[ The following essay contains SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! ] Of manga  author Junji Ito’s innumerable masterpieces (including such long-running series as Tomie  and Uzumaki  and self-contained one-shots like The Enigma of Amigara Fault  and The Hell of the Doll Funeral ), Town of No Roads  is probably his most flawed. Its sprawling, expansive themes strain against a narrative too narrow and restrictive to properly contain them, the central allegory and its orbiting metaph

[ The following essay contains SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! ] A mad scientist meddles in “God’s domain” and pays the ultimate price. A pair of irresponsible camp counselors neglect the children under their supervision, instead sneaking off for some quick “hanky-panky”—thus incurring the wrath of a vengeful mother. The government ignores every conceivable warning sign and experiments on that strange unidentified object that plummeted from the sky, unleashing cosmic forces b

[ The following essay contains MINOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! ] Bloober Team’s recent remake of Konami’s Silent Hill 2 begins in...

Director Ataru Oikawa’s cinematic adaptation of Tomie uses the basic premise of manga artist Junji Ito’s identically titled source...

[ The following essay contains MAJOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! ] At first glance, Sonic the Hedgehog 3’s  Professor Gerald Robotnik...

[ The following essay contains MAJOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! ] The Exorcist III  is, first and foremost, about faith . I don’t...

[ The following essay contains MAJOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! ] At first glance, the premise of Junji Ito’s “Smashed” is almost...

My grandfather was a lifelong musician. In his younger days, his polka band would perform in swanky New York nightclubs such as the...

Well, they’ve finally designed a web game that appeals specifically to my interests—and I am thoroughly addicted. Cine2Nerdle  is...

[The following essay contains MAJOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] I. Living Off the Corpse of the Old World Come on, Max. Tell me your...

[The following review contains SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] Junji Ito’s “Hanging Blimp” features a brilliant moment of dark comedy....

[The following essay contains MAJOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] Hadestown is a brilliant reinterpretation of the Greek myth of...

Recently, I read an exquisitely curated collection of jisei—Japanese death poetry. It was a thoroughly engrossing volume, offering unique...

[The following essay contains MAJOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] Modern blockbusters—especially those belonging to the increasingly...

From Max Schreck’s ghoulishly feral Count Orlok to Lon Chaney’s grotesquely disfigured Phantom of the Opera, the movie monsters of the...

[The following essay exaggerates my opinions for comedic effect; please don’t take it too seriously.] Back in high school, I wrote a...

Under certain circumstances, even the most familiar of spaces can seem utterly terrifying. When you’re trapped in your own home for weeks...

[The following essay contains MAJOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] How does a totalitarian regime solidify its reign? Through fear and...

[The following essay contains MAJOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] Traditionally, adaptations of Pinocchio revolve around naughty...

[The following essay contains MAJOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.] Early on in Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Angela...