Statues: Junji Ito Story Collection

伊藤潤二傑作集 [Ito Junji Kessaku-shū] #7

by Junji Ito

Headless statues confound the mind with a terrifying question: Are they fine art or carved from the abyss?

Art teacher Okabe creates strange, headless statues. One day, he is found murdered, his corpse headless. From that day on, art club member Shimada seems off somehow… Elsewhere, in a curious town custom, the dead are placed on a tatami mat and set out on the river. Kanako’s grandmother lives alone in a house near this river. What did she witness at one of these funerals long ago? And a mysterious disease makes girls suddenly become more beautiful. But soon they all die. The only way to survive might be worse than death itself…

Ten tales from horror master Junji Ito that will plant the seeds of terror in your heart.

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

328 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1991

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

[Ricarda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mhh, I was really hoping for a hot pink colorway on the cover and spine of the English release, but the publisher didn't dare. Pretty good collection, though.

[Jan Agaton · Rating 5 out of 5]

The one about the red string, the circus one, the statue one, and the bridge were my favorite stories! junji ito never misses.

[Kelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a particularly DISTURBING collection of stories—which made it so enjoyable!

We get to see what is so great about Junji Ito shine here—revealing the horror in the mundane when taken to extremes. Bridges, statues, scarecrows, feeling ugly—anything can become horrifying. You don’t necessarily need to craft an eldritch horror; we have those at home.

At least, that seems to be what Junji Ito is positing with this collection—to great effect.

Personally, I thought “Scarecrow” was the most unsettling but still somewhat distinct in that it is punctured by an oddly sweet ending. It reminds readers that grief is still an expression of love.

Satisfying collection! Would recommend~

[William III · Rating 4 out of 5]

RED THREAD ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- THE GIVER ⭐️
- THE BRIDGE ⭐️⭐️⭐️
- THE CIRCUS HAS COME TO TOWN ⭐️⭐️⭐️
- HORNET NEST ⭐️⭐️⭐️
- TOWN OF MAPS ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- STATUES ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- DIE YOUNG ⭐️⭐️⭐️
- SCARECROW ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- SUICIDE NOTE ⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Stay Fetters · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I’ll curse and kill you. I’ll be the ghost that haunts you. I’ll hound you to your death."

It’s no surprise that I’m oddly obsessed with everything Ito releases. I hear about a new book coming out and I’m chewing my fingernails off waiting for a copy to land in my lap. As soon as I get it, everything else is pushed aside. No one can top the creative genius that is Ito!

This was hair-raisingly terrifying. It started off a little slow but picked up with each new story. By the end your heart is pounding and your eyes are as wide as they can get. I’m not even sure if I blinked in awhile… The stories got more bizarre and a lot more demented as you read on. That last one was a doozy. It’s one of the reasons why I love Ito. He never disappoints but he sure as hell knows how to get under your skin.

[Chrissana Roy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Junji ito colección masterpiece 7:

Relatos:
- El hilo rojo.
- El disco de segunda mano.
- El hombre de los regalos.
- El puente.
- Ha llegado el circo.
- El nido de avispas.
- La ciudad de los mapas.
- Estatuas sin cabeza.
- Morir joven.
- Escalofríos.
- Los espantapájaros.
- La nota de despedida.

[Erin Talamantes · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 rounded up!

My favorite stories were red thread, the bridge, town of maps, and scarecrow!

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm so confused... Only 3 of these felt new. Am I crazy? Are these stories reappearing in multiple volumes, or am I confusing the animations with the books? I just feel disappointed after reading this because so many of them were overly familiar. It has to be because of the anime, right?

[Przemysław Skoczyński · Rating 2 out of 5]

Z tymi krótkimi formami Ito mam tak, że przed lekturą jest lekka podjarka na zasadzie: "czym ciekawym zaskoczy", a potem im bardziej w głąb, tym mniej ciekawie i w sumie po kilku pierwszych stronach każdej historii wygląda to dosyć przewidywalnie. Jako czytelnik cierpiący na trypofobię, wzdrygnąłem się wprawdzie widząc podziurawione i pokryte nićmi ciała w "Dreszczach" i "Czerwonej nici", ale oprócz tych dwóch momentów, reszta raczej bez emocji

[Rylee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, I enjoyed this story collection.

Red Thread 5/5: This one actually made my skin crawl, the illustration was so unnerving. I really like the idea of a literal red thread of destiny.
The Giver 3/5: It was fine, I thought the end was more funny than scary. The hypnosis stuff didn’t really make sense to me.
The Bridge 4/5: The towns in Ito’s stories have the weirdest traditions. I thought this was creepy, but I wish it didn’t have the cliche dream sequence.
The circus has come to town 3/5: The crowd was way too nonchalant about all of the performers dying lol. I liked the ending.
Hornet Nest 5/5: I don’t get the obsession with the nests but I loved the illustrations and the concept.
Town of Maps 2/5: Did not make much sense to me and was kind of boring.
Statues 5/5: Love this concept, it’s such a classic Ito story.
Die Young 4/5: Intriguing but there’s no why or how. It seems like Ito had a cool idea but just didn’t want to have to explain it at all. I still liked it.
Scarecrow 5/5: I love this concept, too. Inanimate objects being creepy or possessed is an Ito strong suit.
Suicide Note 3/5: Meh.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a strong collection with stories ranging from the comically absurd (such as The Circus Has Come To Town) to full on body horror in the titular story. My favorites were The Bridge, Die Young, and Scarecrow, but there weren't any I disliked.

[jamie]

Ooooo I’ve missed my father Junji Ito

[Mazie Rudolph · Rating 3 out of 5]

Red thread - 2/5
The giver - 1/5
The bridge - 2/5
The circus - 3/5
Hornets nest - 3/5
Town of maps -3.5/5
Statues -4/5
Die young -2/5
Scarecrow - 2/5
Suicide note - 3/5

Not my favorite Junji Ito! It was fine.

[Luthfi Ferizqi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another compilation from Ito that’s too boring to follow.

[Patrick Saindon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid collection 4.1

[melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

It feels good to finally come back to reading some Junji Ito, and I thought I’d start with his most recent collection release. Has that undeniable Ito charm that invests you, you think “I’ll just read one more” and before you know it, you’re at the end. The guy is a creative genius.
Favourite stories: The Circus Has Come To Town, Die Young, Scarecrow, Suicide Note.

[The Leppy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just wanted to say that whoever is curating/determining the story order for these collections is doing an awesome job.We start off slow with some of Ito's more creepy-weird-silly stories and then descend in to his more outright horror stories and this volume had some absolute *awesome* ones.

I liked the majority of these stories:

Red Thread: creepy and had a great scene with grandma. This one made me chuckle.
The Giver: worked the least for me out of the whole volume.
The Bridge: Love the idea and Ito's art sells it and I got that creepy growing dread feeling I want from his work. It's a solid folk horor type of tale.
The Circus Has Come to Town: This was more amusing/creepy. Interesting idea and I like the ending because it's reminiscent of a Souichi story ending.
Hornet Nest: Weird-creepy and I liked it but I wasn't exactly scared.
Town of Maps: I feel real bad for Miki :/
Statues: oh yeah~ this is where the stories really ramp up the dread and scares! love the last panel!
Die Young: I really love Ito. I feel like this could be connected to Uzumaki's Medusa chapter and Tomie. They are thematically similar and I'll stop there but I love it.
Scarecrow: holy cow... terrifying! I just wow... it's creepy as heck and touches on greif and freaked me out.
Suicide Note: really creepy and a good premise for sure.
Just talked myself into a 5star because I think some of these will cling to me.

[Michelle G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was great! Junji Ito rarely misses, and while not all of these stories hit for me, none is below 3 stars lol. His stories are just always so absurd and fun and gross and strange, I love them! Pretty sure I've read some of these stories before in other short story collections of his, but I don't mind.

Individual ratings:

Red Thread ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 - Just ABSURD lmao. And I think I've read it before, idk.
The Giver ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 - It didn't wow me, but it was fine.
The Bridge ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 - I kinda wish the "it was a dream" bit wasn't part of the story.
The Circus Has Come to Town ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - So good!
Hornet Nest ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - Wtf even was this? lol.
Town of Maps ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - I just love how Junji Ito takes mundane things like maps and makes them creepy.
Statues ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 - This is one I think I've read before, but it's good.
Die Young ⭐️⭐️⭐️ - I loved the concept of beauty as a deadly illness, but this was a little boring.
Scarecrow ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - LOOOVED this and I think I've read it before.
Suicide Note ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 - Taking pettiness and hating someone to a new level.

[Nashia Darling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exactly what I expect from Junji Ito. Still finding new and creepy stories to tell!

If you like Juni Ito, you'll like this.
If you've never read Junji Ito, this is definitely a good way to dip your toes in. This collection gives you a taste of not only his art style, but also his story structures.

Thank you #NetGalley for the ARC

[Dylan Lippold · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve never read a manga before but damn this was really great and right up my alley. I didn’t really know what it was, I solely bought this based on the cover.

Basically, it’s a collection of short horror stories. Each one is very Kafkaesque in its writing. I liked each story a lot and would love to read more.

[Carol Godoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Esse homem não decepciona nunca 😮‍💨

[DaniPhantom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Statues without heads, ghosts with unfinished business visiting the living, and weird maps are some of the themes of this banger of a book. Is it bad I want to live in the Junji Ito universe?

[Nina Sabak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Junji Ito remains the best to ever do it.

[Catriona Sullivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of disappointed by this tbh. I thought it would be creepier, but I do kind of like the open-ended endings to the stories.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

10 creepy manga stories. Red Thread was my favorite.

[Kathryn Grace Loves Horror · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review to come.

[isa · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5*

[Dekisugi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ngebayangain patung patung tanpa kepala yg mencari kepala buat melengkapinya aja dah ngeri ...

Dari awal tahun udah nggak dikasih nafas ma Akasha , Manga Junji Ito keluar mulu . Di Junji Ito Compilation 7 ini terdapat 12 cerita pendek ala junji ito dan yg menjual dari manga kali ini adalah Headless Sculpture, ada The Scarecrow, Written Will , Bridge dan lain lain ... Tapi personal aku lebih suka BRIDGE. Pernah di animekan juga , tetap aja vibes horror absurdnya gag ketolong.

Ohya terdapat 2 cerita dari shiver yg diceritakan lagi disini Second Ha d Vinyl Record dan Cold.

[Euan Fukui · Rating 4 out of 5]

So no head? Consistent quality as usual, would recommend.

[joan☆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

some chapters of this genuinely made me scared shitless lol... as expected from the master of horror himself