Shiver

Review

Shiver is a collection of Junji Ito’s personal picks for his best stories. It’s an excellent selection that I felt is a good representation of his work. The one-shots chosen provide a decent range of stories that showcase some common themes found in much of Ito’s work: body horror, obsession, mass hysteria, deadly women, tragic lovers, and a little dark humor thrown in the mix.

Included in this collection is an afterword and a few of Ito’s developmental sketches and notes which were a nice addition to the collection. With the exception of the final bonus story, Fashion Model: Cursed Frame, everything in this book had been previously published, and the publisher VIZ media wisely excluded these stories in future collections. I had previously read and loved Hanging Blimp and Greased and was happy to see these two included. Ito’s most famous character Tomie was also included and it’s a great introduction to the character for those unfamiliar with her.

Overall it’s a solid collection that I can easily recommend as a great starting place for readers looking to check out his work. Ito continues to blow me away with the sheer creativity of his work, coming up with memorable stories that never fail to unsettle.

Individual Story Notes:

♥ Used Record: A rare and mysterious record captures the hearts and minds of the people that hear it. Ito writes several stories about obsession and madness, and this one has a haunting delivery. I really enjoyed this, though I did find the scat doo wops written out in such a serious story a little funny.

♥ Shiver: The titular story, Shiver taps into one of my worst nightmares, literally. I have eczema that causes me a lot of anxiety, and the idea of itchy holes opening up in my skin has been a recurring nightmare for me. I didn’t even know trypophobia was a thing until after reading this story, and it caught me off guard. A cursed object story that is part of a trend in Japanese horror of sinister war souvenirs.

♥ Fashion Model: A creepy model with a head like a shark takes over an indie film shoot. Miss Fuchi is a minor recurring character in Junji Ito’s stories. While Fashion Model isn’t my favorite story, Miss Fuchi fascinated me and left a strong impression on me, and I quite like her.

♥ Hanging Blimp: Hanging Blimp is one of Ito’s more unique and memorable stories. In the story, strange hanging “blimps” appear with human faces and begin to hunt for their owner. The story becomes apocalyptic in scale and is extremely bleak. In the notes after Ito mentions that this was inspired by a nightmare he had as a child, and I can’t even imagine how terrifying that nightmare must have been, it is so bizarre.

♥ Marionette Mansion: One of the more bizarre horror stories in the collection. Marionette Mansion is a coming of age story about a family of puppeteers fraying at the edges, stuck on a loop of traveling and performing. There were a lot of fascinating ideas in this story, the puppets are very creepy and the story feels darkly whimsical. The plot is a little too convenient at times, but the ending panel was excellent.

♥ Painter: A collection of Ito’s best stories of course could never be complete without Tomie making an appearance. A popular painter becomes obsessed with capturing Tomie’s beauty. This is one of the later stories where Tomie is more aware of and even weaponizes the allure that she has over men. While this isn’t my favorite Tomie story, it is perhaps one of the more iconic ones.

♥ The Long Dream: The Long Dream is the one story in the collection that dips into science fiction, and I think it’s something special. A doctor struggles to treat two patients: a young woman suffering from a terminal illness who is terrified of death to the point of hysteria and a young man who experiences “long dreams” that continue to get longer each day. There is so much imagination in this story and the concept of a long dream (or nightmare) lasting what feels like days, months, or even years is incredibly terrifying. I suffered from night terrors well into adulthood and because of that I’ve never liked sleeping very much, so the entire concept of this story fills me with dread. There is a touch of humor in this one though that balances out the tension that I really enjoyed.

♥ Honored Ancestors: Short but absolutely terrifying. A young woman who has suddenly lost her memory comes to find out how it happened. The big reveal in this story is one I’ll never forget, it is grotesque and bizarre.

♥ Greased: There are not many things that get under my skin when reading, but Greased has always grossed me out. I’m very neurotic about my skin, I’ve struggled with skin allergies my entire life and I hate the feeling of pimples, oily sunscreen, and scented bath products touching my skin. Greased is my worst fears made manifest that has more than once made me gag. Seeing the characters covered in oil and pimples had a visceral effect on me and it made my skin crawl with disgust. One of Ito’s best and grossest stories.

♥ Fashion Model: Cursed Frame: Miss Fuchi makes her return in this wonderfully short bonus story. A popular new model with a bizarre fear of having photos taken where parts of her body are cut off in the frame has a chance encounter with Fuchi, the intimidating model featured in Fashion Model. I really enjoyed this short, Fuchi is both terrifying and charming in a strange way.

Rating Breakdown

Used Record: ★★★★☆ Shiver: ★★★★☆ Fashion Model: ★★★☆☆ Hanging Blimp: ★★★★★ Marionette Mansion: ★★★☆☆

Painter: ★★★☆☆ The Long Dream: ★★★★★ Honored Ancestors: ★★★★★ Greased: ★★★★★ Fashion Model: Cursed Frame: ★★★★☆

Favorite Story: Hanging Blimp

Quote

“I just can’t shake the feeling that the puppets work us.”

Content Warnings

View Spoiler »Abduction, Bullying, Cannibalism, Death, Dismemberment, Domestic Abuse, Elder Abuse, Gore, Human Experimentation, Implied Rape and Forced Pregnancy, Murder, Physical Assault, Strangulation, Suicide, Violence « Hide Spoiler

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