Synopsis:
Carried into modern Japan from a forgotten past, the being known as Ogushi haunts and tortures humans of all kinds. Little is know about Ogushi’s curse, except that it resides in an unexpected place: human hair. Like Junji Ito’s Uzumaki, PTSD Radio takes something everyday and weaves it into a series of chilling, cryptic, twisted, repellant, and alluring manga stories that become more than what they first seem.
The hit digital series finally comes to print in three 400-page compilations!
An unseen hand tugs at your braid. You find an old box with only a tangled mess of dark hair inside. You open a door in your home only to witness a river of curls slinking away, an ominous lump at its heart.
Ogushi preys on the unprepared. Before it’s too late, tune into PTSD Radio.
These episodes and more await in this acclaimed horror series, coming to print after a successful digital run in double-length omnibus editions featuring sickeningly-textured covers. From the gleefully-twisted mind that created Fuan no Tane, PTSD Radio is a necessity for fans of the masters of manga scares such as Junji Ito, Kazuo Umezz, Shintaro Kago, and Suehiro Maruo.
My Edition:
Library copy (I ♥️ Library)
My Thoughts:
I hope you don’t have a thing about hair. Cuz, if you do, you’re going to want to stay far, far away from PTSD Radio. Just as a tiny little lesson for those who don’t know, Japan has a thing about hair. It tends to feature heavily in horror/ghost stories, and just otherwise holds a lot of cultural import. If you’re into academic stuff, I’d highly recommend checking out It’s Alive: Disorderly and dangerous hair in Japanese Horror Cinema for a bit of context. Otherwise, you can always just do an internet search. I find the subject utterly fascinating. You might too!
But, with that disclaimer out of the way, I have to say that I didn’t personally find PTSD Radio frightening, although lore has it that Nakayama had to stop writing it to “protect his sanity.” Maybe it’s a cultural disconnect. Or solid marketing. Who knows. One thing I did find PTSD Radio to be was unsettling. It definitely made me stop at points and wonder ‘what the hell?’ This is a collection of short and spooky tales connected by the old god Ogushi. There is a good variety to the stories, and to their settings.
And if you enjoy detailed and/or tonally dark manga art, you’re probably going to dig on this. Honestly, I think I liked the art more than the actual stories. It’s really good. It’s also fairly disturbing at points. I think that most of the horror for me was experienced through the art. I also really enjoyed the bizarre and disjointed narrative on the divider pages between each story. Read together it is…really weird.
Rating:
PTSD Radio was pretty good. I liked Vol. 1 enough that I did pick up and read Vol. 2, so look out for that review in the future.
PTSD Radio Volume 1
By Masaaki Nakayama
Kodansha Comics
Published: October 18, 2022
Paperback
320 Pages
