witzelsucht 's review for:

Smashed: Junji Ito Story Collection by Junji Ito

3.0

dark mysterious

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While Shiver and Fragments of Horror had some iconic highs and really silly lows, Smashed is an all-rounder that doesn’t swing too far in either direction. Most of the stories are nicely fleshed out and given time to breathe, and tend to be more melancholy than shock-horror. The three Haunted House/Soichi stories are individually uneven but add up to more than the sum of their parts, and I was tickled by the reappearance of a character from another collection. With the exception of the hideous Binzo, nothing here is particularly scary, but it’s still a satisfying volume with great artwork.