Smashed, written and illustrated by Junji Ito (a Japanese manga artist known for his 2016 horror series Tomie: The Beauty of Evil), is a graphic novel consisting of thirteen short stories, filled with thrilling creatures, concepts, characters, and stunning art. 

The first story is titled “Bloodsucking Darkness.” It shares the tale of young girl named Nami who suffers of poor eating habits, so much so that others have begun worrying for her mental health. But suddenly beneath a tree, she sees her classmate Tani looking very frail, where he expresses his desire to call attention to her eating disorder and confesses his love for her. Nami, taken aback by such information, immediately puts a stop to both of their eating disorders. They became close friends and Tani invited Nami over, with only the words, “they want to meet you.” Nami hesitantly made her way to Tani’s house, where he greets her with a sinister expression, one she cannot quite make out. He leads her to his backyard where quietly waited a cramped little shed. Nami feels unsure and as if her body was repelling itself away from the shed. But she held her tongue as Tani led her into the mysterious shed. With no faint idea of what she’s about to witness Nami goes inside.

This book was absolutely mesmerizing and I would recommend this to anyone who’s a horror fanatic or if you can appreciate good art this is definitely the book for you. Fans of the Netflix series Japanese Tales of the Macabre will definitely enjoy this series.