Andrew Cunningham (Translator), Jocelyne Allen (Translator), 2015

A collection of 6 connected horrors (+1 bonus) that shed light into a small world populated by serial killers. The main characters: Morino (森) who oozes Gothic Lolita like black licorice to urban predators and her classmate – a teenage killer with the perfect veneer smile. Goth swells and mutates around Morino like a spider web, the forest at night – under the boughs, there is no prospect for a way out, to tell day from night, shadows or monsters slipping off their camouflage. What flashes in front of the victims, before they know it, they are in too deep (ever hit the wrong button at the vending machine?).

The high school pair embarks on a mission to locate the most brutal killers in town, so that they can pay respects to their idols. Some are born with birthmarks, others with the urge to stuff the livings in boxes or spread them out. Otsuichi does an awesome job of elevating these carnal urges into rites of passage. For example, one undertaker sticks a bamboo pole into a coffin underground so that it is possible to communicate with the victim for a while – day in, day out, getting into their minds. Then water is poured through the pole.

I like the first and sixth stories the most, for very different reasons. The adrenaline rush in the first story. The sixth story, on the other hand, gives victims have another dimension – their struggle evokes emotions that are more, well, varied (as supposed to the psychopaths’).  

In sum, delicious dark stuff, max entertaining and a great gift option.