The Red Snake (Hino Horror, 1)

Rating:
Summary: what a gross-out!!!!!!!!!!
Review: First off, let me say I am a huge fan of all the following:
-David Cronenberg
-Thomas Ott
-David Lynch
-Takashi Miike
-Junji Ito
-Shinya Tsukamoto
-Jim Woodring
And all these can easily be categorized as "sick" or "extreme" or "nightmare-ish" art.

But this stuff is just wrong.
All I can figure is Hideshi Hino uses the comic medium to exorcize personal demons and vent his rage, anxiety and nausea.
This is a good example of someone who goes too far over the line.

It starts out great, with a frightened, wide-eyed little boy living in a big scary house surrounded by a vast woods. Then you get to meet his freaky family. And then you learn about a terrible secret hidden within the house. And then the fun begins.

I didn't enjoy this at all. It made me feel rattled and sick. But not in a cathartic way. Hino doesn't bring any spirituality or insight to the horror.

There are little moments of poetry (mostly in the writing, so its hard to tell if it is Hino or the translator) that peak through, but not enough to sweeten the nasty taste the book leaves behind.

I wouldn't recommend it. Not unless you're a pure pure pure hardcore gore hound who likes flesh and bone for itself alone

Rating:
Summary: Hideshi Hino, the True Master of Japanese Horror
Review: I first learned about Hino through another talented artist who works in the field of horror manga, Junji Ito. In a short bio at the end of one of his books, Ito cited Hino, as well as the American writer H.P. Lovecraft, as two of his influences. Ito was also the recipient of an award which carries Hino's name which honors Japanese artists who have mastered tales of terror. I already knew about Lovecraft. If you're into horror and you don't know his name, you should. Ito . . . well, let's just say the guy continues to amaze me. "Uzumaki" was fantastic, as was "Gyo". So, long story short, I put 2 and 2 together (and for once I didn't come up with 22). I reasoned that it made sense--considering the logical connections--for me to learn more about Hideshi Hino. At the time, I could only find two of his books on Amazon: "Hell Baby" and "Panorama of Hell". Both were out of print. Far too lazy (and picky) to buy them used, I waited for the day when more of his works would be published in English. That day has come! DHP has recently published two of his books, "The Red Snake" and "The Bug Boy". Hino. How can I describe his work? His drawing style has a childlike quality about it. This does nothing to offset his horrific tales. In reality, it accentuates the disturbing atmosphere that hangs over each and every page of lush black and white illustrations. "The Red Snake" is a story told from a young boy's point of view. He lives in a house surrounded by an endless forest that he can't escape. To make things worse, he is surrounded by lunatics: his grandfather has a large growth hanging from his jaw, his grandmother believes she is a chicken and lives in a nest, his father, who raises chickens with sadistic affection, aids her dementia by giving her baskets of eggs that he claims she laid herself, his mother tends to grandfather's boil with far too much tender loving care, and his sister fondles insects with erotic glee. As if the poor kid doesn't have enough to worry about, his grandfather tells him that the large mirror in their house is, in reality, a barrier that blocks the gates to Hell. I'm not going to spoil the story for you, but it should come as no surprise that events unfold in a manner that is reminiscent of lingering nightmares. As for the format of the book, DHP has remained true to the original layout; the pages and panels are meant to be read from right to left. This has become a current trend, as many translated mangas are now printed like this. If, however, you are new to this sort of thing, have no fear, it's easy enough to adjust your reading habits. I ordered "The Red Snake" along with "The Bug Boy" (not quite as dark, but a worthwhile read, nonetheless). Both books are well worth the money. Considering each volume consists of roughly two hundred pages, the price of ten dollars is a steal. With more Hino books to be released in the future, I would strongly suggest you start your collection now. With over 400 Hino title in print, it could turn out to be a rather large collection.

Rating:
Summary: Hideshi Hino, the True Master of Japanese Horror
Review: I first learned about Hino through another talented artist who works in the field of horror manga, Junji Ito. In a short bio at the end of one of his books, Ito cited Hino, as well as the American writer H.P. Lovecraft, as two of his influences. Ito was also the recipient of an award which carries Hino's name which honors Japanese artists who have mastered tales of terror. I already knew about Lovecraft. If you're into horror and you don't know his name, you should. Ito . . . well, let's just say the guy continues to amaze me. "Uzumaki" was fantastic, as was "Gyo". So, long story short, I put 2 and 2 together (and for once I didn't come up with 22). I reasoned that it made sense--considering the logical connections--for me to learn more about Hideshi Hino. At the time, I could only find two of his books on Amazon: "Hell Baby" and "Panorama of Hell". Both were out of print. Far too lazy (and picky) to buy them used, I waited for the day when more of his works would be published in English. That day has come! DHP has recently published two of his books, "The Red Snake" and "The Bug Boy". Hino. How can I describe his work? His drawing style has a childlike quality about it. This does nothing to offset his horrific tales. In reality, it accentuates the disturbing atmosphere that hangs over each and every page of lush black and white illustrations. "The Red Snake" is a story told from a young boy's point of view. He lives in a house surrounded by an endless forest that he can't escape. To make things worse, he is surrounded by lunatics: his grandfather has a large growth hanging from his jaw, his grandmother believes she is a chicken and lives in a nest, his father, who raises chickens with sadistic affection, aids her dementia by giving her baskets of eggs that he claims she laid herself, his mother tends to grandfather's boil with far too much tender loving care, and his sister fondles insects with erotic glee. As if the poor kid doesn't have enough to worry about, his grandfather tells him that the large mirror in their house is, in reality, a barrier that blocks the gates to Hell. I'm not going to spoil the story for you, but it should come as no surprise that events unfold in a manner that is reminiscent of lingering nightmares. As for the format of the book, DHP has remained true to the original layout; the pages and panels are meant to be read from right to left. This has become a current trend, as many translated mangas are now printed like this. If, however, you are new to this sort of thing, have no fear, it's easy enough to adjust your reading habits. I ordered "The Red Snake" along with "The Bug Boy" (not quite as dark, but a worthwhile read, nonetheless). Both books are well worth the money. Considering each volume consists of roughly two hundred pages, the price of ten dollars is a steal. With more Hino books to be released in the future, I would strongly suggest you start your collection now. With over 400 Hino title in print, it could turn out to be a rather large collection.

Rating:
Summary: Overrated
Review: I read a couple of Hino's mangas at the bookstore, and I must say I was thoroughly disappointed. I am a huge fan of Junji Ito (and Japanese horror in general), and while I'm aware that artists like Ito and Umezu Kazuo don't write the deepest stories, they at least craft interesting stories. And often times their stories make you think. From what I read, Hino's stories were just typical ghost and monster stories that weren't particularly interesting or thought-provoking. Instead of scaring me, most of the stories just grossed me out.

Rating:
Summary: A MESSED UP FAMILY
Review: The Red Snake is the first volume in the Hino Horror series put out by Cocoro Books, celebrating the achievements of Hideshi Hino, the master of Japanese horror manga. I don't know if I would actually called this first volume horror or a disturbing meditation on suffering, death, and abnormality. Oh yeah, that's what horror is!

The narrator of this tale is a young boy desperately trying to escape his home that is surrounded by a dense forest. Everytime he tries to leave, the forest somehow always mysteriously makes him wind up back at his house. Why does he want to escape? If you only knew! For starters, his grandmother is insane and believes she is a chicken, even eating bugs and living in a nest she constructed from sticks. His grandfather has an enormous cyst or pus-filled growth on his chin the size of a bowling pin. The kid's father is psychotic who raises chickens. Innocent enough, but if the chickens don't produce eggs, the father decapitates them. The mother's main job in the house is to massage the grandfather's giant size abscess by rubbing it with an egg and even stepping on it with her foot to lance it.
And then we have the kid's sister, who has a perverse obsession with bugs. On top of this cheerful set-up, there is a hallway in the house blocked by a mirror, behind which the grandfather says lurks abominable horrors. Like the house isn't filled with horrors already! When the narrator ventures behind the mirror in a dream, he finds that things can always get worse!

Some of the images in this book made me almost not want to turn the page. But hey, that's what horror is for! To show you things you want to turn away from but feel compelled to look at. Hino does a good job of creating an alternate world somewhere in the depths of Hell akin to Dante's Inferno. If you're in the mood for a creepy story, check this out.