Somewhere after midnight

12. Goth – Otsuichi

A series of vignettes about Morino Yoru, or is it Yuu, and the pack of weirdos she attracts by not really interacting with most of the people around her (familiar). These were all connected by the presence of Morino and the one dude she does talk to, who remains nameless until the last story, and by the twisty nature of the endings. The “Dog” one in particular got me, but I can say that every single story in this grouping, or every chapter if you want to call them that, was disturbing. Every single one. There wasn’t a lighthearted tale in the bunch. There was no comic relief, either. I did find that I had to sort of ration this book out along with reading something else just to take the edges off and because I already work a job that can strain one’s compassion for disturbing situations, so I don’t need a super dark book to make that worse. However, what is also helpful in the edition of the book I bought and read were two essays from the author about how he didn’t realize he actually won an award and what he was trying to do…and how he realizes it’s not really all that Goth in the lifestyle sense. Nope. It’s not.

 

I hear you’re holding out for a weirdo? Thorfy’s ready.