House of the Marionettes; あやつりの屋敷; Ayatsuri Yashiki

by Junji Ito, 伊藤潤二

House of the Marionettes is volume ten in the Horror World of Junji Ito collection. It was originally published in Japan in 1997. Only one story, Den of the Sleep Demon, has been officially released in English.

Stories collected:

Ice Cream Bus
House of Friends (Gang House / Club House)
Tobacco Club (The Smoking Club)
In Old Records (Second-hand Records)
Den of the Sleep Demon
Gift Man (The Gift Bearer)
House of the Marionettes

Genres: Manga, Horror, Graphic Novels, Comics, Fiction, Dark, Japanese Literature

222 pages, Comic

First published July 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 3 out of 5]

Ice cream bus :- 3 stars
Gang house :- 2 stars
Smoking club :- 2 stars
Second hand records :- 3 stars
The sleeping room :- 3.5 stars
Gift bearer :- 2 stars
House of puppets :- 3 stars

Overall :- 3 stars 🌟🌟🌟

[Chrissana Roy · Rating 4 out of 5]

2. La Casa de Encuentro, nos traslada junto a tres adolescentes que realizando una prueba de valor deciden entrar en una casa abandonada, pero al final solo dos de ellas entran en sus dominios. Pronto, la tercera verá como sus otras dos amigas dejan de hablar entre ellas sin un motivo aparente, y al preguntarle a una la llevará hasta la casa para presentarle a unos universitarios con unos fuertes ideales que parecen dispuestos a llevársela a su bando

[Dimitris Papastergiou · Rating 2 out of 5]

Once again, it was ok.

It's either hit or miss with Junji Ito for me and this one didn't hit that much. As with other examples of his stories, the stories start out interesting and creepy and then the story is either underdeveloped and ends abruptly, or it just isn't that good.

The Marionettes story was the most interesting of all on this one, but unfortunately the ending wasn't that satisfying.

[Hafeez · Rating 3 out of 5]

• Chapter 1: Ice Cream Bus ⭐⭐⭐
• Chapter 2: Clubhouse ⭐⭐⭐
• Chapter 3: The Smoking Club ⭐⭐
• Chapter 4: Second-Hand Record ⭐⭐⭐
• Chapter 5: Den of the Sleep Demon ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Chapter 6: The Gift Bearer ⭐⭐
• Chapter 7: House of Puppets ⭐⭐⭐

I like Chapter 5 only. Horrifying story about when you sleep 💀

[Romane · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Junji Ito Horror Manga Collection #10

* * *

Chapters:

• Ice Cream Bus 

• Clubhouse (Gang House)

• The Smoking Club  = "It's all darkness before my eyes."

• Second-hand Record 

• The Sleeping Room (Den of the Sleep Demon)

• The Gift Bearer

• House of Marionettes

[Sharika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ice Cream Bus :

I thought this would be the first time I've correctly guessed what's gonna happen in any of Junji Ito's story. But wrong😂 This man always surprises me with me most disturbing and shocking stuffs.

Clubhouse :

The plot was really interesting at first. Then I don't know why but it stopped just when the story was intensifying. Didn't like it at all because of the abrupt ending.

The Smoking Club :

This story had kinda abrupt ending too. I think this is intentional 'open ending' type of thing. Anyways, this one was better than Clubhouse'. And way creepier. The artwork is particularity amazing.

Second Hand Record :

This might be one of the best stories Junji Ito has ever written. I've read this somewhere before, and absolutely loved it. Then found it again in this collection. This is a 10/10.

Den of the Sleep Demon :

So spooky. I'm a tiny bit disappointed that I couldn’t see the demon's face at the end. But still it was horrible.

The Gift Bearer :

This had potential and I expected something scary. But then it totally fell flat. So boring.

House of Puppets :

This one scared me lol. Maybe because I hate puppets and puppet shows. I hate almost anything related to circus - they creep me out.

★ This was very enjoyable overall. 4.5 stars ★

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

This was a decent volume though not as impressive as volume 8 and thankfully not as boring as volume 9, though none of the stories particularly stand out nor do they have the creeptastic feeling that I love in Ito's works. That being said though, it's a fun and spooky read for a dark winter evening.

Individual chapter ratings:

Ice-Cream Bus - ⭐⭐⭐✨ (3.5) Deals with body horror/gore but it's less horrifying and more disturbing

Club House - ⭐⭐⭐ (3) Classic haunted house trope and while the ending was good, the rest of it was pretty meh

The Smoking Club - ⭐⭐✨ (2.5) Weed horror? Idk what to call it but whatever you call it, it sucked

Second-hand Record - ⭐⭐⭐ (3) I do love me a good earworm horror story but it would have been better if it was longer and a more horrible ending

The Sleeping Room - ⭐⭐⭐ (3) Another one that started out well but fumbled the ending. I did enjoy the Freddy Krueger vibes though.

The Gift Bearer - ⭐⭐ (2) Whatever this was

House of Puppets - ⭐⭐⭐✨ (3.5) Enjoyable but had a goosebumps type of kiddie horror that just didn't hit the mark

[Am Y · Rating 2 out of 5]

This volume comprises 7 separate stories. My reviews and ratings of each are as follows.
Mild spoilers may lie ahead:

01. Ice Cream Bus - ★★☆☆☆
Mildly interesting until the end, when nothing is explained.

02. Clubhouse (Gang House) - ★★☆☆☆
Not a bad (if somewhat cliche) premise, but has an open ending.

03. The Smoking Club - ★☆☆☆☆
Interesting idea but the ending is a big WTH. Also - nothing happens.

04. Second-hand Record - ★★☆☆☆
Again, a beautifully crafted tale let down by a completely lacklustre finale.

05. The Sleeping Room (Den of the Sleep Demon) - ★★☆☆☆
What is it with these lousy endings?

06. The Gift Bearer - ★★☆☆☆
Interesting premise and follow-through, but at the end of the story you can't help but utter a loud, "So what?" Also, not scary in the least.

07. House of Marionettes - ★★☆☆☆
This one has a better ending, although it doesn't rank high on the creativity scale.

Overall, this title offers some nice ideas that aren't well concluded.

[DeAnna Knippling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good set of tales. The Ice Cream Bus, The Second-Hand Record, and The House of Marionettes all felt really good, although they also felt cheesy - or at least filled with tropes in a kind of expectable way, as if the creator was playing with tropes to see what they could do. They still had their own spin on things.

[Frackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Scratched that yearly Junji Ito itch.

[Suica · Rating 4 out of 5]

'The ice cream bus' story was gooood!

[Mascha · Rating 4 out of 5]

J'ai lu La maison de poupées, recueil tiré de la Junji Ito collection.

J'ai rapidement compris le concept de ce recueil : chaque historiette semblait traité d'un cliché de la littérature d'horreur, mais d'un manière permettant de les réinterpréter (de manière souvent assez dérangeantes).
Une idée de ces clichés? Le camion du vendeur de glaces, des marionnettes creepy, le disque vinyle maudit, des statuettes hantées, etc.
Je n'avais jamais vu ces clichés interprétés de ces façons auparavant, très originales, ce qui un coup de génie!

J'ai envie de lire plus de Junji Ito, celui que l'on surnomme le "Stephen King japonais".

[Razor · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.75 stars
this was an interesting collection... the pattern I see between all of these stories is that they all have unexplained abrupt endings, some of which don't make sense at all. the first few stories basically stopped midway through the story as if it was left incomplete which I find so weird. House of Puppets was my favorite story of the volume, the only one which I had previously read and enjoyed. the story is more fleshed out, as are the characters. the ending was also not as bad as the stories that came before it.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

The majority of these were just okay. The one about the smoking club was probably the worst. I had zero interest in it. As for some of the better chapters, ‘Den of the Sleep Demon’ was super interesting. I wasn’t sure where it was going with the guy trying to switch places with him at first, so the imagery of the man’s body turning inside out and the hand reaching out through his mouth was shocking to say the least.

My favorite chapter though had to be ‘House of Puppets’. The whole idea of the marionettes was creepy to begin with, but once he showed up at his brother’s house and saw that that the family was living as puppets with hired people moving their strings from hidden up in the ceilings, I knew this was going to be some good stuff. I know Junji Ito writes some weird crap, but the situation was super bizarre. It wasn’t so much scary as it was unsettling. Even though it got a bit ridiculous, it was so much fun to read that I didn’t care.

[Greg Kerestan · Rating 3 out of 5]

You could almost call this "Junji Ito for Beginners." It's got his tone, and his unique sense of pitch-black humor mixed with uncanny horror, but it's... sort of PG. There's none of the truly grotesque and disturbing content characterizing his iconic works, to the extent that you almost wonder if Ito is aiming for a family audience here.

Nonetheless, toning down hasn't entirely neutered the Junji Ito magic: "House of the Marionettes" is one of the most memorable and bizarre Ito stories, and finds a way to take his body-horror into an unusual new zone. And "Second-Hand Record" is both completely mild, and genuinely haunting, just like the song on the titular record.

[Raul Duarte · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Junji Ito Horror Comic Collection #10" es un manga del tipo de antología donde se recopilan distintas historias de terror y horror. En general tienen buena calidad. Lo recomiendo ampliamente.

• Chapter 1: Ice Cream Bus ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Chapter 2: Clubhouse ⭐⭐⭐
• Chapter 3: The Smoking Club ⭐⭐
• Chapter 4: Second-Hand Record ⭐⭐⭐
• Chapter 5: Den of the Sleep Demon ⭐⭐⭐⭐ -Destacado.
• Chapter 6: The Gift Bearer ⭐⭐⭐
• Chapter 7: House of Puppets ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Lo recomiendo si:
-Te gustan las antologías.
-Quieres leer algo corto de terror.
-Eres fan de Junji Ito.
-Buscas algo para asustarte.
-Te gusta el manga.
-Crees que es cool fumar y regalar muñecos de madera.

[Michelle G. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ice Cream Bus: ⭐⭐½. So weird.
Clubhouse: ⭐⭐. Too random, but the end was decent.
The Smoking Club: ⭐⭐. What the actual fuck.
Den of the Sleeping Demon: ⭐⭐⭐⭐. Loved it. I do love a horrific yet romantic endings.
The Gift Bearer: ⭐½. Meh...
House of Puppets: ⭐⭐⭐⭐. So creepy!

Overall, I give this ⭐⭐⭐½. Junji Ito is always a strange but good time.

[Nisa Greennnpanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3 stars

The Itou Junji Kyoufu Collection 10 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.

[Phoebe Berna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Freaky

[Nour Kadry · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good volume.
Favorite stories:
- House of marionettes
- Clubhouse

[Ghostcat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another set of short stories by master Junji Ito, with really good ones here.

[Diego Boucher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best one was the puppet story

[Reuben Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

tw for the T-slur (transphobic) in english translation

[on storygraph (macclown) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last volume, House of Puppets, was definitely my favourite. I'd love to see an extended version of something similar!

[Shea Chen · Rating 3 out of 5]

伊藤潤二的畫技沒的說，傀儡家族最為好看，其他的倒是一般，但漫畫劇情腦洞確實很大。

[Jessica.M · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume is very R.L.Stine-ish (maybe a little bit darker).

[Lauren]

Read this for my gothic LITT class. I really enjoyed this. Very creepy! I want to check out more volumes/stories from this guy.

[PedroFN · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 2.87

Individual Ratings:

Ice Cream Bus ⭐⭐⭐
Clubhouse ⭐½
The Smoking Club ⭐½
Second-hand Record ⭐⭐
Den of the Sleep Demon ⭐⭐⭐½
The Gift Bearer ⭐
House of the Marionettes ⭐⭐⭐½

[Erika HerO✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mis favoritos de The Junji Ito Horror Comic Collection, Vol. 10

. Capitulo 1: Ice Cream Bus ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Capitulo 2: Clubhouse ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Capitulo 3: The Smoking Club ⭐
• Capitulo 4: Second-Hand Record ⭐⭐
• Capitulo 5: Den of the Sleep Demon ⭐⭐⭐
• Capitulo 6: The Gift Bearer ⭐⭐⭐
• Capitulo 7: House of Puppets ⭐⭐⭐

[Bouilloire · Rating 2 out of 5]

L'histoire courte ne réussit pas forcément à Junji Ito. En dehors de la toute dernière histoire, le reste n'est ni inquiétant, ni réellement intéressant.