In a Park at Twilight, a Long Time Ago

When I was in elementary school there was a park in my neighborhood. Because it was surrounded by tall buildings, you could visit the park at twilight and the sounds of cars and the hubbub of people would completely disappear. It was the kind of park that offered a small pocket of quiet in the big city.
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Powerfully Morbid & Occasionally Gruesome

Nicky “Knuckles” Mamatas picked up the September issue of Neo last week and spotted a review of ZOO. How fortuitous. For those of you who don’t know, Neo is a magazine that services the otaku crowd in the UK. Each issue features a mix of information about manga, anime, eiga, and all sorts of groovy stuff from Japan.

Anyhoo… the anonymous reviewer says a lot of good things about our book. This comment, in particular, I liked very much: “Each of Otsuichi’s tales is powerfully morbid and occasionally gruesome. Many also feel strangely like fairytales as they explore weird situations in timeless settings.”

I agree. ZOO is fairytale-like. And the stories are indeed morbid and gruesome. But I wish more reviewers would start picking up on the book’s humor. You may hate yourself at the end of day, but there are moments in “Find the Blood!” and “In a Falling Airplane” that will put a wicked grin on your face.

 

Praise for ZOO

Horror author and all-around good guy Brian Keene writes:

“Otsuichi’s ZOO made quite a splash in Japan, and if there is any justice in the world, it will have the same impact here thanks to this Haikasoru edition. ZOO is an exceptionally entertaining collection of speculative fiction stories. Otsuichi crosses genres and boundaries with an almost Bradbury-like style, breathing new life into familiar sci-fi and horror tropes. Haunting, emotional and thoroughly engrossing. I loved it!”