Visceral horror: Junji Ito’s manga mastery

I ran as fast as possible from a life-size Barbie chasing me with a saw while wearing an army suit. I reached a dead end with nowhere to hide and turned to see Barbie approaching. I woke up sweating and looked at my side to see a horror book beside me. It happened again; reading a horror story before sleep.

While growing up, I always had a fascination with paranormal stories and looked forward to a good horror story. However, my interests did not involve zombies or psychopaths who missed their therapy appointments; but more so supernatural beings and, of course, humans being their worst selves. That's when I discovered Junji Ito. 

A masterful manga writer who pulls in his readers with gore and horrific visions on a page. His aesthetic appeal lies in body horror and visceral details. The theme of 'lost humanity' appears to be central to his stories— stories that you could revisit for Halloween like I did.

Ito stated in an interview, "For me, it is the human who has the potential to make the most fear. Either physically, whether by his actions, or his psychic, there are plenty of parts of the human that can be scary. And my goal is to use humans to try to scare readers as much as possible." 

His stories start from idle musings like 'He'd hate it if this happened' or 'It would be so scary if someone like this existed,' and from half-imagined images that provoke unease. He approaches terror from the viewpoint of the senses, not from an academic perspective as he doesn't have any expertise in the fields of psychology or pathology.

The manga artist has an intriguing approach to storytelling. Hooked from page one, you can feel an eerie atmosphere, indicating an unlikely happy ending. Here are four of his mangas that kept me on the edge of my seat as I lost myself in a beautiful nightmare.
 

Uzumaki

One of the first Junji Ito manga I read was 'Uzumaki'. The story follows Kurozu-cho, a small fogbound town on the coast of Japan, that is cursed by a pattern called uzumaki— the spiral, hypnotic secret shape of the world.
The protagonist Kirie encounters the spiral phenomenon through her friend's father, Mr Saito, who becomes fixated on the spiral pattern of a snail shell. Initially harmless, Saito's fascination escalates, leading to erratic behaviour and a violent demise. 
As the theme of spirals intensifies, his wife develops an overwhelming fear of them, highlighting the pervasive nature of spirals in everyday life. This showcases Ito's ability to capture the disturbing potential of this seemingly innocuous shape.
Not following conventional story-telling, Uzumaki is a getaway to the disturbing universe of  Ito. A true horror fan will finish the book feeling horrified and disgusted, then seek out more of the author's work.

Soichi

After 'Uzumaki,' the next best thing would be to dive into the life of a notorious 11-year-old, 'Soichi'. Soichi uses voodoo on his classmates, relatives, and family members. He creates voodoo illusions, shows possession, and even animates the dead body of his grandfather. As he continues to do these things, his family is rather irritated than scared of him. 
One unique aspect of his appearance is that he constantly sucks on his nails because he claims to have a low iron deficiency. However, he uses these nails to nail the voodoo dolls onto forest trees. Soichi never kills anyone, but he does cause physical and psychological harm.
This seems to be a crucial element in Ito's horror universe, as his stories suggest that there are things far worse than death.
 

Fragments of Horror

The characters of Ito often get pulled into their inevitable doom with love, lust, desire and curiosity. In the short story collection 'Fragments of Horror' the tale of the 'Wooden Spirit' begins with a young girl and her single father encountering a mysterious woman who takes a keen interest in their house. The father eventually falls in love with the woman, but they later discover her true intentions for the marriage.
The spirits in his stories serve a purpose and do not just wander around to spook people; instead, they become a haunting part of their lives forever. The idea of our bodies turning against us and transforming into things we hate is very interesting and gruesome to follow. Intrusive and dark thoughts often cross our minds, but to see them come to life and watch characters suffer because of it is a treat for horror enthusiasts. 
 

Tombs

'Tombs' is another of his short story collections, named after the first story. Notably, this series includes tales beyond human intervention. The characters in these stories witness horrors for which there is no solution; they have no option but to live with it. Two standout stories in this collection are  'Slug Girl' and 'Clubhouse'. 
In 'Slug Girl', a curious schoolgirl finds her absent classmate at her house and discovers she is no longer the playful and talkative person she once knew. The story of 'Clubhouse,' delves deeper beneath the surface, revealing that an abandoned clubhouse is actually a haunted house inhabited by the ghosts of once-young rebels.

I found the 'Tomb' stories emotionally disturbing and 'Fragments of Horrors' more of an erotic horror. 'Uzumaki' and 'Soichi' have great plots and tenacious characters. Junji Ito has a great collection of manga to choose from. As the spooky season is upon us, don't forget to grab one and get ready to be affright.