Ito Junji Compilation 6: The Back Alley

伊藤潤二傑作集 [Ito Junji Kessaku-shū] #6

by Junji Ito, Martina Rosmawati (Translator)

Ishida baru saja pindah ke sebuah rumah indekos. Namun anehnya, ada noda berbentuk manusia di dinding gang tertutup yang dikelilingi oleh pagar tinggi di samping rumah itu. Saat menyelidikinya, dia pun tenggelam ke dalam rahasia gelap yang tidak boleh diketahui oleh siapa pun!

Masterpiece Compilation ini memuat total sebanyak 11 cerita, termasuk The Back Alley, Fashion Model, The Town Without Streets, Mold, Ice Cream Bus, dan cerita menarik lainnya!

Genres: Manga, Horror, Graphic Novels, Comics, Short Stories, Fiction, Adult

376 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2011

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

[Sadie Hartmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok not the total banger that Shiver, Smashed and Tombs are but definitely very good. Like if this was your introduction to Junji Ito, this would do the trick! You’d get hooked!
Great artwork, totally disgusting with lots of full page creepy gross outs. I loved the first handful of stories the most. Definitely need this one for the growing collection! Read my updates for story-by-story notes.

[Rachel (TheShadesofOrange) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.0 Stars
These stories were fine but suffered in my enjoyment because they all felt too similar to his previous art. I love his artwork style but at this point, I think I have read too much of their work and realized how similar it all has become. I think I am burnt out from reading so many of these stories over the last several years and I am now finding it hard to see if it's me or the stories.

[Jan Agaton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love how unique these stories were! My faves were Descent, The Ward, and Memory. Docked a star because a couple were just a tad too long for no reason

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

A creepy collection of pretty standard Junji Ito short stories stuffed with ghosts, body horror, serial killers, and a whole lot of eerie imagery. This isn't his top-tier work as the stories aren't particularly long or have deep resonance and often end with a sort of well-that-happened shrug, but they are sure to satisfy that old horror itch for a few minutes at a stretch at least.



FOR REFERENCE

Contents: Alley -- Descent -- The Ward -- The Inn -- Blessing -- Smokers' Club -- Mold -- Town of No Roads -- Memory -- Ice Cream Bus

[Stay Fetters · Rating 4 out of 5]

"This is a lake of blood. It wells up from hell."

Ito is back with a collection of short stories that'll make you leave all the lights on in your house.

This collection is no different. They creeped me out in the best of ways and they were all seriously f**ked up. I expected nothing else from the master of horror manga.

[Alec Costa · Rating 3 out of 5]

com contos d março de 92 até maio de 93, achei essa coletânea mt cheia de altos e baixo. gosto de mUITO d uns 2 ou 3 contos (inclusive, o 'Permissão' virou meu conto favorito do Junji Ito), mas o resto p mim é meio pombo; gosto da premissa e da primeira metade deles, mas acho que o final deixa mt a desejar

acho que é um bom ponto de partida, pra vc que quer conhecer a escrita e o traço dele, mas meio que só. se quiser, vale a pena pelo Permissão!

[Anna Quilter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Feels like a back to form for this collection of short story horror compared to other collections I've read.
The foreboding artwork always gets me and most of the stories have their gory pay offs or just overwhelms with their weirdness.

[Jillian B · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like a bit of a broken record with my Junji Ito reviews. As with all of his collections, this one contains gorgeous artwork and delightfully twisted tales. If you’re a longtime Ito fan, you will definitely enjoy this one, and if you’ve never checked out his work, this might be a good introduction.

[Rissa (rissasreading) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 - Junji Ito always has some weird stories, and I love it.

My favorites were:
Alley
The Inn
Blessing
Mold

[Ashley Daviau · Rating 5 out of 5]

As usual, Junji Ito NEVER disappoints! And I’m kind of starting to feel like a broken record reviewing his collections because I say that every time but it’s so damn true. I know if I pick up something by Ito that I’m going to love it! I actually think Alley might be my favourite so far, the stories in this one really got to me and thoroughly creeped me out. And of course the imagery was beautifully creepy as usual!

[Jenny Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting collection. Pretty much every story had a rather ambiguous ending, though some parts were obvious others were left a mystery.
Town Of No Roads was the best one here.

Check out my YouTube channel for bookish videos and monthly wrap ups!

[Kayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's probably the best Junji Ito collection I have read in a long time. Some really fantastic artwork with some creepy storylines that rival Uzumaki. If you're going to pick just one new Ito collection to read, make it this one.


Thank you to netgalley for the chance to read, and review this arc!

[Krysta ꕤ · Rating 4 out of 5]

short story individual ratings:

Alley - 4 stars
Descent - 3 stars
The ward - 2.5 stars
The inn - 3.5 stars
Blessing - 4 stars
Smokers club - 1 star
Mold - 3.5 stars
Town of no roads - 4 stars
Memory - 4 stars
Ice cream bus - 3.5 stars

[Kate Victoria RescueandReading · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this collection, especially the Ice Cream Bus! I found this book had way more weird and bizarre stories vs straight up horror. Definitely still thinking about a few of the extra strange ones, even after I’ve finished reading!

[Jordyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of Junji Ito's work and I enjoyed this short story collection a lot. If you like the cosmic horror genre, I highly recommend giving Ito's work a try even if you don't normally read manga

[Victor The Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection by Ito is definitely the most frightening and with the most mindbending art I’ve seen from him in ages.

- “Alley” (title story) - The boarding house where a college student has just moved into has an eerie alley that seems to be hiding a dark secret.
- “Descent” - An unsettling and supernatural event occurs involving missing people and a man’s unstable wife.
- “The Ward” - Two women in the hospital recovering from their car crash injuries slowly begin to have a strange feeling from their four ward mates.
- “The Inn” - A girl’s father becomes disturbingly persistent of turning their house into a hotel and builds a fatal hot springs.
- “Blessing” - A young man’s life takes a dark turn after constantly failing to let his girlfriend’s father’s blessing to marry her.
- “Smokers’ Club” - A group of smoking teens are curious about tobacco leaves growing near a crematorium.
- “Mold” - A young man gets an itchy feeling when he returns to his home that he also rented to lodgers.
- “Town of No Roads” - The longest story found, a young girl finds her life turning very bizarre even when she leaves home.
- “Memory” - There turns out to be a dark secret connected to the beauty of a couple’s daughter.
- “Ice Cream Truck” - A charming ice cream truck slowly turns its young customers into an awfully “sticky” mess.

The ones that’ll get your attention are “Alley”, “Descent”, “The Ward”, “Mold”, “Town” and “Ice Cream Truck”.

A (100%/Outstanding)

[Toni · Rating 4 out of 5]

I sound like a broken record but... Another soild collection of horror shorts from the king of horror himself, Junji Ito!

I enjoyed all, but my faves of the bunch are Descent, Blessing, Memory and Ice Cream Bus!

[Isa · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3,75

[nari · Rating 4 out of 5]

actual rating: 4.6

[destiny ♡ howling libraries · Rating 4 out of 5]

Junji Ito books are always such a delightfully weird time. I hadn't picked up one of his collections in a little while and it was so nice to finally read this one!

I read a final copy borrowed from the library, but for the sake of disclosure, I was also gifted an early review copy. All thoughts are honest and my own.

[amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

hann finnur alltaf nýjar leiðir til að láta fólk bráðna. alveg galið. uppáhaldið mitt örugglega samt sagan um bæinn sem er lokaður af. mjög ógeðslegt.

[Lain · Rating 3 out of 5]

My favorites were town of no roads and the ward.

[Peacegal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ito's collections of over-the-top, short tales of horror are always fun and creepy. They remind me so much of more bizarre, graphic-novel versions of the hundreds of "scary story" collections I read as a kid.

[unplugget · Rating 5 out of 5]

Questo è il terzo anno che inizio la sfida di lettura con un libro regalatomi dal mio ragazzo: è diventata una piacevolissima tradizione.
In “Oblio” si trovano una serie di racconti bizzarri ed inquietanti. Quello che mi appaga di Junji Ito è che non si limita mai ad un solo genere horror, ma racconta storie che vanno dal romantico, allo splatter, al tema del divino e anche a trame misteriose sempre lasciando il lettore immerso in un’atmosfera nebbiosa e da brivido.
Inoltre, lo stile artistico mi piace tantissimo! L’autore è anche un disegnatore virtuoso: a mio avviso la sua specialità sta nel ritrarre le emozioni negli occhi dei suoi personaggi, soprattutto tristezza e sconcerto.
I miei racconti preferiti di questa collezione sono stati: “In fondo al vicolo”; “Il permesso”; “Muffa” e “Oblio”.
Devo dire che sono assolutamente entusiasta di aver iniziato l’anno di lettura con questo manga che si porta a casa cinque stelle su cinque.

[Nick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Liked the baby in Mold and especially liked the middle section of The Town With No Roads, but everything else was a bit forgettable and unfinished. I admire Ito’s huge body of work— from reading all these story collections I get the impression he thinks of something and goes for it, for better or for worse.

[✮ osanna aoki ✮ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another Junji Ito manga down.

This collection was definitely pretty standard— good but not great. I’d say, it’s a solid mixed bag of grotesque tales.

Of course, sounding like a broken record when it comes to this mangaka, I’m obsessed with the artwork. Nobody does it quite like Junji Ito in that department. The panels are always uncanny and highly detailed. You could easily follow a story without any words by just observing the intricacies.

While Alley isn’t a collection that’s as good as his other recent releases, it still has some standout stories. I found four out of the ten tales to be my favorites— not too bad. I really enjoyed Descent, Blessing, Town of No Roads, and Memory. In my opinion, these were the stories with the strongest structures and the best artwork. I felt as though they were completed stories, as Junji Ito seems to struggle in the department of creating complete narratives when writing collected shorts.

There’s a reason Ito has the influence that he does. He’s a creative mind with a ton of talent. You truly can’t help but to pick up his newest work when it hits the shelves. I’m always down for whatever he offers up, and I’m continuously impressed by his ability.

I’ve attached a brief description of each story below as always.

Alley: A young man boards at a house next to a mysterious blocked-off alley. The alley holds sinister secrets and he may be living amongst a monster.

Descent: ”A change is coming to this town.” A mysterious surge of suicides leaves a young husband to grieve the attempted suicide of his wife. From there, things get weird as a group of young attempters begin to act strangely as if in a dark trance.

The Ward: After a car accident, a young woman is sent to stay in a hospital ward where things get eerie. The patients sharing her room are a bit… strange.

The Inn: A man’s obsession with digging up a hot spring inside of his converted family home— leads to digging up something a little darker.

Blessing:: A man waits for years for a father’s blessing, but the dark twist on why may be surprising.

Smoker’s Club: A group of friends are smoking on more than just Japanese cigarettes…

Mold: After renting out his pristine home to an old science teacher, a young man comes back to it empty and filled with a mysterious, rigorous mold. As he searches for answers on the mold destroying his home— he learns that mold can destroy more than a house.

Town of No Roads: A weird dream connects to a strange town with no roads. The blur between dreams and reality collide.

Memory: A girl so obsessed with being perceived as ugly does the unthinkable. She digs into her past to try and uncover the troubling deed.

Ice Cream Bus: If you keep eating ice cream cones you might just turn into one.

I may be a bit biased, but this was a ★ ★ ★ ★ star read for me.

[Kelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another delightfully unsettling collection of short stories from manga’s master of the macabre—Junji Ito.

Now, I’ll be the first to admit Junji Ito’s collections can be very “hit or miss”. Which, I think is to be expected when you do have such an extensive volume of stories. There are bound to be some bummers.

That said, I liked this collection overall.

Aside from like one or two stories, I would say each story in this tome is distinctively unsettling or disturbing in an objectively horrible way. We had some good “last page reveals” here.

For me personally, I found the titular “Alley”, “Town of No Roads” and “Memory” to be the standout stories in this collection.

“Alley” has the most unsettling, memorable last page reveal and is, arguably, the most aligned with standard horror genre conventions. Thematically and stylistically, I think it has the most appeal for horror readers.

Meanwhile, “Town with No Roads” and “Memory” are stories that are most horrifying in what they imply and/or in what commentary they provide on everyday life. One very directly addresses privacy issues while the other touches upon body image issues—two relevant topics for contemporary readers.

I think Junji Ito’s commentary is particularly sharp in “Town with No Roads”. The story touches upon how both insular communities and growing societies can both perpetuate problematic stances on privacy. Creating a world where inhabitants are literally walking through people’s homes and wearing masks yet drilling peepholes still through walls and, further, some people are even evolving to have more eyeballs for peeping—it’s a statement. What are we truly allowing and how far will we let it go?

Anyway.

If you’re a Junji Ito fan, you’d definitely enjoy this collection. It has some strong stories. If you’re a horror fan or someone who enjoys horror anthologies, I also think you’d enjoy this collection. Of Junji Ito’s collections, I’m not sure if I’d recommend picking up this one first? But, I don’t think it’d disappoint you either if it were your introduction to this horror master’s world~

[Sassy Sarah Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars for the overall collection

Alley is Junji Ito's most recent short story collection published in 2024. I was excited about this one and immediately purchased a copy because I had just watched Junji Ito Maniac: Tales of the Macabre. Several of the episodes covered in the series are in Alley. Alley, Mold, and Ice Cream Bus were some of my favorite episodes, especially Ice Cream Bus, which is phenomenal. This is a pretty solid Junji Ito collection across the board and the artwork is striking, haunting, and will leave residual traces on your mind, never to be forgotten.

Ratings of the Stories:
5 stars: "Descent," "Ice Cream Bus"
4.5 stars: "Blessing"
4 stars: "Alley," "The Inn," "Memory
3.5 stars: "Mold"
3 stars: "The Ward," "Town of No Roads"
2.5 stars: "Smoker's Club"

The best story is "Ice Cream Bus," which follows a boy who is living with his recently divorced father and and ice cream bus that comes to the apartment complex and takes children for rides every Saturday. Best plot. Terrifying and chilling (literally, chilling because it's ice cream). You should read this collection for that story alone.

[Keiko, the manga enthusiast ♒︎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spooky, creepy, and seriously disgusting fresh stories from sensei! The only one familiar to me is the bonus story that I read from his other works before: The Ice Cream Bus. The rest are actually good scare and hits the spot, you know? I’m still puzzled about the point of Town of No Roads, though. I felt like I needed a whole volume of that story as its world building is interesting.

Also, I’m so used to sensei’ updated art style, I suspect some of the stories especially the first few ones are old work? (old work that I haven’t read before)

[Lady Nerd · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 🌟
Loved almost every story, super unsettling and creepy. A great read for October!