Book Review #1: Lullabies from Hell (The Gory Magic of Hideshi Hino)

Lullabies from Hell, Dark Horse Manga, 2006

Hideshi Hino writes a solid horror story. Lullabies from Hell, which I picked up based solely on its name, collects four of these.

It begins with the author himself, endowed with the ability to cause the death of anyone he wants by writing it (reminding me of Death Note). The story is horrifying in so many ways, from the abusive, deranged mother, to the seriously screwed narrator, to the cringe-inducing methods he comes up with to dispatch those who wronged him. And how many have wronged him.

A twist on Rosemary's Baby follows, again with layers upon layer of horror. What would you do in her shoes? What about the father? Is a monster less horrifying when everyone has one, or more?

The third and longest story is where it fell apart for me, but it still pulses like a recurring nightmare. Fortunately it's followed up by my favorite of the lot, "Zoroku's Strange Disease." Check out this intro!

Once upon a time, in a far off land, there was a mysterious swamp where animals that were about to die always gathered.

People called it the swamp of slumber, and no one went near.

Chilling. I want to explore it.

The stories might be a wee bit predictable - they reminded me a lot of the old Creepy archives - but they still hit with a visceral punch, thanks in no small part to Hino's startling artwork. I've heard of them described as "cartoonish" but I find that makes the horror all the more effective. It's like seeing Mickey Mouse tear Minnie's head off. Not to mention there are pieces I don't want to see true-to-life. I don't need to see a perfect imitation of Zoroku's pustules erupting, no thank you indeed.

For horror and gore fans, this manga is well worth picking up.

Snippets - May 13

He looked at me; I must say I like it better when they look at you; a lot of the time people seem to be scared of finding out that other people have real faces, as though if you looked at a stranger clearly and honestly and with both eyes you might find yourself learning something you didn't actually want to know.

Shirley Jackson in Come Along with Me

Snippets - May 11

It still seems infinitely mysterious to me that there are some of us who have built not a life but a self, based largely on our hunger for what are a series of scratches on a piece of paper.

Anna Quindlen in How Reading Changed My Life

Makers by Cory Doctorow

When you get on the road, you meet people, have intense experiences with them -- like going to war or touring with a band. You fall in love a thousand times. And then you leave all those people behind. You get off a plane, turn some strangers into best friends, get on a plane and forget them until you come back into town, and then you take it all back up again.

If you want to survive this, you've got to love that. You've got to get off a plane, meet people, fall in love with them, treasure every moment, and know that moments are all you have. Then you get on a plane again and you know how soon it will end. It's like starting to say your summer-camp goodbyes before you've even unpacked your duffel bag. You've got to embrace -- or at least forget -- that every gig will end in a day or two.

from Makers by Cory Doctorow (c.2009)