I initially thought that this was a manga but it's not and I was a little bit disappointed about that until I sat down and read this. It's a collection of spook stories with illustrations by Junji Ito with a bonus manga by him at the end. I really enjoyed this collection, some of them were creepy and some were pretty mild. If you're looking for something that's not super scary then check this book out!

Junji Ito's art was great as always, but I wasn't a fan of how the stories were written. I think they were meant to seem like they were being told around a campfire, but it felt a little too causal to be spooky. The bonus manga was cool, but definitely not meant for an eBook format. I thought the stories were interesting but could've been told in a way that built more tension.

Disappointingly underwhelming.

I am a massive fan of Junji Ito, and the artwork included for these short stories was brilliant (as always!), however the short stories really lacked any depth. Just as soon as I thought the story had any potential, the story would end, leaving me confused and let down.

Ito honestly has done an amazing job with the illustrations included, but the short stories were not what I expected them to be at all.

Thank you to Net Galley for giving me a copy of this one in exchange for an honest review.

Not at all what I was expecting seeing Junji Ito's name attached to a body of work. This title has been advertised as manga first and foremost and short stories second. I thought it would be more like Ito's work prior - short manga strips with really good plots. If you are a huge fan of Junji Ito as a stand-alone writer/illustrator then I do not recommend purchasing this. Hirokatsu Kihara short stories are underdeveloped leaving the reader unsatisfied. I don't find any of them to make much sense, either. I genuinely find this collection a bit lazy.

As always thank you publisher and Net Galley for a copy !

Stitches is a very small collection of short stories by Hirokatsu Kihara and illustrations by Junji Ito. Each story has a different kind of vibe, however, they felt like they had similar vibes. Same thing different font kind of font. Instead of being being over shadowed with light anxiety that horror usually gives me, these stories feel very cozy, much like scary stories you’d tell at a campfire. Each story also felt like something Junji would have came up with himself as well, so it was a very comforting read.

Two of my favorite stories, Stitch 4 and Stich 7, with out spoilers they felt really refreshing and on a more sweeter side than the others. They didn’t have such spooky vibe to me as they did a more familial comfort to them.

Overall, I deeply enjoyed them however only 4 stars for me because it didn’t have the horror elements I was looking for.

Stitches is a short anthology of horror stories written by Hirokatsu Kihara and Junji Ito. The pair have partnered up before with their creation of Mimi's Tales of Terror. Stitches feels like the equivalent of telling creepy stories around a campfire. The stories are short, give you a quick scare, and leave you hanging at the end. They are brief, but they don't really need to offer more. The stories give you the creeps and then move onto the next one. They're exactly what they need to be. I thoroughly enjoyed this anthology!

"I never knew bugs could be so loud. But thanks to all the noise they made, I felt like the whole thing was finally over"

it's always cool seeing Ito's artwork and most of these stories were pretty unpredictable to me and a few even creeped me out despite being fairly simple and really short. This is great if you have an hour or so to spare for some quick, little reads.

This short, quick read collects nine short horror stories (the "stitches”) with a bonus manga story. Originally published in Japan in 2010, the major appeal to English-speaking readers in 2024 is likely to be the ghastly illustrations by Junij Ito, famed for his critically-adored horror comics, such as Uzumaki, adapted into a highly memorable film at the peak of the J-Horror boom. (His cat comics, though possibly of less interest to our readers, are also much adored.) The bonus manga story is "Summer Graduation Trip", a fairly spooky and supposedly true story of two young women who go to a spa and find themselves in a spook-filled sauna.

[Full review for publication elsewhere.]

This book gets a very similar review to my other junji Ito books, with one notable difference - this book continuously had certain words or phrases blocked out in a way that made it impossible to understand some of the sentences. It really took away from my enjoyment of the arc, hence why I’m specifically rating this 4 stars, though the actual arc gets 3 stars from me. I think my favorite story was the one with the kimono, I didn’t expect it to be text, I thought it was manga, but overall it was enjoyable. The stories were not too long

While the stories could be interesting, the current way they're presented is less of a narrative and more of a basic plot summary. Overall it's not an engaging work, and while Junji Ito's illustrations are nice, they do not make up for the lack of storytelling.

This was an interesting book, and my star rating is based on the fact that I believe this book was intended for an adult audience. In that case, I found the illustrations compelling and beautiful but the stories were very anticlimactic and not a bit frightening to me. I'm assuming that some of the impact of the horror was lost in translation or is a cultural difference. That being said, I would absolutely hand this over to an older child who is looking for a scare. It reminds me a bit of the original Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark where the plots of the seperate stories were varying levels of scary but the illustrations by Stephen Gammell scared the pants off a person!

The atmosphere of this book was well done and each short story was haunting in its own way. That being said, in my opinion without the illustrations by Junji Ito, I don't think the stories would have been as terrifying as they were.

The illustrations in this were fantastic, as is usual for Junji Ito.
I will say I found most of the stories quite anti-climactic, but still relatively enjoyable.

Bite-sized horror stories with delightfully creepy illustrations by Junji Ito? Sign me up.

I went into this book only knowing the above, but I was quickly disappointed regardless of my limited expectations. Laid out similar to campfire stories or urban legends, the tales recounted here were clipped and stylistically candid. Emphasis on atmosphere, characters, and even overall spookiness seemed to be sacrificed for keeping each story to the bare minimum of structure. While the illustrations greatly helped to add dimension to each piece, I found my eye gazing away from the text and instead moving from one drawing to the next. I wonder if going in I had realized that this book feels like it will read more for the middle grade or chapter book crowd - think Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz and illustrated by Stephen Gammell - I don't think my perception would have been as soured. That being the case, I know of a few middle schoolers just beginning to cut their creepy teeth on horror who would love this.

Also, from a very practical point. the watermark used on my review copy was so opaque and large that it obscured most of the contents of each page. As a publisher myself, I fully understand and appreciate watermarking review copies, but this was bordering on the gratuitous.

Sincere thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing an ARC with me in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately this collection fell flat to me. It felt very half baked and I was disappointed. It's drawings were beautiful as always but the short stories were not what I had hoped

Stitches isn’t the first time author Hirokatsu Kihara and Junji Ito have collaborated together. Years back, Ito had taken Kihara’s Mimi’s Tales of Terror compilation, and added his own twists to the tales. However, Stitches is the first time the two writers have teamed up to come up with something original. Unfortunately, not everything delivered gives off either authors’ trademarked creeps.

The collection of nine short stories (plus a bonus manga) puts a focus on strange apparitions. From ghostly tumors in “Face” and neighbors returning from the dead in “Festival of the Dead”, these tales deal with situations that somehow come and go as they please. Perhaps this is where the biggest flaw of Stitches is on display, as both Kihara and Ito are known to leave readers feeling uneasy after each story. Instead, things sort of wrap up in a Deus Ex Machina sort of fashion.

Granted, some of the spookier tales do offer genuine eyebrow-raising. “Folk Dance” focuses on a photographer taking pictures of a student outing. When the time comes to see the pictures, an odd situation arises due to a subject’s vanishing. “Snow Day” has a mysterious woman appearing to a high schooler on a freezing morning with no shoes. But then, the next day, the woman appears again, this time in her house and hanging from a rope.

These tales have the right amount of info revealed about the specters, leaving readers with more questions than answers. It’s that level of unsettling nerve that keeps these tales shining brighter than the rest, with their endings feeling more open-ended. But it’s not all spooky tales, as “The Play” delivers chills involving a weird marionette. It builds towards something spooky, only for it to end with a surprisingly funny punchline.

Then again, it’s the bonus manga at the end that showcases the strengths of both Ito and Kihara. Seemingly a true story, “Summer Graduation Trip” involves two friends at a traditional inn. They attempt to use the onsen, only to walk deeper into the basement towards it with no end. In true horror fashion, what ends up happening leaves more questions to be asked, with nary a reason for the spine-chilling vibes to occur.

When Stitches leaves readers asking more questions, it results in a good spooky story. However, half of the time, the story builds towards something scary, only to end with little-to-no fanfare. It’s no Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, but there are a couple of winners in Stitches that are worthy of being told around a campfire.

Thank you NetGalley and Viz Media for the ARC! Stitches combines short horror stories by Hirokatsu Kihara with disturbing artwork by Junji Ito. The stories are reminiscent of those told within friend groups mostly during the middle school/junior high years. They are fun, slightly creepy, but not so horrific that they'll keep you up at night. The biggest seller for this collection is the artwork by Junji Io and it does not miss, but for fans of his manga, they may be left underwhelmed.

The stories were really interesting but I was kind of surprised to find that they were in actual book format and not graphic novel. I was expecting more artwork by Junji Ito. I was a little disappointed that there was only a page of artwork following every chapter, although it did help bring the story to life for me. I always appreciate the artwork Junji Ito creates.

Stitches is truly a bit of an odd read. The closest comparison point might be the classic scary stories to tell in the dark collections. The tales contained within are generally too sleight to have much impact, combined with the sort of emotionless tone that is often typical of Japanese folk horror the stories end up a bit wanting. The one exception is the one manga story at the end, where Ito’s art does shine, but it’s not enough to be able to really recommend this one.

I love Kihara and Ito but I found this collection a little boring. I was looking for something a little scarier with more illustrations. I now know that this is a collection of previously released stories so I guess I get it, but still.