Smashed: Junji Ito Story Collection Hardcover – April 16, 2019

Like the Frankenstein collection before it VIZ media publishes another great Junji Ito story collection. This collection is definitely one of the more meatier entries you get over 412 pages and over 13 short stories. Now if you compare it to Frankenstein collection as much as I enjoyed that one the last 3-4 stories were 1-3 pages. In this collection all stories are over 20-30 pages or more. There are no 1-3 page stories in this collection. He uses all 412 pages for longer stories.So what do you get if you buy this collection? The stories (no spoilers) you get are:Blood sucking darknessGhosts of prime timeRoarEarthboundDeath Row DoorbellThe Mystery of the haunted houseThe Mystery of the haunted house Soichi's versionSoichi's beloved petIn mirror valleyI don't want to be a ghostLibrary VisionSplendid shadow songSmashedI know some fans are a little upset about how some of the titles of the stories are translated but I don't mind them too much.Each story is pretty great and unique. None of them share the same concept/creature/protagonists(except the haunted house). Some stories will make you feel disgusted, others will make you feel confused, others will just gross you out. It really is a great collection that shows off how he can take wildly different concept and make them scary or unsettling. I could babble on more about it but I would start spoiling the stories and I don't want to do that. All I am going to say is I just really enjoyed this collection a hell of a lot more than I thought I was. The stories here are just great self contained experiences.Finally I have to say VIZ media keeps knocking it out of the park. I rarely mention it but the quality of the books are pretty amazing. The paper is great, the hardcover always has great art, and they all look great on my bookshelf together. I eagerly await the next story collection.

Smashed: Junji Ito Story Collection is a collection of 13 horror stories created by the master of horror manga. This book is a lot like his other books in the sense that they all contain unique and creative stories, creepy and disturbing art, and enjoyable characters. Junji Ito never seems to fail his readers, this book was great. I really enjoyed it, so much so I finished it in one or two days. It was truly difficult to put it down once you pick it up. The stories are creative and truly unique, you don't see plots like these just anywhere you look. His style of art is disturbing and beautiful at the same time. The art compliments the stories perfectly. After so many stories you'd assume the personalities, mannerisms, and backgrounds to the characters would get redundant, but you'd be wrong. Every character's personality, mannerisms, and so forth are very unique to each one. I honestly couldn't be any happier with this manga. The copy itself was good, the print and translation seemed really good to me. The packaging was also good. Overall I didn't have any issue with the manga or packaging. I'd highly recommend this book to anyone considering getting it. I really couldn't praise this book or any other of Junji Ito's books any more. This book was wonderful, not as good as other titles like Uzumaki but still wonderful nonetheless.

Very good quality hardcover book! Can’t really go wrong with Junji Ito. Book is decently thick and doesn’t have any major scuffs. Printing quality is good aswell. 10/10 would recommend this book!

If you like your horror weird, unsettling, and brilliant—welcome home. Junji Ito delivers again with bizarre tales and creepy art that sticks in your head (and your dreams). You’ll read one, then all. Then sleep with the light on.

So Junji Ito ... my wife is addicted to his writing and manga ... so when he was at SDCC ... I knew I was in trouble.So we went to his speaking engagement and the man is really brilliant (honestly I had no idea who he was prior to this) ... I felt bad for him because his hands are very badly gnarled because of years of drawing. But no one can take away the horror he inspires with everything he writes and draws.He creates horrors that give nightmares horrors ... the things he writes and draws is amazing and terrifying and beautiful at the same time. The stories are all enthralling and tell tales that will give you nightmares but you will soon realize that even your nightmares pale in comparison to the nightmares he is writing. It's truly awe inspiring to be honest.One day we will lose this horror genre master but for now, I recommend everyone buy his books and be both inspired and terrified.

As for the quality of the book itself its great, corners came slightly dented from shipping, but nothing substantial that caused fraying etc, I dont mind personally. If you want it to be in 100% pristine condition I would head to a bookstore and inspect them in person. I work in a UPS warehouse and I promise you your packages are getting manhandled, flung around and sometimes stepped on, even if they're labeled as fragile. We do our best to be respectful, but unloading and sorting about 1000 packages an hour, we are more so just trying to do our job. Beside that tangent; this was another enjoyable read. Currently reading through his entire bibliography, and I have no complaints about this one. Some stories I enjoy more than others, but as a Junji fan they were all good.