Junji Ito is a genius. With every page i'm asking myself: "You could do that in a story? Is it even legal to be so creative? Jeez, that's amazing, why isn't everybody doing that?" ( )

It was good but it just wasn't as strong as Fragments of Horror and Shiver although it is on par with his Frankenstein. However, it is not as gruesome not that there is no gore or weird monsters. My favorite stories in this one were Bloodsucking Darkness, The Mystery of the Haunted House, and Smashed with honorable mentions to Earthbound and Library Vision. I would recommend this to anyone interested in Junji Ito's horror, it's also not a bad place to start but in comparison to his other collections, it struck me as more oriented towards story rather than a rapid setup for a gory/morbid punch. It felt a little watered down probably due to that. ( )

Some stories were better compared to others. I did enjoy the artwork and lore. ( )

Perhaps my favorite volume of a collection of Junji Ito's stories. I really liked Bloodsucking Darkness, all of Soichi's tales, In Mirror Valley, Smashed, and Earthbound! Every horror fan needs at least one Junji Ito work in their library, and this is an excellent contender for it. Junji Ito is a master of taking normally mundane ideas or concepts and turning them into horror stories (The entire concept behind Smashed is- You know how annoying mosquitos are and how itchy the bites can be? Yeah. Imagine that times ten.) ( )

What I love about Ito's stories is that there isn't always a happy ending. Sometimes bad things just keep happening, and the villains win.

And Ito is ridiculously creative and original; I had no idea what "Smashed," the title story, would be, but it was unexpected and great. "Ghosts of Prime Time," "Death Row Doorbell," and "Earthbound" are also inventive and wonderful.

Stories under the tag.
"Bloodsucking Darkness" - 3/5 A young woman develops an eating disorder after a breakup, and a student from her school decides to use his pet vampire bats to feed her while she sleeps. As weird as it sounds.
"Ghosts of Prime Time" - 4/5 I actually really liked this one! A very strange comedy duo uses their spirits to ensure that they always kill. Great twist that they're tickling everyone, and wonderful ending: they achieve world domination.
"Roar" - 3/5 Two hikers find a ghost flood, where the disastrous dam burst is recreated every day, and the man who is obsessed with it. Interesting idea but kind of flat.
"Earthbound" - 5/5 On day in Japan, people start to become cemented to a particular spot in strange poses. It's gradually revealed that they're drawn to spots of guilt and shame. Wonderful and creative idea, but I wish the poses had been explained a little more. I thought, at first, that they had something to do with the crime committed, but then couldn't find a pattern.
"Death Row Doorbell" - 3/5 The remaining family members of a gang killing are haunted by the ringleader, begging for their forgiveness. It takes a well-deserved, gruesome turn (but who wouldn't want to kill the man who killed your family?), and then ends flatly. What happened to her brother? Why does the ghosts stop appearing so suddenly? I wish there had been a little bit more internal reflection.
"The Mystery of the Haunted House" - 2/5 Another interesting idea (a man curses his family and uses them to run a traveling haunted house because he's fleeing his son's monster mother), but too much was going on and it didn't draw me in.
"The Mystery of the Haunted House: Soichi's Version" - 2/5 I liked this one even less. I thought it would be a straight retelling of the previous story but from the villain's point of view, but it was more of a prequel/sequel.
"Soichi's Beloved Pet" - 3/5 An entertaining story about Soichi's corrupting influence on a very sweet cat.
"In Mirror Valley" - 2/5 Two rival villages, having split off because of their intense hatred for each other, place mirrors around the town to reflect their evil gazes. A kind of allegory for divide and hatred, but one that has a few too many plot holes.
"I Don't Want to Be a Ghost" - 2/5 The least memorable of the lot. A man begins an affair with a young woman, who's only attraction to him is the plethora of ghosts that hang around him for her to feast on.
"Library Vision" - 2/5 A man becomes obsessed with the idea that his library is going to "walk away" and is consumed by this threat, just like his father before him. I wish a little more had been explained (is it a curse brought on by the library? Were they really walking away? Is it related to his father's breakdown?
"Splendid Shadow Song" - 3/5 Another wonderfully original idea: an ex-boyfriend's song gets permanently stuck in a young woman's head. She rises to fame singing it, even as she pleads to be released from it. And while she dies at the end, there's more subjects to study.
"Smashed" - 5/5 Honestly my favorite. An isolated tribe gives the main character some delicious, addictive nectar, but if they're noticed while they're eating it, they get smashed. It makes no sense but it's great.

3 stars average. ( )