Book Review: Goth by Otsuichi

Morino is the strangest girl in school—how could she not be, given her obsession with brutal murders? And there are plenty of murders to grow obsessed with, as the town in which she lives is a magnet for serial killers. She and her schoolmate will go to any length to investigate the murders, even putting their own bodies on the line. And they don’t want to stop the killers—Morino and her friend simply want to understand them.

This new Haikasoru edition features the previously unpublished bonus novelette, “Morino’s Souvenir Photo.”

Disturbingly dark and blood-curdling.

This is the first time I’ve read a Japanese book, and this was recommended to me by one of my friends. I am always fascinated by stories that talk about the darker side of humanity. I hadn’t found a book like this before because most of it was just lame horror-trying-to-be-creepy story and that’s the reason why I stopped reading some horrors for a while.

Goth is told from the point-of-view of one of the main characters – his name wasn’t revealed from the start, but I’m happy to know it (finally!) on the last chapter – and sometimes a POV from the killer or someone involved in the story was also included on that particular chapter. The story is about two high school students who became friends because of having the same weird interest in something scary and gruesome murders that mostly happen in their place or near their place. Each chapter features a collection of stories about Morino and her friend’s adventure on investigating (or most likely observing) how the killers/murderers do their ghastly and frightening works.

I love the writing of the author. Otsuichi could write some chilling and twisted tale. He was able to unveil the darkness that surrounds some people and how they viewed the world they live on. I could feel how the two students feel, how the killer feels no pity for their victim, and also the contentment or satisfaction that the killers get after doing it.

My favorite stories are the “dog” and “memory/twins.” I like how the dog story was executed and how it was very touching too. To be honest, this is the story where the killer really has a reasonable explanation for his/her actions – which I liked. While on the memory/twins, it really shocked me to find out the secrets that Morino has been hiding from everyone since that accident or is it really an accident?

Overall, I really love this novel! I was able to explore the darker side of the world. Some of it might be unrealistic, but still, I was able to get a peek on the killer/murderer’s mind. If you also like a dark, twisted, and disturbing story, then you should try this one.

Publisher: Viz LLC

Publication Date: September 3rd, 2015 (First published by TokyoPop on May 1st, 2008)

Translated by: Andrew Cunningham, Jocelyne Allen

Genre(s): Horror, Mystery

Pages: 295

Language: Japanese (Original), English (Translated Version)

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Otsuichi (乙一, Otsuichi?), also known as Eiichi Nakata, is the pen-name of Hirotaka Adachi (安達 寛高, Adachi Hirotaka?), born 1978. He is a Japanese writer, mostly of horror short stories. He made his debut with Summer, Fireworks, and My Corpse while still in high school. Major works include the novel Goth, which was made into a manga, and the short story collection Zoo, which was made into a movie. Tokyopop has released his short story collection Calling You, and will release Goth in November. His short story F-Sensei’s Pocket appears in the English language edition of Faust.

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