Reviews - Fragments of horror

1.24k reviews for:

Fragments of horror

Junji Ito

3.95 AVERAGE

callistocalling's review against another edition

3.75

dark fast-paced

safodita's review against another edition

4.0

dark sad

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Loveable characters: Yes

mcpingeton's review against another edition

3.0

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: N/A

Strong character development: N/A

Loveable characters: N/A

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

tinkertot's review against another edition

3.75

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: N/A

Strong character development: N/A

Loveable characters: N/A

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

alhead32's review against another edition

3.0

Heartbroken that I didn’t love any of the stories in this one.

spaceshipsteve's review against another edition

3.0

Was an interesting and short read with some beautifully, creepy body horror.

Highlights are clearly Red Turtleneck and Gentle Goodbye. Both seem to concern the universal fear of living on borrowed time in the face of the inevitability of death.
The other theme of the book is the danger of ...essentially witches, luring in primarily man. This I found less interesting or well executed. Simpy not much of a deeper meaning or message I could find between the stories in that regard. Might be on me though...

Spoiler

And as mentioned by other commentators the second to last story featuring a predatory transwoman, with her gender being portrayed as a horrifying revelation and alternatively as off-putting quirk felt a bit... unfitting. Especially in the context of previous stories, featuring female monsters.

Overall I expected a bit more considering the authors reputation. But I am looking forward to reading more of his other stories...

scytale's review against another edition

4.0

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

acogna's review against another edition

2.5

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

One of the more mediocre collections of short stories in comparison to some of the other collections ('Futon' and 'Gentle Goodbye' in particular were pretty mid considering how good some of Ito's other short stories are), but some of them like 'Magami Nanakuse' and 'Whispering Woman' return to that signature flair.

Content Warnings