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A review by blairecee
Museum of Terror, Vol. 3: The Long Hair in the Attic by 伊藤潤二, Junji Ito
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Hit and miss. Ito's storytelling and art are still kinda rough. Many of the early stories just feel a bit off, not suffused with mood and atmosphere like they should be, with lumpy pacing and endings that feel perfunctory. The ones that worked for me:
The Devil's Logic is short and chilling and has a great framing device where the protagonist is listening to a tape of his friend's last hour alive.
Love as Scripted - airtight premise, no wasted space
Heart of a Father - the concept, exploring how a father lives out his unfulfilled youth through his children quite literally by psychically taking control of their bodies, is a brilliant way to explore familial abuse and trauma. Still, it feels a bit too long and sags at the end where the father is given the opportunity to monologue about why he's abused his children - I think it's great to provide this context and moral complexity, but shoehorning it in at the end seems really clunky and unsubtle.
The Bully - Nothing supernatural about this one, just the psychology of human cruelty. Might be my favourite in the bunch.
A Deserter in the House - a great ghost story. We create the ghosts that haunt us.
The Devil's Logic is short and chilling and has a great framing device where the protagonist is listening to a tape of his friend's last hour alive.
Love as Scripted - airtight premise, no wasted space
Heart of a Father - the concept, exploring how a father lives out his unfulfilled youth through his children quite literally by psychically taking control of their bodies, is a brilliant way to explore familial abuse and trauma. Still, it feels a bit too long and sags at the end where the father is given the opportunity to monologue about why he's abused his children - I think it's great to provide this context and moral complexity, but shoehorning it in at the end seems really clunky and unsubtle.
The Bully - Nothing supernatural about this one, just the psychology of human cruelty. Might be my favourite in the bunch.
A Deserter in the House - a great ghost story. We create the ghosts that haunt us.