Don’t let her see your fear

From the acclaimed author of High Score Girl Rensuke Oshikiri comes a gripping must-have for horror fans: a spine-chilling tale of ghastly sins, grudges that refuse to die—and unholy revenge.

It seemed like the perfect place: high up on a hill and big enough for the whole Kamiki clan, even Grandma and Grandpa. Almost as soon as Norio’s family moves into the house, however, mysterious bumps in the night, disturbing dreams, and a sickly sense of dread make them realize they are far from alone. But what could be motivating the malicious spirit they’ve inherited to hurt such a happy family? More importantly—what will it take to stop her?

To be honest, I didn’t think I was going to like this at first because I thought the art was a bit uncanny (even before the scary stuff happened), but as I kept reading, it grew on me, and I realized how much it worked well with the horror and unsettling nature of this story and its characters. It’s like if early Tim Burton sketches got filtered through the lens of Japanese manga-style art. Not a bad concept for a horror manga.

I’ve seen houses that look just like the Kamiki family’s in real life when I lived in Japan. They’re prominent in the inaka and are a bit on the large side, and they do all have a sense of oldness to them. I could definitely see how a house like the one in the manga could be creepy, because some of these genuinely are in real life.

Things start out rather quickly, with the Dad being haunted first (and the first to die), the oldest child Keiko retreating to her room and acting strange, little Shun (the younger brother in 5th grade) avoiding the darkness in the hallway and far rooms, and then the Mother and Grandpa are next with their own weird behaviors. Only Norio and Grandma make it to the latest stages of the hauntings, but not without being tortured by the horrific deaths of their loved ones, or disturbing visions of their family suffering in the afterlife. All in all, it takes about a month for the destruction of the family to occur.

There are scenes that discuss death and the afterlife–before Grandpa goes, he has an encouraging talk with Norio about how he is scared of the unknown, but says “I don’t think god is so cruel as to make death a harrowing, lonely experience. The reason we humans are alive is to learn to live as joyfully as we can.” Interspersed with tragedy and horror are little quiet moments like this…and then there are louder scenes where Grandma talks about similar topics, only concerning hell and punishment. But Grandma also talks about her and Norio’s “life flames,” which are too hot for the evil ghost Sayuri to touch. She talks about keeping life in order, nourishing the self, and keeping vitality in order to fight back against Sayuri’s horrific hauntings.

It’s harder for Norio to do this because he has a lot of emotions around the deaths of his family, and the terrible dreams and visions he has.

However, his formerly senile Grandma is driven by revenge and essentially “trains” Norio to fight back. I really enjoyed when the manga turned in this direction.

There’s a lot more to share but I don’t want to spoil it. But suffice it to say, the more I read of this story, the more I liked it, and I’m glad I pushed through it and gave it a try.

This is an emotional work with extreme moments and quiet moments, and it isn’t afraid to go into what I would describe as operatic craziness. But also, the direction the story took surprised me, and it was great to see characters fight back against the malevolent presence in the house. The ending is earned but not without great cost.

Based on the majority of ratings on NetGalley, it looks like this hasn’t quite meshed with readers, and that’s too bad. I found this to be a unique entry into the genre of horror manga, and I’m glad I read it. I would recommend it to die-hard fans who try to read everything out there horror has to offer.