Kaidan

Kaidan (怪談) (sometimes transliterated as kwaidan) is a Japanese word consisting of two kanji: 怪 (kai) meaning "strange, mysterious, rare or bewitching apparition" and 談 (dan) meaning "talk" or "recited narrative".

 In its broadest sense, kaidan refers to any ghost or horror story, but it has an old-fashioned ring to it that carries the connotation of Edo period Japanese folktales. The term is no longer as widely used in Japanese as it once was: Japanese horror books and films such as Ju-on and Ring would more likely be labeled as hora ("horror") or the standard Japanese kowai hanashi ("scary story"). Kaidan is only used if the author/director wishes to specifically bring an old-fashioned air into the story.