Hino Horror 14: Skin and Bone
November 3, 2009
Hideshi Hino – Cocoro Books – 2004 – 14 volumes
“Hino Horror” is the name for this series, but they are mostly unrelated volumes of horror stories by Hideshi Hino.
I liked these a little less than the quirky themed short stories from last volume, but the stories here were certainly more developed and of a higher quality. The themes are pretty common horror fodder again, with a girl whose spirit is haunting the school until her body is discovered, kids who are teased and take extreme measures that usually involve death and/or vengeance, and a particularly good story that loops back on itself about a pair of sisters that may or may not exist.
Common Hino Horror themes, like transforming and being identified with insects, pop up again, as do protagonists who are ostracized finding peace at the end of the story. The peace they find isn’t the healthiest or most conventional kind, but the stories still end on a positive note. Of course, just as often, the children seek vengeance on those who teased them, and that can be pretty great as well. There’s a little bit there for everyone.
The story about the sisters is interesting because it is divided into three chapters. One tells the story from one sister’s point of view, the second from the other’s POV, and the third tells a story of “reality.” Except reality doesn’t really match up at all with either of the stories, and then it loops back to the beginning of the first chapter. I love stories that do this, but admittedly, this isn’t really the smoothest use of that technique. Red Snake, the first volume of Hino Horror, is an excellent use of that technique, however, as is Reptilia by Kazuo Umezu.
Hino seems fond of turning his children into insects, animals, and vermin in general. I wonder how prevalent this was (or is) in children’s horror manga, because I know that Kazuo Umezu is prone to doing the same thing. It’s a bizarre story device to use as extensively as they seem to, but I always seem to like the stories at least a little, so I can’t argue with results.
I think the last two are some of the better volumes of Hino Horror, but you will want to read the series for “Red Snake,” the first volume, which is one of the best horror manga you’ll find. The Collection volumes are also good, as are several other volumes. There are a few duds mixed in, and I suspect that these stories are from Hino’s more contemporary work and probably fare poorly when compared to his 70s horror stories, but all the same, they are entertaining reads, and you really can’t go wrong if you’re looking for cheap, bizarre thrills.
