A young girl kidnaps a security guard to have an audience for her scary story retellings. Won’t you listen to what she has to say?
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Official Synopsis (SevenSeas)
A collection of the most haunting tales from all across Japan featuring fantastically dark imagery that is sure to keep you on the edge of your seat.
An extraordinary horror anthology begins, blending true tales of the uncanny with masterful manga storytelling.
Winner of the Third Annual Scariest Horror Story Competition, Yamayu, has spent over twenty years collecting real-life hauntings from across Japan. Now, these spine-tingling accounts are brought to life by Kensei Hokamoto, whose chilling artwork cuts straight to the heart of human fear and madness.
Enter a world of lingering spirits, cursed objects, and terrifying truths in this deeply unsettling collection.
My thoughts on this volume (Spoilers!)
I strongly believe that horror is the best genre when it comes to anthology series. Typically, so long as the atmosphere is sufficiently spooky and the characters feel realistic, I’ll find something to enjoy.
This volume tells five different scary stories, all tied together by the young narrator. Her appearance was the reason I initially picked up this volume—she just looked so crazy and invested in the scary stories she was telling, I couldn’t help but want to be a part of her audience!
The female ghost
The first scary story we’re told is that of a haunted apartment building. A magazine editor is looking for materials for his next article when his friend tells him about a certain man with a strange living situation. The editor, knowing he’ll be able to write a good story about him, wastes no time paying the man a visit. When he gets there however, the horror is too real for him to handle. While the apartment is haunted, it’s not exactly by a ghost.
I found this to be a strong opening for the manga! While I didn’t feel all that attached to the characters, the twist at the end was both shocking and satisfying. It did leave me with some questions about what will happen to the man in a few years, but nevertheless, a strong opener.
The terrifying real estate
The second story focuses on a man who is forced to live in the absolute cheapest housing available in his area. So cheap, that there is black ooze dripping from the above apartment directly onto his bed. It’s terrifying enough even before anything supernatural happens, but just wait until you realize where the ooze is coming from.
Honestly, I didn’t enjoy this story nearly as much as the first. I found the protagonist to be easy to sympathise with, and found the art to compliment the more horrific bits. However, I didn’t find the supernatural happenings to be all that shocking, nor did I find the “twist” to be as hard hitting as the first story.
The doll heirloom
This was my favourite story in this volume! We follow a couple who is about to get married and start a new life together. There is just one thing standing in their way—the man’s antique doll. He sleeps with it in his arms, bathes it, dresses it, and generally treats it miles better than his own fiancee. She eventually has enough of her husband’s obsession with the doll and gives him an ultimatum: her or the doll. At first, she thinks she wins and will soon live a happy life with her husband, but the doll has other things in mind.
This short story puts a spin on the haunted doll trope! I loved the “an eye for an eye” angle it went with, and was pleasantly surprised with just how far they took it. I was also so happy that we got to see a bit of an origin story for the doll!
The man who was saved by a ghost
The next story follows a man who goes on a short vacation with his wife. The two visit a pier known for its view of the sunset when he gets a call from his coworker. This call completely shatters what had just been a lovely date, opening his eyes to a reality he had been ignoring. It turns out, this pier is not known for its beautiful views, but as a popular suicide spot. Why would his wife invite him there!?
While I thoroughly enjoyed the setup of this story, I think it would have been stronger without the twist at the end. It would have been a beautiful but spooky story about a man being saved by that ghost! With the twist, I was only left with questions. Like, if they were full of malice, why was he able to escape so easily? Are the ghosts able to escape the pier? I just don’t know…
Laugh
The final story follow a man being haunted by a smiling ghost. Every day, the ghost gets closer and closer to him, until…!
This was the story that left me wanting an even worse fate for the protagonist. Out of all the stories told in this volume, he was the only protagonist who I felt truly deserved what he went through. Everyone else was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I found all the twists and turns to be quite interesting, and enjoyed how it all came together perfectly in the end. I also liked how we got to see a bit more of the magazine editor back from story one—I love when anthologies allow characters from various stories to interact with each other!
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