This collection is hard to review. The stories are disjointed and only join together in their collection of strange artwork and horror themes. Demons, ghosts, criminals, and disconcerting plots are found throughout this story. Each story has its good points, and others weaken in comparison to others. Each story alone is a four or five stars rated story but together, I almost rated it three and a half stars. Stories such as Earthbound don't correlate and pale in comparison to stories such as Secret of the Haunted Mansion which then pales in comparison to others. It's the only issue I find with collections such as this - within Mimi no Kaiden, it was a snapshot of the same girl's life so it was less comparable.
I enjoyed this, I truly enjoyed this. However, I didn't enjoy it as much as I would have liked. A collection like this would have done better with stories at least connected, for instance, paranormal stories in one collection. The horror level for each story would be the same, rather than one being scarier for the content than others. Mentioned before, Earthbound itself felt more like science fiction or crime rather than horror of some form despite the existence of the paranormal.
With qualms out of the way, however, this is a strong collection, despite the disjointed feeling. Ito proves himself in this collection to have a talent of mastering horror from the paranormal to the confusing, hairraising and stomach churning. The artwork is stunning throughout, and I even flinched back from the manga a few times upon turning the page. His artwork in this collection once more proves his skills at not only writing a horrifying image but his ability to draw something that makes readers flinch or nervously bite their lips. A talent that not all artists and authors of the same piece can manage, it's something to truly be cherished, and this collection only allows his skills to shine.
