Fragments of Horror: Volume 1 (Junji Ito)

An excellent collection of short horror manga from a modern master of the fitm

I love the horror genre. From films to books to television, I'm an avid consumer. When I say horror though, I am talking about what I call real horror. Not the type that emphasizes jump scares or sadistic cruelty to elicit a reaction but the type that builds feelings of unease and a sense of strangeness. Horror should work subtly until it builds to a satisfying and unnerving conclusion. Then, it should stay with you long after the experience is over. I never really considered comics to be a viable medium for this type of genre. I never believed it was capable of expressing an uncanny atmosphere or building adequate tension. Junji Ito proved me completely and happily wrong. Apart from the fact that his skills as an artist are beautiful to look at he is also a master story teller. He is not afraid to take his time, each panel building the eerieness of the tale with one shocking event after another, depicted in gorgeous detail. But, when he reaches the end of the tale and the horror is revealed, he doesn't hide a thing, everything is shown in it's immaculately grotesque glory. If I have any complaint, I just wish it was longer. Other than that, brilliant. Junji Ito made a believer out of me.

Giving this a 5/5 might seem like an odd score considering, this book is considerably smaller than that of "shiver", "smashed" or "frankenstein" and 1 or 2 of the storys were a bit underwhelming and came off as more comedic than horrific (Junji Ito does humour fairly well though). Bad parts aside. The presentation of this book is great. I love hardbacks and this one has a sleeve with 2 covers in one. That'll become apparent when you move the book around lighting... Actually, make that 3 covers because theres artwork under the sleeve too! It's a nice read through and although I have my personal opinion on some of the storys ("futon" springs to mind), the artwork more than makes up for that! (Who knows, maybe someone out there will find "futon" somewhat relatable... I hope not). This book also contains one of my favourite storys by Junji Ito "red turtle neck". The imagery in that one actually made me tense up. I'd say, if you've never read a Junji Ito manga then maybe start with his "Smashed" book or "Shiver" as they have some of the more memorable short storys and they're about twice the size, give or take 10-20 pages. But this isn't a bad one to start with. I think this book accurately sums up Junji Ito's style, what (to me) can be hit or miss sometimes, but for the most part; it's all good fun! And it comes with the previously mentioned cover sleeve; that none of the other Junji Ito manga's I own have, making this one slightly more unique than the rest.

This brief collection of diverse horror stories will certainly leave you longing for more. The stories are original and enticing.

An absolutely amazing anthology of stories from the horror manga artist Junji Ito. Absolutely love this book. Really recommend this for anyone getting into Junji Ito.

Super impressed! If you get the hardcover it's beautiful! What you can't see on the images is that it has this lovely clear gloss on the cover that forms creepy images. Well worth the purchase! I brought it as a gift and every day it was a talking point. If you are a fan of Ito's work, this is a good addition to your collection.

Great collection of shorts

I love all of Ito's story's and have been slowly collecting all of his book! I love this book! It has some of my favourite story's such as 'the whispering women'. Its the right amount of scary for me, with wonderful art.

Junji Ito is amazing. His stories are actually creepy and weird, and interesting. I mean, they will creep you out! He himself cites H. P. Lovecraft as one of inspirations and it shows, but not at all in a pandering or derivative way (as some fans of Lovecraft can sometimes be). His stories in this collection are vignettes of terror, and while reading them I was reminded of watching episodes of Tales From The Darkside when I was a child, with the main difference being that these tales are never really corny or cheesy. Some are actually a little gory and adult or sophisticated in tone. There are certainly some 'episodes' that are scarier than others. 'Magami Nanakuse' is of a seemingly less serious tone, or is maybe simply less frightening than 'Futon' for example. 'Gentle Goodbye' is melancholy and alienating, and 'Dissection-Chan' and 'Blackbird' are outright disturbing. But I'm sure you'll have your own favorites. I think the thing that makes Ito's works so appealing is that the artwork - the expressions - as well as the human dialogue and reactions are very realistic and believable. Through his talent, he allows the reader/viewer to actually ACCEPT situations that are insane and horrifying, which is something that is very much lacking nowadays in modern American cinema and literature. The reader is pulled in from the very beginning, from the opening line the tone and believability is set, and this is carried through at a steady and proper pace until the story reaches it's crescendo. It's never heavy-handed or excessive, though - in true horror story fashion - many of the endings are startling twists or peaks of terror. I was describing some of the stories to friends of mine (who had told me that they weren't planning on reading these - I never give away spoilers otherwise), and they all always react with a disturbed grimace or an expression of disgust. So you know this is good. :) Junji Ito is a good artist and a wonderful storyteller, and this collection won't disappoint. If you're looking for a collection of modern horror stories that are actually unique and different and completely unpredictable, this is the book to get.

Junji Ito, top notch horror mangaka. And again, thanks to Trans Infopreneur Inc for the deluxe and great packaging, and for delivering authentic Manga ✨️

This is a very attractive book with very interesting art work and overall really good condition! The stories in here have some of my favorite! Some of the tales are very "weird", and not in a bad way! It is a good mixture of strange, unusual, creepy and interesting all in one! I always have to give his work a 5 star for how great it all is!

So good! All the 8 short stories were so interesting. The art is great and very unnerving. Highly recommend for horror fans.

Buen diseño, pasta dura y llego sin imperfecciones