howlinglibraries's Reviews (1.85k)

 Tombs is a collection of horror stories ranging from mildly unnerving to downright bizarre, and is easily one of my favorite of Junji Ito’s books thus far. In most of his collections, there’s at least one story that didn’t quite click with me, but I genuinely loved every single installment here and could barely even choose a favorite (though I did eventually narrow it down to ’The Bloody Story of Shirosuna’, the final story. Whether you’re brand new to Junji Ito books or a seasoned fan, you absolutely can’t miss this one.

→ Tombs ★★★★★
I loved this story and thought it was such a fantastic tone-setter for the collection. In typical Junji Ito fashion, we have a mixture of body horror and Weird Shit in a Small Town™️ with no real explanation for why any of it’s happening.

→ Clubhouse ★★★★☆
This was a really short, fun little paranormal story that I think would make an awesome short in a horror film anthology. I loved the ending!

→ Slug Girl ★★★★★
This was absolutely DISGUSTING and, as someone who hates slugs as much as Yuko does, I’m probably going to have nightmares.

→ The Window Next Door ★★★★★
How creepy! There’s something so unsettling about the idea of a mysterious neighbor trying to crawl in through your window, and that last page made me a little queasy.

→ Washed Ashore ★★★★★
Despite loving the ocean and sea creatures, I actually have a solid case of thalassophobia, so the idea of this bizarre deep-sea creature unlike anything ever seen before washing up on a beach intrigued me from the start. While it’s a very quick story, this is one of my favorites!

→ The Strange Tale of the Tunnel ★★★★★
This reminded me of a few other of Junji Ito’s stories, though I can’t say why without spoiling the twist. That said, I’m always amazed by how he can take the most mundane things and turn them into something terrible that I’ll never look at the same way (like spirals!).

→ Bronze Statue ★★★★☆
This was my least favorite in the collection, but as you can see by the rating, I still enjoyed it a lot! It had a bit of an “urban legend” feel to it that was a lot of fun.

→ Floaters ★★★★★
This one was so bizarre and fun! What an awful idea, to think of little things floating around mimicking your darkest thoughts—and what a tragic ending!

→ The Bloody Story of Shirosuna ★★★★★
The final story in this collection was, in my opinion, the best one of them all — in fact, it’s one of my favorite Junji Ito stories out of all of his books! It’s such an incredibly unnerving piece that, in his usual way, leaves us with no real explanation for why these awful things have happened, and that ambiguity is part of what makes it work so well.

Thank you to the publisher for the review copy! All thoughts are honest and my own. 

 

This was absolutely brilliant. So powerful. The layers of metaphor woven into this story were beautifully done and I felt completely transported during this short little piece. This was my first time reading Alma Katsu's work, but it absolutely won't be the last; in fact, it made me immediately want to read more of her books.

What a horrifying reminder of how easily, and how painfully frequently humans become monsters. 

 This was my first of Dimaro's books, but probably won't be my last! While I wasn't fully in love with the writing, I really enjoyed the concept of this novella and was eager to see where each twist would go next. I love horror based around technology being used against us, and this was a great example of that. While I do love a horror protagonist worth rooting for, it's also a lot of fun to watch an awful main character finally get what's coming to them, which is what this story feels like as we quickly realize that Simon isn't just a desperate man in need of a paycheck, but pretty awful all the way around. If you're looking for a fun, quick read with a lot of action and you enjoy tech-based horror like I do, I definitely recommend checking this one out!
 

 Tell me you're out of touch with modern book lovers without telling me—

Seriously, though, the bit about unhauling books was probably the worst "book decluttering"-specific section I've read in an organization book thus far. "If you wouldn't pay list price, you don't really want it": just because someone can't afford $30 per adult hardcover doesn't mean they don't want to read it. "Of books you've read, you should only keep a few favorites": you severely underestimate how many favorites I have. "People with overcrowded bookshelves are hoarders and pretentious jackasses": no, I just like books! "No bibliophile wants to admit you can put down books you don't like": you mean like me putting down this one? 💀

No, seriously though. I had a lot of issues with this book before this chapter and after this chapter, too. It's repetitive, most of the advice is pretty basic and doesn't offer anything new, and worst of all, the writing skips out on the ability to offer helpful insight because it's too focused on being as sassy as possible. I love a funny, vulgar book as much as anyone else (probably more, tbh), but when you're using it to cover up a lack of depth, it doesn't work. 

 

This book was absolutely fantastic. The writing is so funny and engaging, the author seems genuinely delightful—blunt in a "tough love" way, but never inconsiderate or unaware of her own biases—and it had some of the most useful tips I've ever read in an organizational book. These are steps that actually work and make sense, as proven by her years of experience, but they're also steps that could be utilized by anyone regardless of life situation, mess level, or budget.

Most of all, I loved Bonnie's approach to how our mental health and outlooks on life can affect our homes and our clutter levels. There's an entire chapter about "retail therapy" in which she breaks down the idea that many of us seek out shopping for comfort because we're unhappy with our everyday lives, and how focusing on the wonderful things we already have can help us stop seeking fulfillment elsewhere. As someone who has spent the past 2 years focusing heavily on re-working my perspectives on life and focusing on gratitude, it has made de-cluttering and restraining from "retail therapy" immeasurably easier, so I have to say I fully agreed with Bonnie's points there (and everywhere else, to be fair).

If I can recommend one all-purposes book on de-cluttering and organizing your home, this would be it. She breaks things down into step-by-step processes, works through our excuses (and why they usually suck), and each piece of advice comes with a client's story to drive things home. It's a fun, quick read that has a lot to offer and I'm so glad I picked it up!

✨ Content warnings for: mentions of hoarding, divorce, single parenthood, financial struggles, food insecurity, loss of loved ones 

 This was... fine, I guess? I really don't know how to rate or review this. I feel bad giving it less than 3 stars because I think it was very much a "me" issue (comedy memoirs and essays are VERY hit-and-miss for me), but I was just honestly bored throughout a lot of this and found myself skim-reading more often than not.

I didn't laugh or even crack a legitimate smile at any of the comedy bits, and I think the most impactful part of the entire thing was the segment about how isolated the author felt as a rare queer person who isn't/wasn't into Drag Race (which I fully relate to, as someone who has, on multiple occasions, sat quietly in the corner playing on my phone while all of the other people in my friendship group chatted animatedly about the latest episode). Oh, and I did enjoy some of the bits about growing up queer in a strict religious home, because that's an eternal mood.

But... yeah. This was just fine. I'll probably never really think about it again, but a lot of people will definitely love it more than I did and if you're into comedy essays about queer culture, you should still give it a try!

Thank you to the publisher for the review copy! All thoughts are honest and my own.

✨ Representation: Zach Zimmerman is gay, multiple people mentioned are queer 

Oh my gosh, this was SO CUTE! I love bats and cats (they're 2 of my 3 favorite animals!), so a critter that's 50% bat, 50% cat was guaranteed to be right up my alley, but I wasn't expecting to LOVE this storyline so much. 💖

Batcat is an introverted, grouchy little thing who just wants to spend all of their time gaming and snacking, but that gets interrupted when a friendly ghost shows up and starts intruding on their "me time". Batcat decides to enlist the help of the local witch to make a spell to get rid of the ghost, but it sends them on a journey of finding not only 3 mystical items, but also finding out a lot about who they are as the one and only Batcat!

I loved the moral here—that nobody is limited to being just one thing and we should always be ourselves—and of course I was all warm and fuzzy over the sweet friendship that began to bloom in the end of the story. I'm so glad this is intended to be a series because I need more, and I've even pre-ordered a finished copy for my kid because I know he'll love this, too!

Thank you to the publisher for the review copy! All thoughts are honest and my own.

✨ Representation: Batcat uses they/them pronouns (the author is nonbinary so I'm assuming this is intended as a very casual way of pointing out that being "more than one thing" is okay when it comes to genders, too!)

✨ Content warnings for: cutesy depictions of ghosts, skeletons, spooky caves, and graveyards