{"product_id":"the-silk-that-binds-philip-stengel-9798289433732","title":"The Silk That Binds","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn the misted mountains above Yamakawa, men have begun to vanish.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA woodcutter follows the sound of a shamisen into the fog and leaves behind only an axe wrapped in silk. A husband disappears from the road. A village grows quiet beneath the weight of fear, rumor, and the forest's old hunger. To investigate, Lord Sato sends for Taro, an exiled swordsman whose former life ended in disgrace and whose discipline hides a wound he has never named cleanly.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThen Taro hears the song.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDeep in the cedar mist stands a hut that should not exist, warm with tea, smoke, mulberry, and sorrow. Inside waits Aiko, a lonely widow with a half-finished piece of music, a loom strung with pale silk, and grief deep enough to make Taro forget the first rule of any haunted place: pity can be bait.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs disappearances continue, Taro conceals what he has found, believing he is protecting a woman from frightened villagers. But Mika, the shrine woman, knows the old patterns. Kenji knows the village has been lied to. And beneath the forest, in a cave of bones and silk, the truth waits with too many legs, too many memories, and the name of a creature older than mercy.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Jorōgumo has been feeding.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo save Yamakawa, Taro must face not only the monster in the mountain, but the weakness in himself that wanted her sorrow to excuse the bodies in her web.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Silk That Binds\u003c\/i\u003e is a dark Japanese folklore horror novel about shame, desire, village fear, spider silk, and the terrible cost of mistaking a monster's grief for redemption.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Philip Stengel\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9798289433732\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Independently Published\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/24\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 318\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.94lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.67d","brand":"Philip Stengel","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":49169650974975,"sku":"9798289433732","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-silk-that-binds-philip-stengel-9798289433732","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}