STATUES
by Junji Ito
Available now
There was a time when your only hope of reading the complete works of Junji Ito was surfing around Tumblr or other blogs and hoping you hadn't outpaced every scanlation group. Fortunately, the horror manga master is finally getting some well-deserved attention in the US, and Viz continues to release print editions of his short horror collections. The latest is Statues, containing a mix of stories ranging from psychologically haunting to outright gory.
This collection contains ten stand-alone short manga, including (of course) "Statues." While none of these is as famous as the "Tomie" stories or as infamous as "The Enigma of Amigara Fault," it's a good showing of strong pieces.
While "Statues" is the title story, it's not the stand-out piece in terms of quality. It's still good, but some lesser-known ones are even better. Ranking in the top three for this reviewer:
The Circus Has Come to Town: One of Ito's more oddball stories, about a deadly circus that lures locals into becoming its performers for the chance to win the hand of one of its lovely acrobats. This one focuses less on body horror (though the cast is dropping like flies) and more on the human nature—in this case, the lengths some men will go to for a beautiful girl, and how one entity chooses to exploit that.
Scarecrow: A lo-fi predecessor to more Black Mirror-esque stories, this one is another take on grieving relatives and lovers attempting to bring their loved ones back from the dead. But instead of AI, they're using scarecrows... which appear to take on the likenesses of the deceased if placed on their graves.
Red Thread: A twisted take on the "red thread of destiny." When high schooler Ishii is dumped by his girlfriend, he's convinced fate is working against him. But then he discovers red stitches on his skin, which increase in number overnight. This one stands out because of its strange ending, which hints at more but leaves the reader to process what exactly is going on between Momoko and the jilted Ishii. It also plays more into the body horror angle, in a way we've seen Ito tackle once before.
An awfully close runner-up is "Suicide Note," a story of ghosts and revenge that has one of my favorite endings to an Ito short. I can't decide whether it's funny or tragic... perhaps a bit of both. It's a great note to close the book out on.
While Statues doesn't contain any of the must-reads of Ito's career, it shows many more angles to the horror master's talent than a Greatest Hits collection would. If you're only familiar with his more famous titles, this is a great way to start broadening your horizons in the Itoverse.
TEA PAIRING: Headless Horseman
A creepy story for a creepy collection! Originally released for Halloween, this spiced pumpkin tea is the perfect companion for a scary night in reading classic horror manga. Use my code KARA15 for 15% off this and other teas from Chapters Tea & Co.!
0 comments:
Post a Comment