If you are a fan of horror, you must know about manga artist Junji Ito. With works like Tomie, Uzumaki, and The Enigma of Amigara Fault, Ito single-handedly brought manga and anime into the horror realm. Ito has been peppering the genre with disturbing and fantastical imagery since 1987, showing us what exactly lurks in the deep darkness of our minds, his storytelling second only to these images. A book of nightmares comes to us in the form of a “best hits” book featuring artwork from various Junji Ito works in The Art of Junji Ito: Twisted Visions.
Twisted Visions features artwork in glossy black and white as well as in color. While the monochrome images are straight from his manga, the color pictures add fantastical and otherworldly vibes as we see a glimpse of what these stories would look like in real life. Vibrant blood reds, murky blues and browns of fish scales, and mysterious purple auras line the pages in this coffee table essential for horror and art fans alike — even better if you’re a Japanophile too.
But Twisted Visions is more than just a picture book. Each image has a small tidbit of information about it, like type of paint used or the inspiration behind the illustration. We also get an Afterward and Interview with Ito himself talking about his career as a “mangaka” (manga artist). Twisted Visions is spooky and smart!
So if you’re looking for a nice addition to your living room decor, invest in the beautiful yet disturbing imagery in The Art of Junji Ito: Twisted Visions. Even without the full stories accompanying the art, you’ll no doubt be filled with dread, unable to look away. Remember to read the book backward (as is customary in Japan), and feast your eyes on a masterpiece.
Do you enjoy the elegant yet grotesque works of Junji Ito? Leave us a comment with your favorite character!
