Suzuki wrote The Ring
(Ringu
), which inspired highly successful Japanese and American film versions, and this anthology of subtly disturbing horror stories shows why he's known as the "Stephen King of Japan." The title story, which has been adapted into a forthcoming English-language movie starring Jennifer Connelly, uses the title as a metaphor for the darkness within the human psyche. And while many manga center on teenagers, this volume primarily features adults, whom Meimu gives subtly dramatic facial expressions. The title story is a twist on a classic haunted house theme; it finds a single mother living in a modern apartment building as she re-enacts the behavior of a previous resident, another single mother suspected of murdering her daughter. The next tale, "Island Cruise," questions whether an older, wealthy couple or an idealistic young man more clearly perceives reality when the older man claims to see a child's corpse in the water. In the weakest tale, "Adrift," pretty girls in bikinis fall victim to a strange creature in a bottle. In the last, best yarn, "Forest Beneath the Waves," a man experiencing a midlife crisis embarks on an adventure, only to get trapped in a cave, but not without leaving his son an important message. Suzuki and Meimu economize on mood and pacing to convey the quiet psychological terror of these tales. (Oct.)
