Strange Tales

Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio Playing Cards

HUPO Red Edition & Gaoyu Standard Edition

Inspired by Pu Songling’s legendary supernatural tales, Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio is a custom-designed playing card deck where spirits, scholars, and deities emerge through immersive illustration and layered storytelling. Each edition invites you into a world where the mundane and the supernatural quietly intertwine.

Court Cards

The Court Cards feature richly detailed, two-way illustrations of enchanting and mysterious beings drawn from Pu Songling’s world. Ominous specters, wandering spirits, and the haunting elegance of a ghostly maiden admiring a peony all appear throughout the courts. Each figure contributes to a larger narrative, with alternate art treatments that visually echo characters found within the number cards.

Number Cards

The Number Cards pay homage to the vast ensemble of spirits, scholars, and deities that populate the strange tales. Each character is presented in a majestic full-body portrait, captured in a moment of serene contemplation.

When laid out in sequence, the cards reveal a hidden spectacle: they connect to form a mosaic puzzle of an otherworldly garden—an ideal feature for collectors and perfect for display, especially alongside the beautifully designed uncut sheets.

Card Backs – Animated Whirling Gateway Design

The card backs feature an Animated Whirling Gateway design inspired by two ancient motifs. The segmented lattice of a traditional window (chuangling) represents a portal between realms, while the sacred wheel symbolizes the eternal cycle of change.

Together, these elements form a split “Karmic Portal,” illustrated along the long edges of the card and framing a center of swirling spiritual energy. When fanned or flipped, the mirrored halves appear to spin in opposite directions, creating the mesmerizing illusion of a living gateway between worlds—capturing the subtle, unseen motion at the heart of Pu Songling’s supernatural universe.