Review: Smashed

-
Smashed Smashed by Junji Ito
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Content Warning: Graphic violence, blood, gore, body horror; viewer discretion advised

Comprised of an anthology of 13 stories, Smashed by the master himself, is a mixed coterie, which doesn't as often delve into the body horror and the macabre which has at this point become synonymous with Junji sensei.

It's a bit all over the place, with each story delivering the minimum Ito quality of creepy horror, which leaves you disturbed.
__________________________

List of Stories
1. Bloodsucking Darkness
2. Ghosts of Prime time
3. Roar
4. Earthbound
5. Death Row Doorbell
6. The mystery of the haunted house
7. The mystery of the haunted house: Soichi’s Version
8. Soichi’s Beloved Pet
9. In Mirror Valley
10. I don’t want to be a ghost
11. Library Vision
12. Splendid Shadow Song
13. Smashed

__________________

Out of the collection, I liked the stories 'Earthbound', 'In Mirror Valley' as well as the titular 'Smashed', as they had the best bits of lore and macabre worldbuilding, which made Ito's stories such a fascinating draw.

In particular, the themes in 'Earthbound', or crime and guilty conscience, and how it manifests into this supernatural syndrome is fascinating to read.

The more you read his bibliography, the more you admire his storytelling abilities, especially with focus to building all this disturbing yet intriguing lore which can get your skin crawling.

Speaking of which, while there are a few truly disturbing panels in this anthology, they are not as prevalent as his other works such as Uzumaki or Lovesickness. But everything considered, it's still a solid read for the horror afficionados. Would definitely recommend, for a more adult audience.

View all my reviews

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Asterix and Obelix All at Sea

-
Image
Asterix and Obelix All at Sea by Albert Uderzo My rating: 3 of 5 stars I've noticed a dip in quality, be it regarding the biting humor, satire or puns in the past few Asterix stories, glaring as it was in Asterix and the Secret Weapon . As before, the story lacks a clear direction, mixing and matching elements such as a slave revolt aboard Caesar's ship with the discovery of the mythical Atlantis. These elements just don't seem to mesh well. Taken separately, 'Asterix & the slave revolt' & 'Asterix in Atlantis' could have been great standalone stories in its own right. Especially when you consider how topically the mythical island is described in the story. It lacked the satirical core, which made the initial Asterix stories entertaining. Anyway, onwards to the plot. There is a slave revolt aboard Caesar's flagship; The Greek Spartakis, has freed a band of multiethnic slaves and are currently fleeing from the
Read more

Review: ഓട്ടോറിക്ഷക്കാരൻ്റെ ഭാര്യ | Autorikshawkkarante Bharya

-
Image
ഓട്ടോറിക്ഷക്കാരൻ്റെ ഭാര്യ | Autorikshawkkarante Bharya by M. Mukundan My rating: 3 of 5 stars In a series of short stories, M. Mukundan, the eminent writer of Mayyazhi, paints for us the day to day, slice of life fictionalized tales of the people in everyday lives. The tales he composed range from OK, to good, to head scratching, to thought inducing, a full cornucopia. But sad to say, there isn’t much meat to these stories, a collected anthology from the stories he’d penned in various news publications. Mukundan himself seems the most soulful and engaging, when delving into the semi fictional tales that he crafts about his beloved Mayyazhi; with its colorful history and ever more colorful coterie of characters. Out of all the collections of stories which are printed here, the one which connected with me the most, is the one titled ‘Malayali Daivangal’ (Malayali Gods). The tale is about a French tourist couple that come to visit Mayyazhi and Kerala
Read more