This is very dark Japanese fiction - the stories don't start out as dark, but they all have that knife twist that makes you feel uncomfortable. It's not an altogether pleasant experience, but it's an interesting, thought-provoking, unusual one. My favorite story was SO-far.

Short stories are some of my favourite things. Not only are short stories incredibly difficult to write but, when you get them right, they are absolutely amazing. They also allow an author to really stretch their imagination, covering different topics and maybe even experiment with different writing styles. So when I saw ZOO I knew I wanted to give it a try! Thanks to Shueisha and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Part of the reason I started A Universe in Words was because I wanted to push myself to read more literature from different countries and cultures. Perhaps short stories are one of the best ways to get to know the literature of a different country because you get so many different takes of an author's style. ZOO contains a range of stories written over four years, between 1998 to 2002, which range across different topics but retain a dark sense of humour. The stories in ZOO should all be classed as horror, technically, with dark twists, morbid realizations, and absurd overtones. Some of the situations created by Otsuichi in this collection are hilarious and yet they are intensely uncanny and creepy at the same time. The original ideas behind almost every story is fascinating and often the core plot will stay with you way after you've finished the story, but at times the writing style doesn't entirely do justice to the stories itself.

Otsuichi has a very stripped back writing style, which doesn't rely on overt dramatization to get the tension in a situation across. Horrid things are coldly spelled out and partially this is what makes the stories so fascinating. However, this means that sometimes it also feels as if the stories are rushed or written too simply. The stories unfold, with one twist after another, and then simply end. This sounds like exactly what a short story must do, but being used to horror stories which focus more on the interiority of its characters, Otsuichi is both refreshing and also strange. It might take some getting used to but in the end ZOO is very rewarding collection of horror stories from a truly different voice. Among my favourite stories are probably 'The White House in the Cold Forest' which gave me the shivers and 'Seven Rooms', which was amazing.

I am really happy to have read ZOO, every story had something unique and interesting to offer the reader. Otsuichi has a fascinating imagination and I basically want to see full length film adaptations of each of these short stories. I'd recommend this to fans of Horror fiction and Absurd fiction.

Zoo by Otsuichi is a collection of Japanese short stories. Otsuichi is the pen name of Hirotaka Adachi, born 1978. He is a Japanese writer, mostly of horror short stories, as well as a filmmaker. He is a member of the Mystery Writers of Japan and the Honkaku Mystery Writers Club of Japan.

There was a time when American horror was something more than slashers, vampires, and werewolves. Today, slashers control the movies and hipster vampires and werewolves control television. Stephen King keeps keeping on with his brand of horror, but it has been a while since he turned out something as great as his 1970s and 1980s books. Something turned my attention to Japanese horror with the release of The Ring and The Grudge. Otsuichi captures some of this freshness in horror. Granted I am a very casual horror reader but, I grew up reading The Omen, The Exorcist, and Gary Brandner's The Howling. They introduced something that felt different. Otsuichi does the same.

That all being said one of my favorite stories in this collection is a slasher type story. It was just so different from what I expected. The range of stories is fairly wide which each story taking a bit of different angle in suspense or terror. Divorce can be a terrible thing for a child but having it develop into an actual horror story is a unique take. Two stories gave the feeling of a modern Frankenstein tale, but on a much different tangent. Sibling stories included in the collection also have a distinct tone to them. The story of the twins will leave the reader wondering how does a parent choose a favorite and how superficial is that decision.

The title story, "Zoo", sets the tone for the entire collection -- dark and at times very demented, but always different. I stopped reading horror when it became predictable, single tracked, or too "hipster-like" for my tastes. I don't plan on reading horror on a regular basis but this book was definitely a treat and nice break in my normal reading genres and reminded me why I used to love horror.

ZOO is a translated collection of short horror stories by Japanese writer Otsuichi. Don’t be fooled by the bright and cheery front cover – many of the stories focus on death, and will shock you, or at the very least get you thinking.

Otsuichi adopts a minimalist writing style throughout the collection. Sometimes this works better than other times, but mostly I enjoyed using my imagination to fill in the gaps – this works particularly well with horror I think. The stories range in length from half a dozen chapters to just a couple of pages, but they all have one thing in common: they all challenged my preconceptions of the horror genre. There is a brilliant quote in the afterword by Amelia Beamer that sums this up well:

“So here’s what I know about horror: it’s a genre without rules.”

That’s definitely what it felt like reading through ZOO. Otsuichi was making up his own rules, with such interesting results.

Most of the stories in the collection are very well written, and most of them have a twist or two! One of the first stories is ‘In A Falling Plane’, about two passengers haggling over the price of a euthanasia drug while their plane is being hijacked. I particularly enjoyed the slither of humour with the rolling can that keeps tripping up those who try to tackle the gunman. That’s an element of the collection that I feel is very unique – most stories have an injection of humour into them, which makes for an interesting contrast alongside some quite gruesome themes.

My favourite story was ‘Song Of the Sunny Spot’. I would say it is more science fiction than horror, and is about a synthetic being who is created to care for a dying man. As time goes on, the android develops through experience, aned begins to understand what death really means. It was an exceptionally good and thought-provoking short story, and I didn’t see the twist coming at all!

Following on from this great story is another favourite of mine, ‘Kazari and Yoki’. It is a sad tale of twins who are not equally loved by their mother, which ends in tragedy – though not how you would expect. This was a gritty story of abuse in the home and though it can’t be considered horror in the traditional sense, it is still a chilling tale of inequality.

The collection is not for the faint-hearted. Some stories made me flinch, others I simply had to tell someone about, as they were just too awful to keep to myself. It isn’t a perfect short story collection, and there were a few stories that I skimmed through, and one that I didn’t finish. Nevertheless, ZOO definitely stands out, and I recommend it to any horror fans out there who want to tackle something a little different.

Star Rating: ★★★★ (4/5)

Otsuichi is great as ever. Master of the quiet creepiness, things that go plink and shuffle in the night instead of a bump.

Definition of spooky. Excited to read everything this author has ever written. Please make his full catalog available in English translations.

Zoo is a collection of creepy short stories by Japanese author Otsuichi. The stories vary from fantastical to science fiction to gritty realism. Over all, I thought the collection was varied enough to make them interesting but still cohesive due to the dark tones of the stories.

The only story that I didn't enjoy to some extent was the titular "Zoo". "Zoo" was the story that started off the collection and I got a bit worried that I would dislike them all. "Zoo" felt repetitive and confusing.

Some of the stories had Frankenstein-ish themes and tropes which were modernized and used in interesting ways. "The White House in the Cold Forest" felt like a dark retelling of Frankenstein's monster which included a house made out of dead human bodies.

I also really enjoyed "In a Falling Airplane" because of the psychological aspects. The main characters in that story had horrendous backstories that caused them to act they way they did.

"Find the Blood" was one of the oddest stories but with a twisted sense of humour. It was one of my favourite stories for that reason.

The saddest one was "Kazari and Yoko". It was a story about child abuse (actually a pretty common theme in the collection). There were some moments of hope but it was bleak for the most part. This story was probably my favourite because I really felt for poor Yoko.

The other stories were okay. Some I enjoyed more than others.

I don't read a lot of horror in general so this was a nice collection to pick up. It took me out of my reading comfort zone. I would definitely recommend it to horror fans and to readers that want to try some horror but don't want to jump into a full length novel.

*I received Zoo from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*