just saw someone call junji ito lovecraftian (loads shotgun)
you know aside from the fact that calling any freaky horror “lovecraftian” is stupid (along “kafkaesque” lines) junji ito’s horror is by definition NOT lovecraftian. lovecraftian horror is like, cosmic horror that preys on your fear of the unknown. you KNOW what the horror is in a junji ito story. he shows you. it’s the living person inside the armchair or the unbearable desire to force yourself through an increasingly not-you-shaped hole. the fact that he places what you’re scared of directly in your line of sight and renders it in loving, incredible detail is what makes his work so good. a lot of horror fails when it tries to make the threat knowable; junji ito’s does not. (empties shotgun and loads it again)
