Mimi's Tales of Terror by Hirokatsu Kihara is a spine-tingling collection of ghost stories that taps into Japan’s rich tradition of supernatural folklore. Each tale is short yet potent, capturing eerie encounters and chilling events that leave a lasting impact. Narrated with a straightforward yet suspenseful style, the stories offer a mix of psychological horror and uncanny occurrences, making them both accessible and deeply unsettling. Perfect for fans of subtle horror, Mimi's Tales of Terror provides an atmospheric journey through the shadows of everyday life, where the paranormal lurks just out of sight.

I will always and forever more read Junji Ito. This one was particularly interesting being based in the reality of urban legends. Seeing these stories brought to life on the page made the legends feel even more real and grounded as events that happened.

Okay, wow. Still tripping a bit on this one. That was a wild ride. This is a collection of related stories written by Hirokatsu Kihara and Ichiro Nakayama, and illustrated by Junji Ito, and this reissue has an added short story written and drawn by Ito, which was a great addition, and there are two afterwords by Ito, and his afterwords are always interesting.
Anyway, these stories feature Mimi, a young college student, and her boyfriend Naoto, who, ngl, gets really annoying at times. I don't know what kind of hoodoo Mimi has on her, but she attracts weird paranormal shizzle like crazy! Everywhere she goes, something mysterious happens - think Scooby Doo but without the tidy Scooby Doo endings. Japanese horror loves ambiguous endings, and I'm cool with that - life doesn't always explain what just happened, and you're left going through life thinking "that was weird", amiright? That ambiguity hits right away, so be prepared, it through me for a loop getting hit that fast lol! My brain adjusted, fortunately, and I really enjoyed this! Lots and lots of creepy, spooky stuff and some flat-out weirdness with Ito art (which is the best way I can describe it; Junji Ito has a distinct vibe). The story about the mysterious neighbor woman was especially trippy to me, I did not see that coming at all and it's not something I would've ever thought of, but dang that really brought the what-the-frickity-frak!
I babbled a lot, so here's the tl;dr version: this is a fun, weird, creepy collection, and you should totally read it. I can be direct sometimes!

#MimisTalesofTerror #NetGalley

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me an advance reader copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

I love to read a graphic novel after every couple of (regular?) novels. The artwork combined with a good story help making reading a graphic novel, a simple, relaxing, enjoyable experience. Loved the combination of urban legends and the artwork in this one! Will definitely recommend to my horror & GN fans.

Description
Experience real-life chills as Junji Ito brings these “true” horror series to life!

University student Mimi and her boyfriend Naoto encounter one chilling mystery after another. There’s the enigmatic neighbor woman dressed in black from head to toe—but if she’s so odd, why does it seems like there are many others like her? Then, whose eyes track Mimi’s movements from the cemetery next door? And why does a bizarre red circle drawn on a basement wall change with each passing day?

Nine scary stories that really happened, drawn from the famed collecton of urban legends Shin Mimibukuro (New Earmuffs), and adapted into manga by horror genius Junji Ito!

A brilliant collection from a manga great. Mimi is a great character and I enjoyed seeing the urban legends coming to life through the artwork.

A fantastic collection of stories, illustrated by the immeasurably talented Junji Ito. Perfect for any horror fan, or any manga fan. Ito depicts these stories flawlessly in his trademark style.

This was a genuinely creepy collection of nine "real" stories from Shin Mimibukuro (New Earmuffs), illustrated by everybody's favorite horror mangaka, Junji Ito. The stories weren't as scary as what I'd expect had Ito written them himself, but his artwork absolutely made up for that.

ARC From Netgalley.
Horror manga master Junji Ito takes works by other horror authors and adopts them to his visual style to make beautiful manga. Please feel free to do this with any author you want!
Quick summaries: (All stories in this collection feature Mimi and the other people in her life)
On the Utility Pole
- While out on a drive, Mimi and her boyfriend see a scary woman on top of a utility pole. They are scared when she jumps on their car, but quickly disappears.

The Woman Next Door
- Mimi investigates a strange woman who lives next door who is extremely quiet and seems to have growing limbs.

Rustling in the Grass
- Mimi and Naoto take a walk and see a woman who has hung herself from a tree. Seeing things fall from her, they run.

Grave Placement
- Mimi's new neighbor is a musclehead who shows off to the "eyes" he sees in the graveyard.

Seashore
- Mimi and friends go to the seashore where they hear about children who have died in the undertow of the water.

Just the Two of Us
- Mimi goes home and ends up babysitting Kei, a local girl who lost her parents. But did she really lose her Mom?

Scarlet Circle
- Jealous over Mimi's relationship with Kaoto, Misa plots to get rid of Mimi and solve the mystery of the scarlet circle developing on a wall in her house.

Sign in the Field
- Mimi freaks out when a sign's shadow changes shape.

Love Junji Ito and his work. Keep it coming!
Strong recommend.

These stories were a very fun combo of freightening and funny--all with Ito's signiture art. I enjoyed this collection a lot because it felt so unique to other horror manga I've read. Mimi is a fun character. While there are some moments where the translation choices seem odd, I had a lot of fun with this one.

It was my utmost pleasure to be able to read this manga. I can go on and on about Junji ito’s artwork and how incredible he is at bringing a horror story and visualizing it. At first, I was planning on doing this review by going through each short story one by one and explaining what I loved about it, but that won’t really work the way I wanted it to because every story is actually intertwined.

To my happy surprise every story follows the same woman as is shown on the cover. Mimi experiences encounters with many entities that go from being just creepy and weird, to wtf? to actually murderous. As she goes through each encounter unscathed some believe her and some don’t. But, Mimi herself knows just how real and strange the experiences she’s had are.

My absolute favorite of these stories is Scarlet Circle. It combines all the things I loved most about all the stories in this manga and it had the most creepy atmosphere of them all. It also includes one of my favorite things in horror which is humans being the most horrifying of all things. There’s manipulation and things not being what it seems and it’s one of the most messed up of all the stories.

My other two favorites are Seashore and Just the Two of us. Both of them are more than just being frightened by seeing something creepy. In Seashore, Mimi’s friend is the one that gets haunted and sees these dead children drowning in the ocean begging to be saved. The friends try to stop him from going into the water, but eventually they can’t and he becomes one of the victims. In Just the two of us, a mother sets herself on fire killing herself and leaving her daughter an orphan. Mimi’s family is taking care of the child and notice that she’s gets things dirty everywhere she goes. We soon realize the mom is haunting her daughter and causing soot stains everywhere and terrifying the girl. It’s so tragic and it was the story that made me feel the most sad for the victims.

One of the coolest parts of this is the way the art shows everything being connected just by the imagery alone. Even without words you can look at it and see what is going on page by page. The dialogue adds to it in the end, but it is still so cool how clear it is what’s happening based solely on the artwork.

All I know is, one by one I want to own every Junji Ito work that he puts out. This manga is no exception. To me, each manga he creates is a stunning work of art that shows horror at its best. All I ever want is to read more. For me his works are a collectors item that I will treasure with my whole being.

I'm already a big Junji Ito stan, and this did not let me down. One of the first things I ever read from him was a collection of creepy stories, and I was glad to return to that style of storytelling for him. These stories aren't written by him, but based on short stories by two gentleman. It definitely feels distinct from his usual work, but the art style is as creepy as ever.

One of the more forgettable collections of Ito’s work, though his art shines through as always. There’s plenty here for existing fans but for someone knew to Ito’s brand of horror I would steer them towards some of his other collections.

Another horror manga from the master, Junji Ito. This volume follows a character named Mimi as she encounters various spirits, unsettling mysteries and strange people.

I very much enjoyed this collection of tales! A few were very disquieting and just the right amount of spooky. And as always, the illustrations were super creepy. Unfortunately, not every story hit the mark and so I couldn't give this a full five stars. On the Utility Pole, Rustling in the Grass, and Sign in the Field were just way too short and, for lack of a better word, boring. I definitely expected more from them than I got.

However, I still did rate this four stars! And that was definitely because of my favorites, which were The Woman Next Door, Seashore, Just the Two of Us, and Monster Prop. The character of Mimi was also a plus. She was a very likable and relatable character, which you don't often see in Junji's work.

Also, a fun fact is that Mimi appeared in every story except for the last, which was the only original Junji Ito tale in the whole book! The rest of the stories within this volume were based on the book collection of urban legends, called <i>Shin Mimibukuro</i>.

In the afterward, Junji talks about how the original authors gave him the freedom to expand and add as many details as he wished to the tales. He definitely seemed to have had fun bringing these stories to life!

Also, I'm very happy to announce that none of the stories herein made me nauseous. Which is always a thing to celebrate after reading one of Junji's books lol

This collection featured numerous short stories, with some delivering chilling thrills while others fell short. I found certain tales difficult to follow due to unclear writing. Being a graphic novel, it offered a swift and straightforward reading experience. Truthfully, I tended to skim through stories that didn't captivate me. It's possible that those familiar with the urban legends behind the tales might better appreciate them; however, lacking that background, I struggled to connect with the narratives. Overall, I'm hesitant to recommend this book unless one is particularly drawn to this style of horror storytelling.

I enjoyed this collection of short stories, though sometimes the slang threw me off (and that is a personal problem). Other than that the art was great, I wished the stories were longer, and it definitely makes me want to read the original novel.

"Mimi's Tales of Terror" is a collection of short horror stories in manga format that range in length from two pages to thirty pages. Despite the short length of some stories, each one delivers a shot of terror, as is to be expected from master Junji Ito. Most stories have no answers, no true resolution, which could be frustrating for some readers, though others will take delight in the mysteries. Recommended for collections where horror manga is popular.

Not much to say besides I love Junji Ito but this wasn't exactly my favorite. I didn't get the creeps as much as I do from my favorites (many of the stories in Shiver for example). Still comfort reading for me though haha

i love a good adaptation, and i’m actually not familiar with this collection’s source material (shin mimibukuro), so i’m glad i could at least be opened up to a new source! this was a bit underwhelming for me in terms of ito’s collections, and maybe it’s because they were more spooky than nasty, which is what i like to see with ito’s work. the urban legends of the collection were fine, but maybe a bit surface for me—i wish some of the stories were longer so they could be better fleshed out.

This was creepy, but not as creepy as other ones that I’ve read! On the Utility Pole and Seashire got me extra freaked out, but the other ones were just the normal amount of creepy. I definitely enjoyed this one more than other ones I’ve read! Another great manga from Junji Ito

Apparently, these are urban-legend-style stories that are loosely based on real events. The original collection is called Shin Mimibukuro (New Earmuffs) by Hirokatsu Kihara and Ichiro Nakayama. Mimi's Tales of Terror are illustrated and adapted by Junji Ito.

Unfortunately, this is my least favorite collection. The stories are underdeveloped and slightly silly. There are a few that appealed to me in the same way Ito's stories do--they are spooky and are greatly enhanced by his artwork, especially the "jump scare" pages.
Fans of Junji Ito expecting more stories of that same vibe and style will be disappointed. The tone and the storytelling voice are not the same at all.

Just the Two of Us and Monster Prop were my favorites.