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8.5/10
An equally good sequel to the previous Ito collection by the same name.

1. *The Soichi Front*:
6.5/10
This short is a continuation of ‘Secret of the Haunted Mansion’ from the predecessor of this collection, the original ‘Voices in the Dark’, and it’s not that good of a story. It’s starts off with a promising premise but it’s clear that Ito has different intentions with Soichi’s character and I respect that. I think that this is an interesting arena for Ito to explore. The ending seems like something that I feel I would have hated but ... I think it’s forgivable given that Ito just wanted to do something different with Soichi and his supporting characters.

2. *Soichi’s Beloved Pet*:
7/10
The third Soichi story is saved only by it’s creepiness and ability to disturb. It’s nothing remarkable story-wise, nor is there any commendable atmosphere or concept or mystery, just a bunch of random unsettling events made effective by the art and nothing more. Still a lot better than the Hikizuri Siblings stories tho, I do understand why Soichi is a mildly popular but the stories he is a part of could certainly be better.

3. *In The Valley Of Mirrors*:
10/10
Wow, this is maybe the best Junji Ito short story I’ve read. It’s got it all, a great atmosphere and art style along with the supernatural plot and all. And the best part, it doesn’t stop there, ‘In The Valley of Mirrors’ also works as a story about communal hatred as a concept and examines it with an undeniably novel eye.
It’s like a very twisted Romeo & Juliet retelling.
Bonus- Ito uses one of my favourite horror motifs- Mirrors.
Highly recommended.

4. *Anything But A Ghost*:
6.5/10
Nothing really remarkable here. The story does have an interesting premise and it maintains the consistency in it’s pace but it never ‘delivers’ and just ends as it started. It’s not bad per se, it just doesn’t do much for me.

5. *Library Of Illusions*:
8.5/10
From it’s title, I felt that this story is going to be just up my alley. However, it does not delve into the horror of infinity as the first page promised, and neither does it provide terrifying Piranesi-esque visuals.
Ito takes a different route and it’s respectable too. ‘Library of Illusions’ is a story about obsession and childhood trauma and it’s damn good at being what it is.

6. *Songs In The Dark*:
6.5/10
A pretty good story but it could have been better if the pace wasn’t so rushed. It’s still worth a read, there are great ideas here and the art complements the story and amplifies it’s effect too (pun not intended). Just wish that Ito would have taken time to reveal the plot a bit slower.

7. *Splatter Film*:
6/10
Just like ‘Songs in the Dark’ this story too is ruined by it’s fast pacing, but that’s not the only thing the dialogue is atrocious because of the weird exposition, making this the first Ito story where the dialogue is such a big problem for me.
Also, the central story is too silly to be taken seriously, it could have been a good tale about addiction and all but Ito does nothing to help the reader take the premise seriously.

Mod Edit: This review was originally posted for Masei (82195) and has subsequently been merged into Itou Junji Kenkyuu: Horror no Shinen kara (138343).


8/10

Pretty good for a one-shot story. It’s impressive how it delivers in such a short length.
’Demon Voices’ feels like story one would hear from someone at a bonfire when everyone is narrating scary stories that they’ve heard.
It’s got all the elements for a traditional sailor’s scary tale too.
It’s about an unexplained supernatural phenomenon that starts affecting the seamen and it’s written fairly well.
The real winner here is the art style and atmosphere which make this one-shot into a memorable mood ... piece.

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8.5/10
Pretty good collection, though I still hate Ito for Glyceride. I stand with his editor, no doubt.

1. *The Dark Drinks Blood*:
6/10
Fine, at best. The story starts off by introducing its protagonist as insecure and recovering from a bad relationship. It could have gone in a better direction if Ito decided to explore those feelings with horror elements but the story is quick to dismiss that premise and instead introduces a largely unimpressive concept, reducing the opening premise to a mere segue. That’s where the story starts going downhill, the ‘antagonist’ is not at all interesting and you guess the mystery very early on leaving ... you with nothing to hold on to. Though this short is never terrible, it’s just hugely boring and mediocre, maybe others might like it better than I did.
Sadly, this is one of the rare Junji Ito stories where the art failed to impress me, something which stories with far worse plot-lines still managed to do.

2. *Ghosts of Golden Time*:
8/10
This one works surprisingly well to be honest. It has a good horror concept and a great villainous duo, together with great art and nice atmosphere.
All aspects are well done and even the ending, which left me cold immediately after the story, has grown on me since.

3. *Roar of Ages*:
5/10
Another Ito story which ends up being disappointing wholly because it does not build upon it’s premise well enough. I feel that a good percentage of Ito’s average stories can be elevated to great ones if he learns to tell apart which premise will work better as a 10-15 page mood piece and which one deserves to be developed up to a minimum 25-30 page length, this one clearly falls in the later category.

4. *Secret of the Haunted Mansion*:
7.5/10
This story is where readers first meet Souichi, who is also a part of several other subsequent short stories and overall it’s not that bad. The story starts off as an atmospheric piece and is elevated by the night setting but then quickly moves it’s focus away from the atmosphere and to the creepily drawn eccentric villains, something which I’m not usually very fond of. But here Souichi and his son are done well enough to make that gimmick work.

5. *Glyceride*:
8.5/10
It is believed, where I live, that all things and people have God residing in them. Today I think that God in me died.
DO NOT LET MY RATING CONVINCE YOU TO READ THIS STORY.
Absolutely Revolting, Repulsive and Sickening, this Ito short is a proof that editors should include a readers’ warning for shit like this.
A decent story and mystery with the Ito’s utterly abhorrent, loathsome and detestable visual imagination brought to life (regrettably) by his undeniable skill when it comes to art.
The only reason I am rating this shit this high is because it delivers upon what readers expect from a horror manga, shit that’s so terrifying and disgusting that you have to look at it with your hand covering most of your eye lest you see any more of those drawings than the bare minimum required to get over with the story.

6. *The Earthbound*:
9/10
This short’s central theme is a spoiler so I won’t mention it but I must say that this is one of the Ito stories which is very strong at the end too. The atmosphere, art, mystery and all are undeniably good but the twist at the end elevates the story to another level, great for a change.

7. *Dead Man Calling*:
7/10
The second story in this collection to contrive horror from guilt and it does a fairly good job at it too. Great sense of mystery throughout the story but again the end left me cold, for a different reason tho, it fails at thematic conclusion rather than with the explanation of the supernatural phenomenon at hand, as with most Ito stories.
This one too is strongest in the beginning and middle.

6.5/10
”The Circus Is Here” is until now, the most disappointing Junji Ito story collection I’ve read but it still has one or two stories that I feel one should read. The others however, not so much.

1. *The Circus Is Here*:
7.5/10
An effectively creepy and mysterious tale centred around a classic focus of horror stories- the circus. Perhaps the best thing about this story is how Ito does not throw around ideas just as they come to his mind but lays them down and constructs a proper story. It starts off strong by building an uncanny atmosphere around the circus and progresses fairly smoothly as well. Some ... might find the ending a bit disappointing but it worked just fine for me.

2. *Gravetown*:
9/10
Definitely the best story in the collection, *Gravetown* is a tale about guilt and it’s done very well. Effectively creepy and mysterious art with a strong mystery that unfolds at just the right pace.

3. *The Adjacent Window*:
6/10
It’s easy to be let down by this story. It starts off with a premise that is far from original but the atmosphere and promising pace still give you hope that this might be a good one. But alas, it’s ruined by it’s rushed ending which makes you wonder if Ito really thought finished with a creepy image is really a good substitute for a good plot.

4. *The Bizarre Hikizuri Siblings: The Second Daughter’s Lover*:
5/10
My reasons for disliking these two stories are based entirely on personal preferences. The Hikizure Sibling stories have all the elements of Ito’s work that I have no interest in and lack all the qualities about his work that I admire.
The Hikizure Siblings stories follow a group of orphaned cousins who live together and are (almost all) entirely obnoxious, disgusting and deranged characters who have slightly different morbid fascinations and intentionally disturbing designs (almost all).
The horror aspect seems forced because it’s just Ito exploiting his visual talents to create disturbing characters without any trait that would make them interesting to you.
This story is still fine because it contrasts the crazy family with a few normal characters but it’s not enough to save it.

5. *The Bizarre Hikizuri Siblings: The Seance*:
3/10
The second Hikizuri story however cuts off these group of characters from the ‘normal’ world and since there is nothing to contrast their creepiness with, you don’t have any reason to be afraid of them either.
I still can’t understand what this story for getting at, but horror definitely isn’t it.
It can be called a morbid comedy but even then it’s still bad.

Overall- 8.5/10
A pretty decent collection from Junji Ito with consistently good art but not so consistent stories.

1. *Futon*:
5/10
Man, Ito sure does not like guys named Tomio. It won’t be wise to expect much from a story of only 7 pages, and the story does not do much to prove you wrong either. Very simple idea, unclimatic conclusion, really not much to see here story-wise, but Ito’s visual talents never disappoint. The only reason I am rating this this high is because of that 2-page spread.

2. *Wooden Spirit*:
7/10
While this short remains successful in creating a great atmosphere of mystery and also having earning the praise of ... actually holding my attention and not being downright obvious in the solution to it’s mystery, it still suffers from a weak ending that just leaves you wanting for more. Like most of Ito’s short stories, this one too is strongest in the middle.
It would disappoint a new reader but I’ve come to enjoy Junji Ito’s short story collections as small atmospheric pieces, perhaps because I’m a big fan of such supernatural mysteries, and the art at least never lets you down.

3. *Tomio: Red Turtleneck*:
8.5/10
A simple premise of body-horror that was surprisingly well executed. I had feared that this story might just end up being a mediocre one but Ito managed to craft a great climax to this simple tale with the help of his wicked imagination and ever effective skill of presenting even the simplest of ideas in horrifying visual form.

4. *Gentle Goodbye*:
9/10
A very ‘gentle’ story for Junji Ito’s imagination, no doubt. This one does not really aim at being to horrify or scare as almost all the stories from Ito I’ve read yet do. It clearly has a more emotional side which is established in the very first page and progresses as an examination of grief from a very unique perspective, also delivery a good twist or two along the way.

5. *Dissection-chan*:
9/10
I’m not really into the gore aspect of horror and Junji Ito, I prefer the atmospheric and supernatural mysteries, and neither has body-horror being a big favourite of mine, but *Dissection-chan* is an undeniably good short from Junji Ito.
This one does not really jump into the gore and the disgusting visuals as one would expect from the title, but instead delves into morbid fetishes. It creates an adequately unnerving sense of fear and thrill and also gives the reader another great Junji Ito 2-page spread.

6. *Blackbird*:
5/10
Just doesn’t do much for me. An irritatingly dumb ending to an unremarkable premise which started off with some promise but ends up gradually loosing all potential by being absolutely mediocre.

7. *Magami Nanakuse*:
4/10
What the hell?
This one is a story about character quirks or ‘tics’, I guess. I don’t get what Ito was trying to get at with this one but it seems to me that he failed in the most unimaginably absurd manner possible.

8. *Whispering Woman*:
7/10
I don’t really get why I like this one as much as I do. It’s a typical Ito short- interesting concept, great art as always, bland ending but still gives a good mystery and holds your attention for it’s length.
The phenomenon at work, or the ‘mystery’, isn’t really explained but it’s best to approach these works as mood pieces.