In Progress Let's Read: Museum of Terror 3

[LoPan]

EDIT: If image problems remain in this thread then do know that you may find a good collection of Junji Ito's work in this bit of mediafire goodness.

Possibly NSFW; for good or ill, there is no nudity within these stories, but at times these stories may contain gore and an assortment of illicit acts such as desertion and forced entry of a church.



Inspired by the recent contributions of spekkio and Cowboy Moment I thought I'd chip in and further the supply of Japanese horror/weird shit.

Museum of Terror is a collection of horror stories by Junji Ito. The first two volumes, my research tells me, were actually collections of Tomie stories. Tomie, Junji Ito's most famous work (made into a long series of rather cruddy Japanese films), was in itself a collection of interrelated stories; however, in Museum of Terror volume 3 we get a lovely new story in each chapter--the variety is right grand it is.

This is something I had lying about on my hard drive and could not find hosted anywhere else. Though the god-king of horror, Junji Ito's work is not well spread about and a forum search found his name foreign to the history of the codex. A rummy state of affairs, so do go on in reading Junji Ito's Museum of Terror!

First up, Bio House. In which Junji Ito proves that he did indeed bury the lead.

Spoiler

 

[laclongquan]

jap horror? too weird for my taste.

 

[Phelot]

jap horror? too weird for my taste.

Yeah, that's kind of my feeling too. I normally don't like horror anyways and the translations make them unintentionally funny. It was still a nice read so do go on.

 

[LoPan]

Second, The Face Burglar. In which Junji Ito exposes the merits of unanimous effort.

Spoiler

 

[SerratedBiz]

I found this very enjoyable, thank you very much.

 

[laclongquan]

Doctor Black Jack eh? Quite startling

On the other hand, it ends in a damn strange place.

 

[LoPan]

Third, Den of the Sleep Demon. In which Mr. Ito explores the limits of coffee.

Spoiler

 

[LoPan]

Fourth, The Devil's Logic. In which we can only speculate Ito was intending to warn us of the power of infrasound.

Spoiler

 

[LoPan]

Fifth, The Long Hair in the Attic. In which Junji Ito draws a brassiere.

Spoiler

 

[LoPan]

Sixth, Love as Scripted. In which Ito writes a love story the only way he knows how.

Spoiler

 

[LoPan]

Seventh, Sword of the Reanimator. In which Junji Ito deals pragmatically with souls, swords, sorcery and slapstick.

Spoiler

 

[SerratedBiz]

The artwork on that hair in the attic one was pretty nice. Someone could probably manage a horror movie out of its theme.

 

[LoPan]

Eight, Heart of a Father. In which Ito glorifies the Ferris Wheel.

Spoiler

 

[Alex]

Hey some of those are pretty good, I guess. Thanks for posting this, LoPan!

 

[LoPan]

Ninth, Unbearable Maze. In which Ito Junji leaves behind a horrible reality.

Spoiler

 

[LoPan]

Hey some of those are pretty good, I guess. Thanks for posting this, LoPan!

It is rather a mixed bag. The Japanese versions of Museum of Terror (of which I believe there are four volumes) are merely published collections of Junji Ito's run in the horror magazine 'Halloween', the English dark horse versions (of which there are only three and the first two have Tomie stories in them, as mentioned) are however a bit more confused. Some, like Bio House, are very early Ito stories, whilst something like the Unbearable Maze is much later and the difference in his drawing style is tremendous. If I'm a fan of anyone it is Junji Ito, so I enjoy all of these stories more than I ought to.

Point is, if unfamiliar with Ito one could perhaps be put off by some of these stories if only for how they are drawn, and at times for how they are translated. Though 'Unbearable Maze', and the upcoming Museum of Terror 3 finale, is classic, solid Ito.

 

[LoPan]

Tenth, The Village of Sirens. In which Mr. Ito makes his prediction.

Spoiler

 

[LoPan]

Eleventh, The Bully. In which Junji Ito presents a reality where Freud is correct.

Spoiler

 

[SerratedBiz]

That's one scary face near the end there.

 

[LoPan]

The Twelfth and final story, A Deserter in the House. In which Ito Junji deals with the vast scope of human cruelty and an absurd form of revenge.

Spoiler

To follow it up, the last two pages of Museum of Terror 3 is a bit of salivating from horror director Norio Tsuruta who far from accidentally also directed the movie version of 'Kakashi' (another Ito story).

Spoiler

 

[LoPan]

Bonus story, for good measure. This is a miscellaneous story and not part of Museum of Terror 3; in fact, I am not sure what collection it was published in but I have it even so and I bring it to you because it freaks me the hell out, and I am not sure why. Enjoy!

Spoiler

 

[SerratedBiz]

LoPan, my brudda, I'd like to thank you for uploading this collection. Inmensenly fun and creepy as fuck at times; that last one gave me goosebumps more than once.

Incidentally, could you give me a little rundown on what the movie adaptations of Ito's works are like? My shallow venture into jap horror was through a cable showcasing of foreign films. I know I watched Ringu and perhaps three of the Ju-on movies, plus a few others I don't have the names of, but I'd really like to take a more organized approach to watching something new.

 

[Sacculina]

Many thanks for this, bro. There are several Ito stories here I hadn't read before. Moar, please.

 

[LoPan]

Due to image bloat, this post can be found in quote on page 2.

 

[SerratedBiz]

The post has become too bloated with pictures, it seems. I can't seem to load them so I'll quote your last post in the next page.