuring cover art by Yuko Shimizu (not to be confused with the designer of Hello Kitty of the same name), Mike Mignola
, Paul Pope
and Joe Kubert
.
.
Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard Gaiman born 10 November 1960)is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...
and illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano
Yoshitaka Amano
is a Japanese artist. He began his career as an animator and has become known for his illustrations for the anime Vampire Hunter D and for his character designs, image illustrations and title logo designs for the Final Fantasy video game series developed by Square Enix . His influences include...
of Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy
is a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and is developed and owned by Square Enix . The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and science-fantasy role-playing video games , but includes motion pictures, anime, printed media, and other merchandise...
fame. The story is tangential to The Sandman comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
series, and can be read without prior knowledge of the main sequence. It won the Bram Stoker Award for Best Illustrated Narrative
Bram Stoker Award for Best Illustrated Narrative
Nominees are listed below the winner for each year.* 1998: ** Sergio Aragones' Dia de las Muertos by Sergio Aragones & Mark Evanier** Preacher by Garth Ennis** The Son of Man by Garth Ennis...
. The story deals with a love affair between a Buddhist
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
priest and a fox spirit or kitsune
Kitsune
is the Japanese word for fox. Foxes are a common subject of Japanese folklore; in English, kitsune refers to them in this context. Stories depict them as intelligent beings and as possessing magical abilities that increase with their age and wisdom. Foremost among these is the ability to assume...
.
Gaiman's afterword states that it was based on an old Japanese folk tale
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
, drawn from Y. T. Ozaki's Old Japanese Fairy Tales and retooled to fit in the world of the Sandman, but no such tale is to be found in Ozaki's work. Gaiman has since stated when asked that the story was entirely of his own devising, most recently in the Foreword to The Sandman: Endless Nights. In December 2007, Gaiman noted on his blog, "I learned from Wikipedia that Sandman: The Dream Hunters was actually based on Pu Songling
Pu Songling
Pu Songling was a Qing Dynasty Chinese writer, best known as the author of Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio.-Biography:Pu was born into a poor landlord-merchant family from Zichuan...
's Strange Stories From A Chinese Studio
Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio
Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio or Liaozhai Zhiyi is a collection of nearly five hundred mostly supernatural tales written by Pu Songling in Classical Chinese during the early Qing Dynasty.Pu borrows from a folk tradition of oral storytelling to put to paper a series of captivating,...
, which I thought I ought to read."
Plot
A kitsuneKitsune
is the Japanese word for fox. Foxes are a common subject of Japanese folklore; in English, kitsune refers to them in this context. Stories depict them as intelligent beings and as possessing magical abilities that increase with their age and wisdom. Foremost among these is the ability to assume...
(fox) and a tanuki
Tanuki
is the common Japanese name for the Japanese raccoon dog . They have been part of Japanese folklore since ancient times...
(raccoon dog) make a bet that whichever of them drives a Buddhist
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
priest from his temple, they will claim it as their own. Both of them fail, and the raccoon dog flees in disgrace. The fox, however, has fallen in love with the monk, and in the form of an immensely beautiful woman, she apologizes to him for their behavior; he allows her to stay in the temple, provided that she does not cause him any more trouble.
Meanwhile, in a house in Kyoto, a rich onmyoji is consumed by a nameless fear, and consults three hags living at the edge of town. They give him instructions to alleviate this fear; the result is that the aforementioned monk will become trapped inside a dream, and his body will sleep continuously until it dies.
The fox overhears this from several demons employed by the onmyōji, and in an attempt to avert this, she travels to the Dreaming, where she meets Morpheus
Dream (comics)
Dream is the fictional protagonist of DC Comics' Vertigo comic book series The Sandman, written by Neil Gaiman. One of the seven Endless, inconceivably powerful beings older and greater than gods, Dream is both lord and personification of all dreams and stories, all that is not in reality...
in the shape of an enormous black fox (In the story, he is referred to as the King of All Night's Dreaming). He listens to her plight, and in the ensuing conversation, the fox formulates a plan to capture a baku
Baku (spirit)
are Japanese supernatural beings that devour dreams and nightmares. They have a long history in Japanese folklore and art, and more recently have appeared in Japanese anime and manga ....
, and use it to take the monk's place on the third night.
The plan is successful, but the monk is distraught at the fox's condition, and leaves his temple so that he may find the means of awakening her. He encounters Binzuru Harada, who offers him physical abuse for abandoning his temple, then instructs him on how to find Morpheus. After a journey through the realm of dreams (during which he encounters what appear to be Japanese counterparts of Fiddler's Green and Cain and Abel
Cain and Abel (comics)
Cain and Abel are a pair of fictional characters in the DC Comics universe based on the Biblical Cain and Abel. They are key figures in DC's "Mystery" line of the late 1960s and 1970s, which became the mature-readers imprint, Vertigo, in 1993....
from the Sandman comics), he arrives at the palace. A raven
Raven
Raven is the common name given to several larger-bodied members of the genus Corvus—but in Europe and North America the Common Raven is normally implied...
, who is the departed spirit of a poet, guides him through it, and he is granted an audience.
Morpheus tells him what the fox had done, and that if he rescues her, her efforts will have been in vain, but the monk insists, and goes to meet the fox, where she is trapped inside a mirror in her human form. Initially she is reluctant, but again he insists. The narrative then gives an ambiguous statement on whether they then give formal farewells or make love (possibly Gaiman's way of implying that there are contradictory versions of the story, giving it an extra layer of authenticity), and then he takes her place, giving her the advice, "Seek not revenge, but the Buddha
Gautama Buddha
Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
." The fox informs Morpheus of this advice, then tells him she will seek the Buddha after seeking revenge. She awakens, and the monk dies several days later.
The fox tracks down the Onmyoji and seduces him in her human form, giving no indication of her true nature, but insists that he cannot touch her because of his affluent position and power. Maddened with lust, he burns down his house and that of the hags, killing them and his family and servants, and meets with the fox. She cajoles him into disrobing, then reverts to her true form and bites out one of his eyes, leaving him with his madness.
In the Dreaming, Morpheus and the raven ponder the events and their significance; Morpheus is satisfied that events played out as they should have, and that everyone involved learned an important lesson, particularly the monk. The narration ends by saying that since then, some people have had dreams of the monk and the fox (in either of her forms) walking through a field together.
Comic book adaptation
For the 20th anniversary of Sandman, Neil Gaiman announced at Comic-Con 2007 that P. Craig RussellP. Craig Russell
Philip Craig Russell , also known as P. Craig Russell, is an American comic book writer, artist, and illustrator. His work has won multiple Harvey and Eisner Awards...
would adapt the story into comics form.
Sandman: The Dream Hunters was released by Vertigo as a four-issue monthly series
Limited series
A limited series is a comic book series with a set number of installments. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is determined before production and it differs from a one shot in that it is composed of multiple issues....
from November 2008 to February 2009, featuring cover art by Yuko Shimizu (not to be confused with the designer of Hello Kitty of the same name), Mike Mignola
Mike Mignola
Michael Joseph "Mike" Mignola is an American comic book artist and writer who created the comic book series Hellboy for Dark Horse Comics. He has worked for animation projects such as Atlantis: The Lost Empire and the adaptation of his one shot comic book, The Amazing Screw-On Head.-Career:Mignola...
, Paul Pope
Paul Pope
Paul Pope is an American alternative comic book artist. Influenced by Ray Bradbury and Edgar Rice Burroughs, Pope's stories evoke poignant, under-explored aspects of youth culture...
and Joe Kubert
Joe Kubert
Joe Kubert is an American comic book artist who went on to found The Kubert School. He is best known for his work on the DC Comics characters Sgt. Rock and Hawkman...
.
Awards
In 2000, it was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Related Book and won the Bram Stoker Award for Best Illustrated NarrativeBram Stoker Award for Best Illustrated Narrative
Nominees are listed below the winner for each year.* 1998: ** Sergio Aragones' Dia de las Muertos by Sergio Aragones & Mark Evanier** Preacher by Garth Ennis** The Son of Man by Garth Ennis...
.