Shocking visuals are all well and good, and Ito continues to be a master in that respect, but these showcase how much he’s capable of writing an idea that can get under your skin on its own. And “Splendid Shadow Song” tells of a tune that you just can’t get out of your head once you’ve heard it, no matter how badly you want to forget. “Earthbound” sees people fixed in random places throughout the country, seemingly unable to remove themselves from one spot. “Roar” features the ghostly manifestation of a flood, continually carrying the damned souls of those swept away by it. The best were those that dealt with more cerebral horror rather than direct physical threats. Granted, the first story might be effective to someone with a specific phobia, but it didn’t really work for me.įortunately, despite the poor start, the majority of these stories were quite good. Solid premises, but I found the ways they developed bordered on the nonsensical. The first is a story about a girl with an eating disorder having strange nightmares about it raining blood, and the second is about a weird comedy duo that somehow twist their audiences into freakish fits of laughter.
I normally delight in how weird his horror can get, but these I just found a little perplexing. The first two stories of the collection especially missed the mark for me. I will continue to sing the praises of his longer works, but I’m increasingly finding his shorts to be hit-or-miss. My eagerness to read this collection notwithstanding, I’m starting to think that the novelty of Ito’s art and story ideas is starting to wear off a bit for me. I saw there was a new collection coming out, and that’s pretty much all that was needed to get me to commit to picking it up. I didn’t know much about the stories collected in this book going in. Most of them are one-shot stories, with the exception of trio that focus around a strange haunted house attraction that pops up in abandoned buildings near the outskirts of towns, charging outrageous prices but promising to scare you out of your wits.
Smashed is the newest English translation collection of short horror stories by manga artist Junji Ito, bringing together 13 chilling tales.
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