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ballisticbaylor 's review for:
Tombs: Junji Ito Story Collection
by Junji Ito
This is a hold over from Halloween. This collection contains possibly the most bizarre stories from Ito that I’ve read yet (and that’s saying something as I’ve read 3 or 4 of his works). Here we have a stories such as a town where tombs grow from people’s dead bodies, a girl whose tongue turns into a slug, a very scary lady next door, a giant creature washed up on the beach with something horrific in its belly, a tunnel that calls people to itself, talking statues, an epidemic of floating flowers that tell dark secrets, and a town where people regularly start profusely bleeding. I said strange right?
Unfortunately, many of these stories are too short for their own good. As is common with Ito’s work, the stories often get good right as they are concluding, like a narrative cut off at its inciting incident. Ito confessed at the end of the Liminal Zone that he works better when he isn’t restricted by page count, so I assume that’s what was going on with several of these.
My favorites were The Strange Tale of the Tunnel and Floaters, the latter of which seemed like a Black Mirror-esc commentary on the obsessive over sharing that is so common in the age of social media.
Unfortunately, many of these stories are too short for their own good. As is common with Ito’s work, the stories often get good right as they are concluding, like a narrative cut off at its inciting incident. Ito confessed at the end of the Liminal Zone that he works better when he isn’t restricted by page count, so I assume that’s what was going on with several of these.
My favorites were The Strange Tale of the Tunnel and Floaters, the latter of which seemed like a Black Mirror-esc commentary on the obsessive over sharing that is so common in the age of social media.