I've read a lot of Junji Ito's work at this point, and it's generally a bit hit or miss for me, but thankfully, this was a huge hit. I absolutely loved this collection and can easily say it's one of my favorites of his works. It spans a grouping of short stories, some written by other authors, and altogether, while they certainly don't fit a theme or anything, they work well together and were almost all extremely well-done. There was one story I wasn't a big fan of near the end, and then I think it's worth mentioning that the collection involves 'The Enigma of Amigara Fault', which may disappoint some long-time lovers of his work as it's featured in at least one of his other collections (thankfully, it happens to be one of my all-time faves, so I was delighted to read it again).

Altogether, a really solid collection I think any Junji Ito fan will be pleased with. It may even be a good introduction to his work for anyone who's hesitant to pick up his stranger titles (like 'Uzumaki'), as this one felt rather tame comparatively. I enjoyed it a lot and would definitely be interested in purchasing a finished copy when it releases to keep on my shelf!

✨ Content warnings for:

Spoiler

murder, torture, violence, body horror, corpse desecration, necrophilia, animal deaths, stalking, scenes of terror

Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this review copy in exchange for an honest review!