Reviews

Fragments of Horror by Junji Ito

peeny_weeny's review

dark lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

rosies_elfhame's review

5.0

Needless to say. My favorite Manga artist, my favorite story teller. Lovely, creepy, messed up collection. Amazing

sampauwels's review

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

A bit of a mixed bag, as usual with Ito I suppose.

naarajaneri's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

noragrace89's review

4.0

I had a great time reading this book. It’s unique, dark, and super addictive.

arborapollonis's review

adventurous dark

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

Junji Ito is always a delight to read and this collection is no different. The stories span the spectrum between truly horrifying and heartwrenching, but all inspire a sense of existential dread. His plots can be a bit outlandish and fabricated but most of the time that just adds to the charm

marinarm's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

4.0

janagaton's review

5.0

I'm so glad I purchased this one instead of just reading it from the library because this is definitely in my top faves of junji ito's work! every single story creeped me out to the point of visceral reaction! I'll never be able to fathom how this man comes up with all this shit.

redrosesrot's review

4.0

This has some of my favorite short stories ("Whispering Woman" and "Gentle Goodbye" in particular stand out), but the short story "Magami Nanakuse"

Spoiler

is not the kindest of representations of a trans or trans-adjacent character, which is disappointing from Ito (but not on the whole surprising given the general culture from which it was drawn re: trans representation in popular Japanese media), but at least the translation continues to refer to the character in question by the correct pronouns

so... There's that at least? On the whole, though, not a fan of that one, but the rest are decent or even fantastic.

repobi's review

3.0

The Red Turtleneck and The Whispering Woman are the highlights from this anthology.