genre: manga. horror. teen.
The Review
Happy Halloween! I couldn’t resisted holding off on this review so I could post it today. Just like the last Junji Ito review, this is a horror manga collection and I’ll be including some panels from the stories. If this isn’t your thing, you’ll probably want to skip this one!
Used Record: 2 out of 5
I think the main reason this story landed flat for me was because it was sound dependent. “Used Record” is straight up about a spooky recording that makes listeners obsessed with it. But it’s hard to really get into the story when … well, when you can’t really hear said recording.
Shiver: 3 out of 5
Man, this one had so much potential. It could have been so much scarier though. If anyone has Trypophobia this story is basically your worst nightmare. These random holes start appearing in people’s skin and eventually makes them deteriorate. This is creepy in and of itself, but then Ito starts mentioning bugs and … ick! The imagery is just out of this world for this story. This one honestly ended way too fast. Right when it was getting good.
Fashion Model: 4 out of 5
I can’t really put my finger on why I liked this one so much, but it’s just so fun to read. This lady … she is just so disturbing! This story is very much a slow-build. You know there’s something wrong with the creepy fashion model, but really there’s no outward evidence that she’d a bad person. The end comes up fast and is so satisfyingly grotesque.
Hanging Blimp: 4 out of 5
This is such a bizarre story. I can’t even begin to imagine how Ito comes up with the majority of his ideas, but this one is pretty out there. How he manages to make giant head blimps (yes, you read that right) terrifying is just unbelievable. That’s pretty much all I have to say about this one haha.
Marionette Mansion: 5 out of 5
A classic spooky subject that was given Ito’s trademark twist. Marionettes, puppets, whatever. They’ve always been a big subject in the horror genre, but, as always, Ito takes it to a whole new level. Another slow build, this story is inherently creepy from the start, but there’s no violence or straight up here until the very end. This was one of my favorites because it makes you feel uneasy from the very first page.
Painter: 5 out of 5
I don’t know if anyone here follows me on Instagram, but I love the Tomie story. “Painter” is a part of the Tomie set and it’s perfectly disturbing. The idea of a girl being so beautiful that she drives people mad is sick and it’s the kind of story I’d read over and over again. Although Tomie looks a lot Ito’s other beautiful protagonists, there’s just something about her — which, is kind of her whole thing. This was definitely my favorite story in this whole collection.
The Long Dream: 4 out of 5
This is one of those stories that really gets under your skin. There’s no jump-scare kind of horror or overtly gross imagery (although some panels are creepy). “The Long Dream” was disturbing because of the idea behind it. Every night your dream gets longer and longer. One night your dream lasts a century and you have no idea what had happened the day before. You’ve lived through so much time in your dream that you’ve lost touch with your own reality. So much so that the dream feels so real when you’re in it. So … how can you be sure that this, right now, isn’t a dream. You’ll wake up and it was all in your head. NOPE.
Honored Ancestors: 3 out of 5
This is another one of those “how did he come up with this???” kind of stories. Honestly, I don’t even know how to explain it. Just don’t read this if you’re scared of caterpillars. I wasn’t before, I definitely am now.
Grease: 2 out of 5
If you like gross stories, “Grease” is right up your alley. I do not, so I had a really hard time reading this one. This is a gross fest. Ito really pulled out all the stops for this one and I found myself flipping pages and skimming as much as possible. I can’t even add an image here because there’s no way I’m googling this story.
Cursed Frame: 4 out of 5
This technically isn’t a full story — it’s more of a bonus. But I loved it! This is a companion piece to “Fashion Model”. It’s super short (only a few pages), but those last few panels really hit me. This was a perfect ending to this collection.
The collection as a whole:
I liked this one way more than the first collection I read (Smashed). I think the stories in this set are much better and flowed better when I was reading them. Just like the Smashed, it took a few of the stories for me to really get into the groove of it. The first few are a little weak, but eventually you really get that classic Junji Ito feel.
I mentioned this last time, but Ito has such a unique artistic style that draws me in. It’s crisp and beautiful even when it’s offset by the horrible images he conjures up. This is a good collection for anyone who’s interested in his work and wants some good spooks!
approx read time: 17 days. I got distracted, okay 😬
Rating: 5 out of 5 Screems™
Ownership: borrowed from my library
