Tombs: Junji Ito Story Collection (2023)

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The onslaught of freshly-translated works from Junji Ito continues! It’ll never end! The legendary Japanese horror manga maestro’s popularity has exploded in recent years thanks to (what feels like) an endless influx of new and older titles making their way to Western audiences thanks to his absurdly stacked back catalogue and other appearances. Maybe you caught the Netflix anthology Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre? Or enjoyed last year’s digitally created The Liminal Zone? Perhaps you spotted him hamming it up with Guillermo del Toro in Death Stranding?

Regardless of how you got here, Tombs: Junji Ito Story Collection includes nine short tales from an earlier period in Ito’s career (between 1994 – 1997), some of which have been animated in that above-mentioned Netflix anthology. It’s a choice sampler of nearly everything that’s made him one of the most popular horror manga creators in history, and I’m tempted to call this one of the ‘safer’ ways for newcomers to start reading him.

But that’s like jumping into a lake of freezing water; it doesn’t really matter how you do it, because it’s going to be shocking. Best get it over with quickly and enjoy yourself.

“Tombs”: This collection’s namesake follows a pair of siblings take a trip to visit a friend in the middle of nowhere. Things get tense after they accidentally hit a young woman with their car, and decide to conceal the crime rather than admit to it. Things then get supernatural when they discover the village is completely overrun with tombstones. Tombstones everywhere! It turns out wherever a body dies, a tombstone will sprout from the corpse; any attempt to move or touch the body means its soul will never find peace. When the siblings realize the body hidden in their trunk is destined to become an unmistakable marker of their guilt they attempt to rid themselves of it – with dire consequences. Are there any other kind?

“Clubhouse”: A group of friends get more than they bargained for when exploring a haunted house, which can’t end happily for them (of course). A minor tale that’s mercifully short.

“Slug Girl”: Easily one of the most notorious short stories in all of Ito-dom follows a young girl who literally transforms into a slug. Actually, it’s closer to a snail (which is a fun nod to Uzumaki / Spirals from around the same period). Apart from the “ick” factor promised by the title there’s not much here to ogle, besides the imagery of a slimy slug housed within a girl’s decapitated head.

“The Window Next Door”: When a family moves into a new town – and a decrepit old house – their teenage son has an ‘interesting’ window encounter with the mysterious woman next door. A minor tale with some characteristically gross and gruesome Ito artwork, particularly on the neighbor’s face.

“Washed Ashore”: A giant, hideous beast washes up on shore becomes a psychological metaphor for a young man’s fear of real-life deep-sea creepy crawlies – that is, until Ito injects an unhealthy dose of extreme body horror to the fun.

“The Strange Tale of the Tunnel”: Among the collection’s longer tales, Ito combines a ghost story with what can only be called an unusual take on ‘zombies’ – have you ever been terrified an abandoned tunnel would absorb you into its bowels? You just might be after this one.

“Bronze Statue”: Jealousy and insanity once pair nicely in this tale of a crazed older woman and her plot to thwart all who oppose her – by entombing them in deadly bronze statues! While not the most original, this one is easily among the collection’s best.

“Floaters” One of the more interesting concepts in many of Ito’s better stories is how often the ‘horror’ comes out of the shadows and goes mainstream for all the world to see, which is precisely what happens in this tale of truth-telling hairballs that bring out the worst in all of us.

“The Bloody Story of Shirosuna”: A young doctor heads to an isolated village to solve the mystery why everyone living there is anemic, though quickly uncovers a plot far more sinister than he could have imagined. Among the more ambitious entries, this is a blood-drenched saga that’s somehow even creepier when rendered entirely in black ‘n white.

Eagle-eyed anime fans (is there any other kind?) will note this version of Tombs omits two stories that were included in the original Japanese edition, “Honored Ancestors” and “The Long Dream”, though not due to censorship. Those looking for completion will find both stories in the 2017’s Shiver: Junji Ito Selected Stories.

It’s this erratic approach to cataloging that’s still my biggest gripe with this, and most, of these Junji Ito collections, regardless of publisher. While it’s a treat to have so much content that was once (unofficially) unavailable in English so readily available, the lack of care in keeping them chronologically accurate is a bummer. You’ll have to undertake an internet scavenger hunt trying to track down when each story was originally published in Japan. Coupled with the tendency to break up original collections into unrelated editions and you have a failure of bibliography.

Tombs: Junji Ito Story Collection may not be top-notch Junji Ito, but there’s more than enough variety and his unique blend of grotesquely beautiful artwork and original storytelling pathos to guarantee a spot on fans’ shelves. I hinted earlier this might even be an ideal starting point for those who’ve yet to be initiated into the Junji Ito club, but that could be a fool’s game at this point. Regardless where you start though, horror fans are in for a reading experience that’s shocking and, for the open-minded, incredibly creative and original.