Junji Ito fans can rejoice! The talented horror mangaka is back with Mimi's Tales of Terror, a collection of horror shorts that will give you goosebumps.
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How Did Mimi's Tales of Terror Come Into Being?
Mimi's Tales of Terror is a manga adaptation of an anthology of urban legends of the same name written by Hirokatsu Kihara and Ichiro Nakayama. They are framed as "true" horror stories.
The manga is drawn by none other than Junji Ito, a master of one-shot or short horror manga.
The mangaka was allowed to take liberties with the source material and create something original.
If you liked Ito's previous titles such as Tomie and Uzumaki, you won't want to miss Mimi's Tales of Terror.
Who Is Mimi?
Mimi is a university student who seems to attract all sorts of chilling and paranormal phenomena.
She and her boyfriend, Naoto, encounter a series of mysteries, from a hanging corpse in the forest to the nearby gravestones that move on their own.
What is the sinister secret of the coastal town Mimi visits with Naoko and his friends?
Why does the recently orphaned child that Mimi's family is taking care of refuse to leave Mimi's side? Read the manga to find out!
How Scary Is Mimi's Tales of Terror?
Mimi's Tales of Terror is a creepy manga with some nightmarish imagery, but more often than not, the horror lurks in what Ito chooses not to say or show.
The manga anthology's nine scary stories thrive on the unseen and the unsaid. This isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Sometimes, an incomplete answer is scarier than a definitive but boring one, and this is the type of horror Ito excels at.
That being said, if you prefer stories that neatly wrap up in the end, you might find the conclusion of most of Mimi's Tales a bit frustrating.
Moreover, some stories are scarier than others. The one about the red stain in the secret room that grows bigger each time someone disappears, and the one about the coastal town are among the anthology's best.
At the end of the day, most of the horror comes from Mimi's lack of understanding about her paranormal experiences.
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So, Is Mimi's Tales of Terror Worth Reading?
Mimi's Tales of Terror has a classic, digestible premise, suitable for both long-time horror fans and beginners.
Its one flaw, if it can be called that, is that it's less original than some of Ito's other works, which makes sense since this is an adaptation rather than a story he created from scratch.
If you read a lot of horror, some of Mimi's encounters might feel very familiar simply because you've seen similar urban legends before.
Still, Ito provides an admirable rendition of the urban legend anthology which can be read in one sitting.
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