DESCENDED | WBUR

Halloween is upon us, and maybe you're looking for something a little scary to help get into the mood? Well, Boston composer Maria Finkelmeier has just the trick: some new, creepy music she conjured to honor a celebrated but relatively little-known 19th-century ghost story master.

Finkelmeier recalls what raced through her mind two years ago when she first heard about Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904).

“Who is that person?” she wondered. “That's a really cool name.

Lafcadio Hearn's great, great grand niece, Jean Laurenz — who's also a musician — told Finkelmeier all about him. “Lafcadio is this really wild character who was a nomad born in Greece, traversed through England, New York City, Cincinnati, Ohio — which is where I'm from — and New Orleans,” Finkelmeier explained, “then made his way to Japan. And he's most well-known for bringing Japanese ghost stories into the English language.”