The Liminal Zone

Fantastic. I think these might be my new favorite Ito stories, particularly Slumber and The Spirit Flow of Aokigahara. There's the mildly cheesy Stephen King short story feel that I've always loved and which Ito makes into his own kind of monster, and since these stories are a little longer than his other it feels like he takes the time to breathe in the vibe and go crazy with the twists of the story. Occasionally I'd find myself questioning character's actions, but it didn't affect my enjoyment of the story. Ito said in the afterword that these weren't new story ideas but ones he'd pulled from old notebooks, and I like that they didn't get a proper form until now. It feels like they aged well before being sent out into the world.