Geneon has announced the March 20th release of the first volume collecting the Ayakashi Samurai Horror Tales TV anime series.  Toei Animation produced the 11-episode series, which aired on Fuji TV from January to March of 2006.  The series is actually an anthology of three different horror/supernatural tales in the classic Japanese tradition.  Two of the stories, Yotsuya Kaidan and Tenshu Monogatori, are based on classic Japanese plays, while the third story Bake Neko is an original story, though it is set in the Edo Period and also has a classic 'horror folktale' feel to it.

The three stories have different directors and feature totally different kinds of character designs, color schemes, and animation styles, but they should all appeal to anime fans intrigued by Japanese culture.  Each tale will get its own DVD release with the first release being the 90-minute Ayakashi Samurai Horror Tales: Castle Tower Story (MSRP $19.98), the English title given to the Tenshu Monogatori tale, which is based on a play by Izumi Kyoka and tells the story of a forbidden love between a human and a god in medieval Japan.

Geneon's second release in the series will be Ayakashi Samurai Horror Tales Yotsuya Ghost Story, which is based on an 18th Century Kabuki play by Tsuruya Nanboku -- a marvelously universal American Tragedy-like tale of an impoverished ronin who murders his beautiful wife so that he can marry the daughter of a rich man.  Geneon plans on releasing this saga on May 22nd.

The final release in the series will be Ayakashi Samurai Horror Tales Goblin Cat (Bake Neko), which is due out on July 24th, 2007.  Set in the Edo Period this is the story of a number of mysterious deaths, which a druggist ascribes to a bake neko or cat monster.  The only trouble is identifying the demon and his reasons for attacking members of the family of a master samurai's clan.