Flesh Colored Horror Paperback – April 1, 2001

Junji Ito's understanding of the mind-boggling dread that takes shape in a viewer's imagination, plus his insight into what words and images can be crafted to keep perennial wheels of dread rolling, is something that I, a fan with a horror-seasoned find utterly amazing. Seeing something he crafts is like watching perfection being sculpted, perfection with the ability to bend the imagination like the wind bends so many reeds. Even in his earlier, more experimental works, you can see a masterpiece being shaped, a reflection that would later be completed in one of the greatest pieces of spine-tingling reading I ever happened across, Uzumaki. Within this collection are six stories that span seven years, all originally appearing in Monthly Magazine Halloween between the years 1988 and 1995.Taking them from oldest to youngest, covering two in depth to give those unfamiliar with Ito a feeling of them, they are:Long Hair In The Attic (1988) deals with a girl named Chiemi and the breakup she's finds herself suffering through plus the reprocussions it brings. Mortified by the revelations she's had in the last day, Chiemi decides once and for all that today is the day to do away with the long hair her boyfriend once coveted. Before she can do so, however, something gruesome happens and Chiemi's body is discovered, her head missing (and never recovered). Sometime later, as her sister is lying in her bed, she hears strange noises coming from the attic, noises that she tells herself have to be rats, only the noise being made sounds exactly like Chiemi when she used to grind her teeth at night. But what could it be? O, what could it be?Approval (1991) is also a good one, dealing with a boy's love for a certain girl and a father that won't allow this to be. It doesn't seem to matter what he does or how often he visits, either. for her father never approves of him. After a time he finds out things that further infuriates him, making him want to seek vengeance, only convoluting the matter more and ultimately costing him in the worst of ways.Dying Young (1991) is where the first threads of the spiral, of Uzumaki, can be seen manifesting. The story focuses upon a group of three girls, all considered ugly until, one day, one obegins to get pretty and people paying attention. She continues to get even lovelier, too, until she collapsed on the running track and died of a heart attack And this began something of an epidemic, all the pretty girls dying one by one, and rumors began to spread about how to stay alive. Some girls whisper things, rumors of the darkest proportions, stating that the only way to stay alive was to kill a girl your age on the third Friday of every month. Still, these were only rumors, right?To note, the three pieces I chose to skip are: Beehive (1991), Headless Sculptures (1995) and Flesh-colored Horror (1994), all worthwhile reading and all terrifying in their own right. In fact, if you're a fan or if you are simply intrigued by the concept, then these, along with Uzumaki, are something I would highly recommend. Its horror at its finest.

Actually, this is only a 3 ½ star book, but Ito gets the benefit of the doubt. The stories themselves are wonderfully gruesome and creepy, but its painfully obvious that this is an earlier effort of Ito's, lacking the polish that the Uzumaki series had.The drawings are plainer, and the dialogue is pretty stilted with occasional yawning gaps in it, but the stories are well worth the effort of journeying through.In the first story, "Long Hair In The Attic", we learn a lesson of asking people to appear in a different way, and succumbing to another's desires of what they think we should be."Approval" is a tasty piece of undying love, and a valuable lesson in when to let go of that love."Beehive" is my least favorite, a strange story of a strange boy who has a symbiotic relationship to bees and wasps."Dying Young", one of my favorites, tells a tale of ugly girls who suddenly grow pretty, and the cost of such a miracle to their lives."Headless Sculptures", another favorite, shows what happens when a man's artwork becomes more than realistic.And lastly, "Flesh Colored Horror", is truly the most horrifying story of all, because it shows the horrid lengths a woman will go through to maintain her beauty, even at the cost of abusing her very own child.A great collection, just be aware that when this book was done, Ito was merely warming up to his full talents. Enjoy!

What am amazing set of stories. Its classic Ito.

Flesh Colored Horror presents 6 stories from the warped mind of one of Japan's most talented creators, Junji Ito. If you are familiar with Ito's "Tomie" or the amazing "Uzumaki" (currently being serialized in Viz's PULP magazine) then this will be familiar territory. If you're not, then this collection is a good way to start. (Incidentally, both Tomie and Uzumaki were both made into live action films as well!)The six stories presented span a period from 1988 to 1995. It's apparent that his style has become clearer and more focused along the way, providing a better platform for his tales of urban terror and love gone wrong. "Long Hair in the Attic" and "Beehive" are tales of revenge from beyond the grave. "Approval" and "Dying Young" show the frightening results of what can happen when obsession, selfishness and vanity go unchecked. The title story is very inventive and very disturbing but the most horrifying tale is "Headless Sculptures." Although you can probably guess what's happening by the title alone, it's a very scary and gory trip to the conclusion.The blurb on the back cover states "Enjoy Ito's mix of gore, girls, and social satire." While is wasn't getting much of a social satire vibe, I did have bad dreams all night long after reading this. I'm sure Junji Ito would take that as a big compliment.

"Long Hair In The Attic" is fairly chilling, with a classic open end ending. "Permission" I thought was a little slow and went on longer than it should've, but overall satisfactory. "Bee Hive" had a nice, gross shock near the end, but I would've liked to know a bit more about the Bee Kid. "Dying Young" is disturbing and a good comment from Junji about the state of girls' images in our soceity nowadays. "Headless Statues" didn't work for me, but I can definitely see why some folks liked it. Finally, "Flesh Colored Horror" is most certainly that . The story felt like one of those B horror movies and it works.

Junji Ito's Flesh-Colored Horror is a collection of creepy tales based on people who, at first blush, seem utterly ordinary. These are stories of love, longing, beauty, and the perversities of nature. Not recommended for late-night reading (or, perhaps, that is exactly when Flesh Colored Horror should be read). Set in modern bourgeois Japan, the impact of the horror is all the more compelling couched as it is in normality. Absolute terror awaits. Nightmares in print.