My Two Cents (Book Review): 100 GHOST STORIES THAT WILL LEAD TO MY DEATH Vols. 1-4 by Anji Matono

"100 Ghost Stories That Will Lead To My Death" by Anji Matono is a serialized collection of short stories told in manga. Only the first four volumes are currently available to English readers from Seven Seas Publishing; in Japan, the completed series comprises 10 books.

Each of the stories is pretty much the visual equivalent of flash fiction, covering a wide array of horrors, ranging from ghosts and other spectral phenomena, to monsters lurking in the dark, and monstrous people doing very bad things. The thread tying them all together is a young boy named Yuuma, who we meet in the first book as he is attempting to hurt himself. He's stopped from jumping out a window at school by a concerned classmate named Hina, who asks if he's heard about the "100 ghost stories." Hina tells him if they relay all 100 of these haunted tales, they'll be able to see a ghost, and this convinces Yuuma to abort his plans.

Yuuma appears in the segues between stories after this, primarily seen in his bedroom at home, speaking to an unnamed, unseen person from whose POV both Yuuma and his surroundings are depicted. Even though these interludes are brief, through them we learn that Yuuma's home life is very troubled. His stepmother is shown striking the boy, while a shadowy figure we presume must be his father later storms into the room, chokes Yuuma, and drags him out of frame into the hallway. Yet somehow, Yuuma puts on a brave, cheerful facade for whoever he is addressing in secret with his ghost stories, relaying the tales Hina shares at school to this anonymous friend.

The stories themselves are a mixed bag. Some are genuinely gruesome or terrifying, while others are more confusing than frightening. It's to be expected, I guess, considering Matono's coming up with 100 of them all on the fly, then having to illustrate them. His art style is simple, but he know when and how to add impactful details that bring some of his more horrific and memorable creations to life, like the titular ones in Volume One's "Snails," or Volume Three's "Teke-Teke."

Among the stories I most enjoyed were "Lost Objects," "Clayman," and "Special Delivery" from Volume One; "The Candy Store," "Clean Gum," and "The Discarded Child" from Volume Two; "The Old Braggart," "Passing On," and "Transfiguration" in Volume Three; and "That Day," "Impurity," and "The Darkened Village" from Volume Four.

To me, however, the best of the bunch has been Yuuma's ongoing story. Through his brief appearances, we see someone (or something) interceding on his behalf when his parents are cruel to him but so far, at least in the four volumes currently available, it's unclear who (or what) it is, or what its true intentions may be.

Overall, the four volumes so far comprising "100 Ghost Stories That Will Lead to My Death" are quick, fun, sufficiently spooky reads. The remainder of the series isn't available yet in an English translation, at least not in tankobon form, and at around $10 a pop per Kindle version, I don't know that it's an investment I'm willing to continue making, even to find the answers surrounding Yuuma's mysterious and sinister circumstances, or to see what becomes of poor kid. Either way, I guess I'll have to wait and see.

"100 Ghost Stories That Will Lead to My Death" is available here.