Fragments of Horror by Junji Ito

Fragments of Horror by Junji Ito
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hardcover, 224 pages
Published June 16th 2015 by VIZ Media

In the author's note, he states that the first story in this collection was his first return to horror after an 8-year hiatus and he feels it is a weak entry for him. I'm presuming the stories are published in order of publication as they gradually become better with the best stories being the ones toward the end. Even if all the stories aren't fantastic Ito is an awesome horror illustrator and he certainly knows how to give you the creeps with his detailed freaky illustrations. There were only a couple I thought were sub par storywise. The rest were truly eerie tales that left me feeling slightly disturbed afterward. My favourite story though wasn't really horror but more of a ghost story called "Gentle Goodbye" which is probably the longest story in the book and is placed in the middle of the book. It was very atmospheric and quite touching. A good book to dip into a bit at a time to fully appreciate the stories and disturbing illustrations.