Title: Fragments of HorrorAuthor: Junji Ito
First Published: July 8, 2014
Publisher: VIZ Media
Pages: 224
Genre: Ero Guro, Horror, Seinen
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased
Rating:
Synopsis:
A new collection of delightfully macabre tales from a master of horror manga. An old wooden mansion that turns on its inhabitants. A dissection class with a most unusual subject. A funeral where the dead are definitely not laid to rest. Ranging from the terrifying to the comedic, from the erotic to the loathsome, these stories showcase Junji Ito’s long-awaited return to the world of horror.
Get the Book: AmazonReview
Fragments of Horror is currently the last of Ito’s works to be published and I have to say that it is one of his most unusual collections. It is very different from his typical body of work in both good and bad ways. Many of the stories were more absurd and uncanny rather than being straight-up horror.
It was also interesting to me that there was a single connecting theme between many of the stories, and that was sex, infidelity, and fetishes. It brings to mind the ero guro movement of 1930’s Japan. Literally translating to “erotic grotesque nonsense,” the description really sums up the themes in this manga well. Ito explores the distressing nature of some unusual and disturbing fetishes. Deviancy is met with punishments that are wildly out of proportion, as is typical of Ito’s brand of existential horror.
While not his strongest collection, Fragments of Horror does have a handful of fantastic stories that elicited a variety of reactions from me – sadness, discomfort, laughter. There was one point where I had thrown the book down in skin-crawling disgust that alarmed my husband. Blackbird, Gentle Goodbye, and The Whispering Woman in particular were my favorites of the collection.
Long-time fans of Ito’s work may enjoy this collection, though it is not one that I would recommend for those that are new to him. It is not representative of his usual work, and while it did have a few spectacular stories in the collection overall was very hit-or-miss. Ito notes in the afterword that it had been 8 years since he had written horror manga and this is very clear by how experimental some of his stories are.
Individual Story Notes:
♥ Futon: A simple short about a woman struggling to take care of her boyfriend who won’t leave his futon. Gross retribution with a little twist in the end. The story itself too brief to be notable, but the art on the full page spread was incredible.
♥ Wooden Spirit: This is one of Ito’s more bizarre stories, about a family whose old home becomes a cultural heritage location and a strange woman that comes knocking on their door. The first story with a very strange philia that I hadn’t ever considered before.
♥ Tomio – Red Turtleneck: I forgot how gross this one was, and it’s the second story in the collection about cheaters getting divine retribution. The last panel was a bit cheesy, but it is otherwise a horrifying scenario with a satisfying punishment.
♥ Gentle Goodbye: One of my favorite pieces of grief horror ever.
♥ Dissection-chan: When I first read this short story collection years ago, I remember not being a fan of this story. Maybe it’s because I’ve gotten more into extreme horror, but I actually really enjoyed this story a great deal more.
♥ Blackbird:
♥ Magami Nanakuse:
♥ Whispering Woman:
Rating Breakdown
| Futon: ★★☆☆☆ Wooden Spirit: ★★★☆☆ Tomio – Red Turtleneck: ★★★☆☆ Gentle Goodbye: ★★★★★ |
Dissection-chan: ★★★★☆ Blackbird: ★☆☆☆☆ Magami Nanakuse: ★☆☆☆☆ Whispering Woman: ★☆☆☆☆ |
Quote
“It tells the story of a woman battling severe illness, doesn’t it?”
Content Warnings
View Spoiler »About the Author
About Junji Ito
Junji Ito is a Japanese horror manga artist. He was inspired from a young age by his older sister’s drawing and Kazuo Umezu’s comics and thus took an interest in drawing horror comics himself. 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.
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