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Book Review: The Man Who Killed His Wife (and What Happened Afterward) by Wol-vriey

cover art for The Man Who KIlled His Wife (and What Happened Afterward) by Wol-vriey

 

The Man Who Killed His Wife (and What Happened Afterward) by Wol-vriey

Blood Bound Publishing, 2023

ISBN: 9781948278690

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

Buy: Bookshop.orgAmazon..com

 

Wol-vriey’s latest is so nutty that readers might just laugh at the absurdity of it all, and that’s not a bad thing.  It’s a merry-go-round of horror craziness, like his last one.

 

Maryanne Wilson wants to get pregnant, but her poor, overworked husband Bob simply doesn’t have the energy for bedroom fun.  So, she turns to her neighbor (who of course happens to be a witch) for a demon sex charm.  That works until an argument with Bob ends in her accidental death.  Unfortunately, the charm causes Bob to have sex with her corpse, which makes him leery of calling the cops.  So, he enlists the help of another neighbor (who of course is a top-level computer hacker) to dispose of the body and come up with a viable explanation.  Naturally, nothing goes right for Bob.  Ashley, the hacker, is a psychotic sadist who wants payment in pain, the corpse won’t stay dead, and there’s the matter of the little blue demon who eats everyone he finds.  It’s a tragic comedy of errors for everyone involved.

 

Enjoying this means not taking it too seriously, as Bob constantly makes boneheaded decisions that no rational person would.  While skipping details to avoid spoilers, let’s say Bob probably could have got out of his mess in less painful ways.  Plus, this must be some apartment building, as it has a witch with real powers and an ace computer whiz with government connections under the same roof.  Who knew they were this common?  That’s why it’s important to remember, none of that matters in this type of fiction.  It’s meant to be fun and not taken too seriously, much like some of the pulp writing of yesteryear.  And, fun this is.

 

As always with this author, the book speeds along, with no deep soliloquies or wasted time.  Despite the pain and gore that show up (and, if you’ve read Wol-vriey before, this isn’t as brutal as some of his other works) the book still has a somewhat lighthearted touch compared to some of his darker, more ‘serious’ efforts.  The little blue demon goes a long way towards keeping this from getting too ugly: it’s such an obnoxious eating machine that you have to chuckle at it, and its final fate is hilarious.  Some of Ashley’s ridiculously painful ideas of a good time (and her amusing notes afterwards) also keep the story trending that way.  Quite over the top, but still entertaining.

 

Bottom line?  This isn’t a book to terrify readers, or bowl them over with its profound nature.  It’s just big, goofy horror fun, and should keep the author’s fans happy until the next one.

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

 

Graphic Novel Review: Tomie: Complete Deluxe Edition by Junji Ito

cover art for Tomie: Complete Deluxe Edition by Junji Ito

 

Tomie: Complete Deluxe Edition by Junji Ito

Viz Media, 2016

ISBN: 9781421590561

Available: Hardcover, Kindle edition

Buy: Bookshop.orgAmazon.com

 

Femme fatale Tomie Kawakami, with long dark hair, hypnotic eyes, and a signature mole under her left eye, makes men love her, regardless of their age. She drives them to madness and sometimes murder, whether the target is a rival or herself. Dismemberment is the common treatment of her corpse, which comes with unexpected results. Her body has the ability to regenerate, multiply, and animate.

 

Chapter 1 opens with Reiko, Tomie’s classmate and best friend, discussing the titular character’s death. However, Tomie returns during the middle of a classroom lecture, much to the shock of everyone. Tomie’s death is told in a flashback. When the class heads out for a field trip, Tomie and the teacher are having a conversation where it is revealed they are involved in an affair. This turns into an argument and Tomie falls off the cliffside. The teacher and students agree to dispose of the body by dismembering and passing all 42 pieces out to everyone with instructions to dump the pieces in different places. Tomie’s heart is given to Reiko for disposal. Upon Tomie’s return, Reiko and another classmate want to turn themselves in for what happened, but the rest of the class gives chase, only to be rescued, in a way, by Tomie. At the end of the chapter, Reiko has moved and wonders about her mysterious friend. The last panel reveals a heart regenerating limbs and a face that has the same mole and telltale beauty in a cave near the beach.

 

This first chapter sets the tone for the entire manga. Ultimately, the reader is left with more questions than answers, but Ito still manages to tell a compelling story. Is Tomie a monster, or is it possible that depending on the chapter she is the reflection of humanity’s fears and obsessions? She can dig into the minds of the men she attracts, often by a mere glance. She’s often sweet to her victims (or targets} one minute, and insufferably cruel the next. Tomie is adept at gaslighting anyone she interacts with. In one chapter, a piece of her is kept in a vat in the basement of Morita Hospital. When Tomie fully regenerates, the doctor responsible for the experiment attempts to take ownership of her, which goes badly for him and those involved. In another chapter, two men are obsessed with Tomie, both convinced that their rival’s’ version is the false Tomie and needs to be murdered.

 

That is not to say that everyone that comes into Tomie’s crosshairs is an appropriate target. A young woman babysits for a deranged couple who found a swaddled baby Tomie on their property one night. The infant is obsessed with anything red, and the parents are driven to do everything they can to accommodate their new child. Another chapter, which is rather disturbing, reveals that Tomie affects the mind of a child so much that he becomes obsessed with her to the point of denying his real mother and starts calling Tomie by that title. Her tendencies to seduce men are leveled at this young boy and can be considered grooming behavior.

 

This volume is more than the story of Tomie. It is the evolution of Ito in his storytelling and his artwork. With over 700 pages, the omnibus is massive. The first installment of the Tomie series was published in 1987 and the last in 2000. Ito’s artwork and storytelling becomes more detailed over time, so the volume not only provides a great story but also a kind of archive of Ito’s work. This was not the last appearance of Tomie, as there was a series of films produced between 1998 and 2011. This was my first exposure to Tomie, which ultimately led me to the manga. These are worth a look if you are so inclined. Highly recommended.

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Book Review: Marriage by Wol-vriey

cover art for Marriage by Wol-Vriey

Marriage by Wol-vriey

Burning Bulb Publishing, 2023

ISBN: 9781948278621

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

Buy: Amazon.com

 

Marriage is the equivalent of a silly 80’s B-grade horror film. There’s plenty of gore and graphic sex, a crazy plot, and little depth or making sense.  The last third of the story finishes out the book with a bang that helps make up for a lackluster beginning.

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The protagonist, Adam Norwood, has an affliction that causes his skin to catch on fire when exposed to sunlight, so he inhabits a darkened mansion on an river-island, with his wife and father in law.  Drunken debauchery takes place at the mansion every couple weeks, with a somewhat rotating cast of overage party animals.  Sounds like fun, but Adam keeps having dreams of his wife killing him, in vivid detail–, vivid enough to seem real.

 

That’s the plot for the first part, and it’s pretty thin.  There’s no real character development of interest, rather they are standard caricatures of 30-something drunken lechers.  Most readers probably won’t find them interesting, since they are all interchangeable: it would have helped the story to flesh the characters out. As it is, if anything, you’ll be rooting for them to all get killed off!   Adam also needed further character development. What does he do every day, living in a darkened mansion on a permanent basis?  Binge-watch old WCCW wrestling matches?  Write a memoir of the trials of living with his affliction?  Deify plums?  And how in the world did his father-in-law become a genius at witchcraft?  This part of the book is rather tedious, and tough to get through.

 

BUT… on page 83, the narrative moves away from its early repetitiveness and shifts into gear, introducing a black magic element.  On page 128, it kicks into overdrive, and it’s a wild ride to the finish of the 171 pages.  There are worm-hole creatures that remind one of the movie “Tremors”, some resurrection, and a wacky but entertaining set of explanations for the weird happenings on the island.  They may be pretty outlandish, but this IS horror fiction: realism isn’t required.  The most intriguing part is Adam’s sleuthing, to find if what he sees is really happening, or all in his head.  It’s the best part of the book: it keeps you guessing, and holds your interest.

 

Bottom line: it’s short on making much sense, but the last part of the book provides enough of a payoff to make getting through the first part worth it.  It’s not on the level of the author’s real bell-ringers like The Final Girl and Women, but it’s still fun.

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson