Fragments of horror

 - Fragments of horror. Junji Ito. 

Eight horror tales from a master of the genre, Ito. Published after an eight-year period in which his manga had shifted to other genres (comedy; social critique), and staged as a powerful, triumphant return to his scary roots. 

Perhaps for that reason the stories as a whole are somewhat experimental. From subtle, melancholy chills (“Gentle goodbye”) to sex-fueled gore-soaked comedies (“Dissection Girl”, “Magami Nanakuse”, “Wooden spirit”), to traditional folk tales with a twist —and more!!!

Because the stories aim for different kinds of horror, some readers found it uneven. Or rather, found some tales below average. But on a whole it’s a collection as strong as Ito’s general oeuvre. A celebration of the weird, the grotesque and the uncanny in every sense. 

All in all, recommended. 

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More scary stories to tell in the dark.

- More scary stories to tell in the dark. Alvin Schartz (writer) & Stephen Gammell (illustrator). 

Second volume of the legendary children’s horror book series. Like the first, it is primarily a collection of famous urban legends, folklore tales and campfire yarns. This edition even includes a bibliographical note and comments about particular variations of some of the tales. 

In a couple cases, Scchwartz even hits on a couple stories that used to have a certain racial connotation, but deigns to comment on them beyond noting “this and that interpretation existed”. Also of note is that several of these tales exist across different countries and continents, as folklore tends to do in part due to diaspora. 

Of course, these books are legendary less for the tales themselves than for Gammell’s uniquely grotesque illustrations —to such a degree that reissues of the books without them quickly sunk. The movie adaptation even took more inspiration from them than from the writing itself. 

Together then they form a fascinating compendium —the folksy, often (but not always) cozy tales help temper the illustrations an they in turn help make the yarns more memorable. 

A classic in its own peculiar way. 

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Slappy's tales of horror

- Goosebumps Graphix: Slappy’s tales of horror. R. L. Stine et al. 

Anthology of four Goosebumps tales adapted to comic book format: “A shocker on Shock Street” (art by Jamie Tolagson), “The werewolf of fever swamp” (art by Gabriel Hernandez), “Ghost Beach” (art byTed Naifeh), and “Night of the living dummy” (art by Dave Roman). All are introduced by the character Slappy the ventriloquist dummy (the last one is even a sort of epilogue). 

The first three stick pretty closely to the original books, only trimming necessary bits here and there. The fourth one modernizes it (iPhones are present for instance). The divergent art styles do provide some nice variety, and Hernandez in particular gives the swamp tale a fittingly moody atmosphere. 

A fairly good anthology of horror comics for children —and, like the original books, equal parts silly and scary. 

Generally recommended. 

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September TV shows (and more)

 I hope I can eventually get this Tv diary to where I want to. So! Stuff I finished watching, with some comments. 

TV SHOWS

LIVE ACTION

- Cruel Summer. 

Excellent thriller centered around a vanished teen queen and the consequences of it —presenting all characters involved through three summers (1993-1995). Amazing performances all around. 

- Special. (2 seasons)

A somewhat meandering yet ultimately charming web-series-turned-tv-show about a gay man with cerebral palsy. Almost painfully Millenial so to speak. Has its moments. 

- Clickbait.

An intriguing premise (a family man forced to play a deadly game seemingly caused by irresponsible use of social media) sunk by a script that ultimately chickens away from any provocative themes it pretends to deal with. Not recommended. 

- Nine Perfect Strangers. 

Drama with thriller teases about the clients of a trendy “spiritual healing” resort. Somewhat average, but buoyed by very good performances. Based on the novel by Liane Moriarty, of “Big Little Lies” fame. 

ANIMATED

- Q Force. 

Spy series with an all-queer cast. A rare case of a cartoon that is hated for all wrong reasons —accused of perpetuating stereotypes, when if anything it’s a show about challenging what we think of as stereotypes. Instead, the one real criticism one could make of this show is that it sometimes plays things a bit too safe —a raunchier style, like in the Brazilian equivalent “Super-Drags” would have been much appreciated. 

In any case, more than worth a look. 

- OTM Girls. (Shorts)

Somewhat thin webseries spin-off of Aggretsuko, centered on the pop group introduced in the third season. Charming overall. 

OTHERS

- Housamo: Tokyo Afterschool Summoners (Event: Summer seaside school with you). 

One of the longest special Events associated with Housamo. Shines less for the somewhat flimsy plot than for the delightful character interactions —which it needs to, showcasing a by now HUGE cast. 

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Beast Complex cameos in Beastars.

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GON

Beast Complex:

Beastars --notice he has the scar from his childhood fight: 

Beastars Anime:

BENNY

Beast Complex:

Beastars:

AZMO

Beast Complex:

 

Beastars:

**

Beast Complex, 1.

 

- Beast Complex, vol. 1. Paru Itagaki. 

Six tales set in a furry world (the one from “Beastars” —this anthology was written concurrently with it, as were the latter volumes). A preppy lion trying to help an outcast bat, and discovering which of them truly needed help. A tiger and a beaver trying to hold on to their friendship despite societal pressure. A kangaroo motel owner and his panther guest who harbors a dangerous secret. The gazelle and crocodile hosts of a cooking show in need of a desperate stunt to stay afloat. A camel reporter spending a life-changing night with a mysterious wolf woman. And two fox and chameleon high schoolers dealing with prejudice and revenge…

The recurrent theme, the delicate balance of personal need and societal benefits, helps set the stories in different genres —Noir, Drama, Romance, Comedy… And the cast is uniformly interesting and as diverse as needed. 

Very much recommended, particularly for those who appreciate variety and unusual readings. 

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2021 TV

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Assorted tv shows and other stuff I’ve finished this year so far (and that I did not do a longer review of for one or another reason): 

ANIMATED

- DC Superhero Girls (Season 1). Terrific action-comedy, one of the very few recent superhero shows I’ve actually enjoyed. Loosely adapted not from the previous incarnation of “DC Superhero Girls”, but rather from the animated shorts “Super Best Friends Forever”, part of the DC Nation animated shorts —all of them worth a look (well, the assorted Nation shorts are of VERY different quality, as you can expect. Still…). 

- This Duckburg Life  (Podcast). Spin-off from the 2017 Ducktales cartoon. Every bit as engaging as the show, with near-perfect comedic timing. Also, pretty much the end of that particular incarnation… for now at least. 

- My next life as a villainess: All routes lead to doom! (Season 1). One the most popular recent Anime (it just got a second volume), sort of a… if not “Deconstruction” then subversion of the “Isekai” genre. Also noteworthy for fans of Visual Novels, both romance and mystery. 

- Vivid Strike! Spin-off of the successful Anime franchise “Lyrical Nanoha”… of which I have to admit I have never seen a single episode yet. Vivid is a fantasy-action series that is notable both for the intense action scenes… and for the often alarming focus on preteen girls getting pounded in increasingly vicious ways. And I’m told this one is actually one of the mildest entries of the Nanoha franchise! So maybe not for all tastes, but if you know what you’re in for…

- Beastars (Season 2). The Netflix Anime adaptation of the excellent furry manga takes a few liberties with the source, most of the for good. Some for not-so-good, managing to make the characters a lot more unreasonable. Still buoyed by the genuinely gorgeous animation. 

- DC Showcase: Death (animated short). Remarkable tale that would fit right at home with the original Sandman comic or the Death spin-offs. Maybe a touch hurt by the insistence of placing it squarely in the DC universe (that damn Arkham Asylum shot), but otherwise more than worth a look. 

- Wonder Woman: Bloodlines (animated movie). An entertaining enough showcase of 21-st. Century Wonder Woman storylines, drawing as much from the comics as from the live-action movies —and in this case set on the “DC Animated Movies” continuity which once again creates far more problems than it solves. Between this and the Wonder Woman shorts also included on DC Nation, I get to the by now probably common question: When do we get a “Wonder Woman: The animated series” proper? 

(Note: Been reading “Historia”, a series of articles by Riteshi Babu which chronicle the entire history of Wonder Woman comics. Very much recommended, in part to get an idea of how that animated series could go. Look them up online)

- Masters of the Universe: Revelation. One of those shows that people online love to whine about yet people in real life enjoy a lot. Very entertaining, whether you take it as a sequel of the He-man cartoons or a, this word again, sorta Deconstruction or just subversion of it. 

- Trese. Terrific horror fantasy yarn adapted from a famous Filipino comic. Great world-building, animation and overall storyline. 

- Onyx Equinox. Another terrific horror fantasy yarn, in this case drawn from assorted Mesoamerican mythologies woven into an original story. 

I really do hope these two last will continue. 

LIVE-ACTION

Without planning to, all are YA thrillers, hehe: 

- The Wilds. It’s tempting to say “Lord of the flies + Lost, but with girls” —but that is really underselling this neat little show about troubled teenage girls stranded in a mysterious island. 

- Panic. Adaptation of the Lauren Oliver book (“Before I die”), about a small town with a summer tradition: A very high-risk game where the prize is millions and the worst outcome is death. 

- Al-Rawabi School for Girls. Teenage revenge yarn from Jordan, by turns darkly humorous, vicious and dramatic. Quite the surprise. 

And three movies: 

- A simple favor. Virtually every 21st Century domestic thriller (From “Gone girl” to “Desperate Housewives”) run through a blender. Far more implausible than its fans want to believe, and yet undeniably entertaining. 

- 1922. Bleak Stephen King adaptation (but current-day King, which, you know, accounts for the bleakness in question), generally more grim than horrific. 

- The woman in the window. Competent thriller that’s as skillfully made as ultimately, and sadly, forgettable. 

WHEW!