Resist Your Body Hole!

Ito-Enigma cover“The Enigma of Amigara Fault” is a short comic from Junji Ito, the author of several well-known volumes of Japanese horror manga. This one appears at the end of “Gyo,” and it’s a short, weird story: an earthquake reveals a fissure riddled with human-shaped holes, which perfectly match the shapes of specific individuals and exert a powerful control over them. It has a surreal, dreamlike logic that almost approaches that nightmare feeling of some of Lynch’s work (like the “Llorando” scene in “Mulholland Drive”).

Unfortunately, it sort of fizzles out at the end–taken to its logical conclusion, the concept becomes a bit silly instead of disturbing. But it’s worth reading for the overall tone and imagery, and the spookiness of the first three-quarters of the story.

If you can’t find Ito’s books in your town, you can get them through Amazon (the link will take you to the Monkeyskull affiliate page, where you can click the “Comics – Japanese Horror” section to see all the Ito comics I was able to find). You can also find many of them via a little Google searching. “The Enigma of Amigara Fault” is available in multiple locations online, so you can read it immediately:

“The Enigma of Amigara Fault” – Location #1 | Location #2 | Location #3

Ito-Enigma sample

Posted on December 23, 2007 by Chris Walters |
 
Filed Under Comics & Graphic Novels 

 

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