Manga Review: Fragments of Horror

Manga Review: Fragments of Horror by Junji Ito

Junji Ito is one of Japan’s top horror manga creators, whose famous works include Uzumaki (spirals are scary!), Gyo (landshark!) and Tomie (the girl who just won’t die.)  He’s slowed down some in recent years, so this collection of short stories has been brewing for a while.

Mr. Ito does some excellent art, and several of the stories have large, complex images that show this off, as well as his twisted imagination.  Viz has brought out the collection in a fancy hardback complete with wraparound cover–my image conveys only a fraction of what’s going on.

This volume starts with “Futon”, about a man who won’t get out of bed.  But is the fate that awaits him if he does so worse than his fate if he stays?  The ending story is “Whispering Woman”, which features a young woman with an anxiety disorder and the woman who’s hired to give her direction.  A woman who rapidly seems to have no life of her own.  Not all of the stories are scary; “Gentle Goodbye” is a wistfully sad story about ghosts.

Perhaps the freakiest story is “Wooden Spirit” about a woman who loves old-fashioned wooden house construction in the wrong way.

Despite Mr. Ito’s drawing skill and imagination, he does tend to default to the same three or four faces for “pretty” or “normal” people.  This makes it feel like you’re watching one of those old anthology TV shows where they have the same actors in slightly different roles over and over.

This is horror, so there are disturbing images and some nudity and this is not a book for younger or more sensitive readers.

Highly recommended for horror comics fans.