Jeremiah Yuda Umam

The Liminal Zone (Junji Ito)

Book by Junji Ito

DETAILS

Publisher : VIZ Media LLC (July 26, 2022) Language : English Hardcover : 216 pages ISBN-10 : 1974726444 ISBN-13 : 978-1974726448 Item Weight : 12.5 ounces Dimensions : 5.75 x 0.8 x 8.25 inches Best Sellers Rank: #3,174 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #15 in Horror Manga (Books) #16 in Short Stories Anthologies #29 in Fantasy Manga (Books) , Three-time Eisner Award winner Junji Ito presents brand-new nightmares! What destiny awaits them after the screaming? After abruptly departing from a train in a small town, a couple encounters a “weeping woman”—a professional mourner—sobbing inconsolably at a funeral. Mako changes afterward—she can’t stop crying! In another tale, having decided to die together, a couple enters Aokigahara, the infamous suicide forest. What is the shocking otherworldly torrent that they discover there? One of horror’s greatest talents, Junji Ito beckons readers to join him in an experience of ultimate terror with four transcendently terrifying tales. Read more

REVIEW

Liminal Zone is a strong if short horror collection. This hardcover book contains four stories, three of which I liked very much. In the first, a young couple attend a funeral where a professional mourner has been hired to cry to the deceased. Following the encounter, the woman starts weeping uncontrollably. In a desperate bid to stop the flow of tears, the couple search for the mourner, only to encounter the village of the weeping women and discover the terrible purpose for their wails of anguished grief. The second story takes place at a Catholic school. Beautiful Maria catches the lecherous eye of the school's principal and thus the displeasure of his wife, a woman believed to be the reincarnation of the Madonna. To survive the strange happenings that bring harm to any who cross the principal's wife, Maria must untangle a web of jealousy, adultery, and murder. In the third story, a terminally ill man and his girlfriend travel to a forest to commit double suicide. As the sun goes down, they find an eerie cave in the middle of the woods that looks like a demonic mouth, and a torrent of spirits rushes out of the opening. The man leaps into the flow, thinking this is a good way to end his life. But in the morning, his girlfriend discovers him both alive and healthier than he's been in months. Addicted now to jumping into the nightly stream of spirits, the man's fate might be one worse than death. The last one is my least favorite. Not that it's bad or anything. I just don't find it as compelling as the three stories that came before in. In this one, a college student begins having vivid dreams of committing murder, only to discover that the murders happened in reality. He must be the killer. There is no other rational explanation, unless something sinister and supernatural is involved. Since this is a very balanced collection with most of the stories being very good, this is a great volume for both Junji Ito fans and readers new to his work.

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