La Ville Sans Rue

by Junji Ito, 伊藤潤二

The Town Without Streets is the eleventh volume in the Horror World of Junji Ito series. It was originally published in Japan in 1997. Only one story, The Village of Sirens, has been released in English.

Stories collected:

The Town Without Streets
Near Miss!
Road Map
The Village of Sirens
Occult Transfer Student

Genres: Manga, Horror, Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Paranormal, Dark

240 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1998

About the author

Junji Itō (Japanese: 伊藤潤二, Ito Junji) is a Japanese cartoonist and illustrator, best known for his horror manga.
Ito was born in Gifu Prefecture, Japan in 1963. He was inspired to make art from a young age by his older sister's drawing and Kazuo Umezu's horror comics. Until the early 1990s he worked as a dental technician, while making comics as a side job. By the time he turned into a full time mangaka, Ito was already an acclaimed horror artists.
His comics are celebrated for their finely depicted body horrors, while also retaining some elements of psychological horror and erotism.
Although he mostly produces short stories, Ito is best known for his longer comic series: Tomie (1987-2000), about a beautiful high school girl who inspires her admirers to commit atrocities; Uzumaki (1998-1999), set in a town cursed with spiral patterns; Gyo (2001-2002), featuring a horde of metal-legged undead fishes. Tomie and Uzumaki in particular have been adapted multiple times in live-action and animation.

Reviews

[daph pink ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

🌇 Town without streets :- 4.5 stars
✈️ Near Miss! :- 3 stars
🗺️Maptown :- 3.5 stars.
🚨 The village of sirens :- 3 stars
💀 The supernatural transfer student :- 4 stars

Overall :- 4 stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟

[P.E. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Keep Out
A genuinely unnerving story about peepholes, distorted urban layout, twisted psyche, increasingly and artfully outlandish behaviours witnessed by the female main character around her. One feels like sleepwalking in the unaccountable tribunal from The Trial, or wandering through the walkways of Rapture, cluttered with debris and packed with vicious, beastly masked denizens...




Some of the works this one reminded me:

The Turn of the Screw
La sombra del viento
The Shadow over Innsmouth
The Trial
Time Out of Joint
The Father-Thing
Crime and Punishment
We
Martians, Go Home
Les employés
Capitale Songe

[Errol · Rating 5 out of 5]

At first I didn't think much of this story. For one, it was way too short. I would have liked it to be much longer. But then for a few days after that, this story literally haunted me.

I recently moved into a new house so CPS (Child Protective Services) would let my mom adopt my niece and nephew. Apparently, the other house we lived in was not a safe environment for small children. In this house, each door has working locks. Both my brother and mom make use of those locks. I would suddenly get very angry finding that I could not enter their room when I wanted to. I got frustrated with the locks but told myself that I should respect their privacy. I thought of this story and a part of me wished that everyone wasn't so bent on being so private all the time.

But then a worker from CPS came by to examine the new house. I was sitting in my room just taking care of some school work when all of a sudden she came in scrutinizing each corner of my room like some kind of detective. I started to feel very uncomfortable and a little annoyed. Then the worker proceeded to go into my bathroom and run the water. She opened my closet and made some comments about it being spacey and whatnot. Lastly, she took out a little silver camera and began taking pictures of my room. I know this is her job and all, but I felt violated in a way. I honestly didn't feel that it was necessary, just ridiculous.

Yeah, I know it's not as bad as having holes drilled in every wall of your room so multi-eyed monsters can stare at you or having your house integrated with other houses that eventually replace roads, but I always think of this story whenever I question privacy. How much of it do (we think) we really have?

[Chrissana Roy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Colección 11. Relatos incluidos:
1. La ciudad sin calles.
2. Cerca de la señorita.
3. Pueblo de mapas.
4. Pueblo de sirenas.
5. El supernatural estudiante transferido.

[DeAnna Knippling · Rating 4 out of 5]

A theme ran through this collection: creepy small towns. Not the same small town, but all of them creepy. Very nice. Again, there were some more usual tropes that crept in here, but they were pretty twisted by the end of each tale.

[Hany entre letras · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es impresionante como Junji Ito sale con todas estas historias tan bizarras, que comienzan de una manera y luego toman otro camino.

En «La ciudad sin calles» exploramos una situación atroz: perder nuestra privacidad. Y se me hace asombroso como une un miedo tan coherente con un horror extraño.

[Romane · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Junji Ito Horror Manga Collection #11

The chapter The Town Without Streets is the epitome of nightmare fuel. Reading it feels like being in a bad dream — the scenario getting more disturbing as it delves deeper into your subconscious.

Overall, this manga collection emanates a powerful ominous energy.

* * *

Chapters:

• The Town Without Streets

• Near Miss!

• Map Town

• The Village of Sirens

• The Supernatural Transfer Student

[Eva · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel like all of these could very easily be adapted into Twilight Zone episodes. The stories collected here are more about scary and bizarre occurrences and places than about supernatural horror.

[Ami 乁⁠ ⁠˘⁠ ⁠o⁠ ⁠˘⁠ ⁠ㄏ (written by Jane Austen) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another decent collection. I don't know if it's because I've been reading too much horror lately or because Ito's stories have actually degraded since volume 8 but this one, too, wasn't that fun for me. I suppose it means I need a break from Junji Ito lol but surprisingly, his works are still quite enjoyable in spite of not being as great as the few early volumes.

Individual ratings:

Town without streets: ⭐⭐⭐✨ (3.5) It was interesting in its implications but the horror element was more vaguely disturbing than actually anything truly scary. Maybe it's because I'm used to living with minimal privacy lol.

Near Miss! : ⭐⭐⭐ (3) A short and sweet one that didn't quite hit the mark

Maptown: ⭐⭐⭐ (3) The ending was pretty good but the rest of the story was on the same level as Souichi or Oshikiri stories

The Village of Sirens: ⭐⭐⭐✨ (3.5) A chapter straight out of late Supernatural seasons. I bet they'd have escaped it and closed that portal if Sam and Dean were there.

The Supernatural Exchange Students: ⭐⭐⭐ (3) This was another Souichi like story but Tsukano actually had more character than just being a creepy little shit.

[Razor · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75
this one was surprisingly really good!!! Town Without Streets felt like a whole fever dream and I really enjoyed it. the story was so original and complex. The Supernatural Transfer Student had one of my new favorite characters from Junji Ito which is Tsukano. he's so powerful but chill and friendly at the same time, we would definitely get along 😵 the premise reminded me a little of Tomie how he goes to different towns and meets different people, traumatizing and terrifying them. not a big fan of Tomie though so I guess it's better than that 🤷‍♂️

[Dimitris Papastergiou · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was ok.

[Roshnara Mohamed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Junji Ito takes something that we don't often think about - privacy - and makes a horror story about it. From sneaky potential-boyfriends, to creepy family, to a semi-deranged aunt with some interesting views, the protagonist in this story goes through stages of loss of privacy, and is mostly helpless to do anything, just like all we can do is continue reading.
In the day of facebook, snapchat, instagram and whatnot, this book, with its people driven insane because of lack of privacy, either because they're too busy watching, or too busy performing, this book is a good read, relevant and makes you think.
The artwork is great, and I really wish the story was at least a bit longer for better shock and awe.

[Donn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is what horror is all about. Unimaginable things that come out of nowhere and no explanation to the source and how it ends but leaving the audience mystified to what actual events took place.

[Suica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Creepy stories about strange villages! Yay!

[Katelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really just love all of junji ito’s work

[Sharika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Town Without Streets :

This was a pretty long story. I had a chill run down my spine at the end of this. Seriously effed-up.

Near Miss! :

I don't know why, I was scared out of my mind reading this one. This was a very short story, just a few pages. But I was having continuous goosebumps because I was scared shitless. I don't even know why. Damnnnn!

Maptown :

Both of the characters here are extremely annoying. Because of them I couldn’t enjoy the story much. Level of creepiness 10/10 though.

The Village of Sirens :

It was kind of meaningless. The story's all over the place, everything felt distand somehow. Didn’t like it.

The Supernatural Transfer Student :

The last story of the book. Ended with a blast. It was amazing. Perfect mix of horror and a bit of mystery with a sprinkle of gross, disturbing creature.

[Josie Lopez · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the weirdest things I read. At first I was a little confused how the first part of the story related to the second part but after some thinking I figure that the boys obsession with her and the Aristotle thing is the beginning stages of the madness that happen to her aunts town. Soon no one will be able to have some privacy. In the end I really thought the girl was going to go insane like the rest of them and not be able to escape but since the madness seems to be spreading there is really no where for her to go not even at home is safe. Final note I really like how the author didn't just lay out everything for us he made us figure some things out on our own. Great horror read with an underlying message.

[Greg Kerestan · Rating 5 out of 5]

While not Ito's most extreme or scariest volume, "Town Without Streets" is easily my number one Junji Ito anthology, purely on the merits of the titular graphic novella. Never has Ito been so close to David Lynch as here- the slow, quiet perversion of suburban normality, with that Lynchian progression from one dreamlike and unsettling situation to the next.

Also highly satisfying is "The Supernatural Transfer Student," which puts a strange, very Ito spin on the "school supernatural mysteries" genre, complete with a friendly new kid... but of course there's a grotesque body alteration by the end.

[Ahmed El-Sharawy · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Town with no streets* i loved it, junji ito made me realize that their is something called privacy horror :D 4 stars maybe i will up the score later when if i find more hidden meanings in it

*Near miss* i didn't really feel anything from it so 1 star

*map town* kinda creepy 2 stars

*the village of sirens* i liked it but it would have been better if it wasn't explained as much, it was scary at first but the disposition made it less so 3 stars

*the transfer student* wtf ? ok.... 2.5 stars

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two stars for the majority of the stories, but four stars for that first main story. There was no reason for me to be so disturbed, but there was something deeply unsettling and off-putting about it. I’m mostly talking about the half of the chapter before the girl left her home to find her aunt. Her family’s behavior and the constant drilling of the peepholes were creepy as hell.

[Darth Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

See, here's the thing, Junji Ito's stuff starts off really compelling, but then it kinda just tapers out and end. I think maybe this may be due to him revisiting stories later, but still, such a let down sometimes. That said, those kinds of ending can really make you think and what I think is that they're more of social commentaries than most people realize. This one, I think, it a social commentary on the claustrophobic nature of Tokyo. People on people on people. So many people.

[Sebastián · Rating 5 out of 5]

best place for horror of maps, architecture, urban space, rural migration to the cities, and communal resignation to arbitrary social norms about bodily movement and presentation (your house is repurposed as a public path for masked strangers: "you get used to it"). ten out of ten would get lost again.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably the weakest of the Ito story collections I've read. If you had told me that while reading the first story, the titular Town Without Streets, I would have been shocked - it's a wild, weird, and creepy long work up there with his best.

[Nisa Greennnpanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3 stars

The Itou Junji Kyoufu Collection 11 is a collection of horror short stories with various characters.

For those who are interested to start reading Ito's horror mangas, this is a good start.

[beep ☀︎ · Rating 3 out of 5]

OWL READATHON

Potion Class (Read a book under 150 pages):
The Town Without Streets - tbh i dont have a book under 150 pages but manga's are small and quick reads that i feel like count towards the challenge.

[Hafeez · Rating 3 out of 5]

• Chapter 1: Town Without Streets ⭐⭐⭐
• Chapter 2: Near Miss! ⭐⭐⭐
• Chapter 3: Maptown ⭐⭐⭐
• Chapter 4: The Village of Sirens ⭐⭐⭐
• Chapter 5: The Supernatural Transfer Student ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Mediocre. I think the theme for this volume is more of the horror of a place.

[Alitzel Altamirano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me dejó con muchas dudas. Quería saber qué sucedía con las grietas, era algo que me intrigó mucho. También me llegó a incomodar. Creo que es un manga que pudo haber sido una serie de varios tomos. Fue muy poco para tanta información.

[Am Y · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some disturbing tales. No answers as usual to any of the questions raised. But the high marks are for imagination and creativity, and the fact that justice is aptly served in some cases.

[Skeptic Hecate · Rating 5 out of 5]

So unexpected and filled with twists, it was hard to get to the next panel in anticipation of what may come up. The art style is not as polished but is a really good read.

[Mina Emad]

this book is awesome