By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. I was really happy to indulge in some old school Junji body horror as the last couple of releases have been a bit lack lustre. The final and titular story, “Deserter,” is about a military deserter hiding in Japan years after World War II, because the people hiding him convince him the war is still going on. Or “Scripted Love” about a jilted lover who murders her ex after she receives a tape of pre-recorded messages from him.

The family try to warn him not to shout because it will alert Furukawa, but it's too late, and the ghost appears in the doorway. Many of the tales are pretty sparse, providing a simple and direct route to a chilling final image or thought. Nevertheless, upon graduation he trained as a dental technician, and until the early 1990s he juggled his dental career with his increasingly successful hobby — even after being selected as the winner of the prestigious Umezu prize for horror manga. r/junjiito is dedicated to legendary award-winning horror mangaka Junji Itō (伊藤潤二) and friends like Kazuo Umezz (楳図かずお), Hideshi Hino (日野日出志), and other horror mangaka.

Ito’s famous for purportedly spending up to ten hours a day on a page with pen and paper, making his artwork as dark as possible. I find it easy to recommend Deserter because, as a whole, it is cemented in my mind as a very solid collection. The girls toy aisles aren't our regular ball park but we occasionally like to try something different to our norm. I’d like to know when, and in what context, they were first published; what, for example, is the background of ‘The Reanimator’s Sword’, which leans more towards fantasy than horror and seems like an outlier here? There were three stories that stood out to me - I wouldn’t say I liked them completely but they were more than just “whacky horror cliche blood arrgh” which makes up the others.

All i have to say really is its open on the left side as its Japanese so if that annoys you id advise trying to find a one that fixes that but that doesnt really bother me!

Junji Ito is (as always) the king of body horror graphic novels that are both terrifying, fascinating and completely ridiculous and this book is no exception. The book collecting 12 of his earliest stories was a nice, appreciable novelty too that helped this collection stand out to me in the same way as Shiver, which is a best-of collection hand-picked by Ito himself. It’s not that these stories are bad, they are just missing out on some of the cosmic or grotesque horror I tend to read Ito for. This is a moving and funny debut novel set in a quirky coastal community you will be desperate to visit after reading.

Registered office address: Unit 34 Vulcan House Business Centre, Vulcan Road, Leicester, Leicestershire, LE5 3EF.Either that or you’ll hear about my attempts to open the gates of Hell just so I can get some peace and relaxation.

And when her friend tries to figure out why by listening to a recording of her before her death, he finds himself in over his head against a terrible power. I sort of wanted to pick it for my Fantastic Strangelings Book Club for December but I figured 25% of the people would be like, "YOU LIKE JUNJI ITO TOO?

There are a few stand-outs in the collection like “Where the Sandman Lives”’ a story about a man’s inner shadow self literally turning him inside out. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising.