Hideshi Hino - Lullabies From Hell

If you watched (and enjoyed to some extent) the Guinea Pig series then you probably find this name familiar. Well, Hideshi Hino was the director of the Mermaid one and the Flower Of Flesh and Blood from the Guinea Pig Series. Despite his movie endeavors his main work accumulated in the form of horror comics.

Lullabies From Hell is a collection of four of his distinct stories. Although distinct they all share this common dread and some kind of depression. In each story, the main character is either a complete outcast or he is in a situation where everybody is against him. There is no good guys/bad guys, just bad, terrible and deranged guys. This might be a problem for people who usually when they read stories (or watch, whatever) try to connect with the characters and find similarities between themselves and the characters. I don't usually do that so I had no problems with that.

The most peculiar story from these four would be the first one. It's kind of an autobiographic fantasy tale where the main character is the author himself. It goes surreal very fast but you get to meet and understand his fascination with the grotesque. It's a bit corny but it's all good fun, not even the author took the story very seriously.

My personal favorite though would be the third one, called: Train of Terror. Oooh! More cliche names! I liked this one the most because of the constant feel of being completely alone in this rapidly changed world. Nobody seems to be what they show and there's this constant paranoid feeling. Paranoia and dementia; nuff said.

This isn't a modern day manga so the art isn't what you might except. It's more of a Kazuo Umezu style. I'm not sure when was this published but I think it's from the late 70s. There is a lot of gore to be found here but most of it isn't very explicit so gore hounds might be a little disappointed with this one. That doesn't mean there are no disgusting moments or blood crazed panels of comic violence. The aspect of gore is more focused on infection and disgust rather than on dismemberment and so on. Overall art is fairly good, a bit weird I might say. I especially enjoyed how the characters were drawn and especially their eyes. Oh the terror in them is so delightful! :D Everything is so round and circular-ish~.

All in all this is an great old school horror manga and should not be missed by anyone who enjoys this stuff.

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Be sure to check this post from Unflinching Eye for another Hideshi Hino manga and some more information about his work!