3.5
One of the good Junji Ito stories which is great because all the other stories from him I read this year were just 'okay'.

I think the biggest reason why I enjoyed this more is it wasn't just a collection of short one-chapter stories but it followed an overarching plotline. And whilst it did have a formulaic feel to it, what with the siblings moving to a new town every chapter, it did have a conclusion to their arc and we got to see recurring characters like Keiko and how coming across Yuuma and Chizumi left her.
My only wish is that we got to see rather than be told the background of the sibling's family life before and during the summoning the demonic ritual.

My favourite of the two extra short stories had to be Children of the earth, it was short but the art of the children rooted into the earth was enough to convey the horror. It was so creative but also eerie.
"Human beings were born from the earth, the children simply returned there' says it all.