horror

atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “Parasocial” by Alex de Campi & Erica Henderson

123077527

(Image Source)

*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

His acting career fading and marriage ending, Luke attends a convention to sign things and take pictures to earn money for his upcoming child support payments. After an exhausting day, he has a car accident and a fan of his stops to help, only for her to take him prisoner.

It’s no Misery but this is a freaky read. It’s very story driven and shows the dangers of obsessive fans but it’s too short. It says a lot and deals with how social media plays into these things, it has some legitimately scary moments but I think there should been more story and less creator notes at the end. 3.5 out of 5.

Follow me on BlogLovin.

atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “Orochi: The Perfect Edition” Vol. 4, by Kazuo Umezz

61273582

(Image Source)

*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

This volume features two stories:

  • Eyes: Orochi takes an interest in a blind girl named Keiko, who’s father is falsely accused of murder.
  • Blood: The youngest of two sisters is constantly compared to the older and Orochi gets closer to them than expected.

This volume was more sat than scary; telling stories of family drama and putting a blind woman in the path of a murderer. There’s some thrilling moments in the first story and we learn a little more about Orochi but this volume is mostly the story with the sisters and leaves a somber feeling when it’s all done. 3.5 out of 5.

Follow me on BlogLovin.

atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “Tombs” by Junji Ito

61317867

(Image Source)

*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

This short story collection features some great examples of Ito’s work. If you do not like body horror, this is NOT the volume for you. Nearly every story features horrid distortions of the human form. Even the weakest story in this collection will leave a lingering creepy feeling (I’m not a big fan of “Slug Girl”). Some of Ito’s previous collections weren’t doing it for me but this is one hell of a rebound. There’s some very original ideas here and they are executed with Ito’s classic spine chilling art. 4.9 out of 5.

Follow me on BlogLovin.

atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “Call of the Night” Vol. 11, by Kotoyama

61273664

(Image Source)

*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Uguisu is on the trail of a very old vampire named Kiku Hoshimi, who is known for turning humans and abandoning them. She enlists Ko and Nazuna for help but Ko has some strange things going on with his body.

I am beginning to see how Uguisu fits into the cast now and I’m warming up to her. It was still jarring for her to go from major threat to part of the main group so quickly but now, we have Kiku. Whatever Kiku is up to is messed up but what I’m really interested in is what’s going on with Ko. It makes the story so much more interesting than him just becoming a vampire. It makes me want more. 4 out of 5.

Follow me on BlogLovin.

atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “Choujin X” Vol. 1, by Sui Ishida

61317872

(Image Source)

*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Tokio and Azuma volunteer to assist in the search and rescue efforts at a plane crash were even though the plane was said to be on fire, all the passengers survived. Such a strange event is rumored to involve a choujin – a person with supernatural abilities – and an encounter with a bully with such powers puts the friends in the direct path of a choujin’s wrath.

Even though this is the start to a series, I feel like I’m missing some back story. The concept, action, characters, and what’s been revealed so far are fucking amazing and I absolutely want to continue reading. Maybe the next volume will fill in some gaps for me. Tokio is a great reluctant hero. This is the same creator as Tokyo Ghoul and I can see a bit of commonality in the protagonists but they’re not exactly the same. So far, my favorite is Ely. She’s adorable and has an awesome design. 4 out of 5.

Follow me on BlogLovin.

atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “Inuyashiki” Vol. 1, by Hiroya Oku

23995514

(Image Source)

Ichiro Inuyashiki lives a sad life with a family that doesn’t care about him, a dull job, and a dismal medical diagnosis of terminal cancer. One night while out walking his dog (the only creature that seems to care about him) he sees a blinding light and wakes up hours later in the park. At first it seems nothing’s changed but Inuyashiki realizes his body has been drastically altered.

This is a bleak but solid start to the series. Inuyashiki’s life is just depressing and seeing him get a little bit of happiness is genuinely touching. This volume sets up the twist happening in his life and a possible conflict with another person who has also been changed. Oku also made Gantz and as such that series gets more than a nod here. It’s fine to do that but the story stops dead in it’s tracks so two characters can debate if Gantz is good or not. I ended up skipping over that part to get back to the main story and I honestly hope that doesn’t happen again. 3.7 out of 5.

Follow me on BlogLovin.

atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “The Promised Neverland” Vol. 3, by Kaiu Shirai & Posuka Demizu

35658001

(Image Source)

While Emma and her friends do their best to act like normal while they plan an escape, Don and Gilda do some investigating of their own into Mom’s secrets.

While our main three are great, adding Don and Gilda really rounds out the cast. I was internally screaming that they were rummaging around in ways that could (and probably should) have gotten them caught and ruined everything but holy shit, the tension in this volume. This series is amazing and really sucks you in so you are flying through the pages to see what happens. 4 out of 5

Follow me on BlogLovin.

atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “The Promised Neverland” Vol. 2, by Kaiu Shirai & Posuka Demizu

35658103

(Image Source)

As Emma, Norman, and Rey make plans to escape, Mama brings in Sister Krone as an extra pair of eyes to endure their plans fail.

Yikes, Mama is just as creepy and diabolical in the manga as she was in the show with the way she’s drawn in those extreme expressions. The kids are great characters and watching them try to work out a plan is genuinely thrilling. They’re inspiring and smart, so they’re easy to root for and of course addicting to read. 4.7 out of 5.

Follow me on BlogLovin.

atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “The Promised Neverland” Vol. 1, by Kaiu Shirai & Posuka Demizu

34852836

(Image Source)

Emma, Norman, and Ray live an idyllic life at the Grace Field House with other orphans as they wait to be adopted. When one of them, Cony, is adopted and forgets her doll, Emma and Norman attempt to return it to her and discover the horrible truth about where they live and the “Mom” who has been caring for them.

After I finished the anime, I saw people were posting about how it ended badly and was different from the manga. So, I decided to read them. This first volume follows the beats of the anime; introducing the children, Mom, where they live, and the twist of this not being just a story about some cute kids having adventures at their orphanage. The art style is versatile, able to be both cute and horrifying and there’s plenty of tension. Fantastic start. 5 out of 5.

Follow me on BlogLovin.

atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “Something is Killing the Children” Vol. 5, by James Tynion IV, Werther Dell’Edera & Miquel Muerto

60321107

(Image Source)

A year after what happened in Archer’s Park, Erica goes to New Mexico to help a girl whose family was killed by a new kind of monster. However, she’s doing this against the orders of The House of Slaughter, putting a target on her back.

Of course the monster hunters would have issue with someone like Erica, who doesn’t care so much about all the cloak and dagger stuff and just wants to save as many people as she can. the person send after Erica is almost as frightening as the grotesque creature Erica is hunting in this volume. The kid, Gabi, has some moments where she’s annoying but I probably wouldn’t be the easiest to deal with if my family was killed. I do hope they soften her as the story goes on because she can be grating. 5 out of 5.

Follow me on BlogLovin.