right well, this is horror done right.

zashiki onna isn't horror in the sense of gore/torture/etc. but there's something so horribly disconcerting about it, that you can't look away.

the plot's not overly complicated, as should be expected of only 11 chapters, and the artwork's straightforward (though not bad) too. nothing's particularly impressive about the majority of the character cast too. it's a simple manga, and that's what makes it terrifying.

the way the stalker woman is drawn isn't horrific - she's not got blood dripping out of her eyes, or a smile cut across her lips - but honestly i'm expecting that face to be popping up in my nightmares. it's so normal, yet just not quite right.

honestly, i think the normality of zashiki onna is what makes it so terrifying to read. this isn't a far fetched story; we can separate ourselves from a torture scene but not a woman walking down the street. and that horribly ambiguous last chapter means that, to the reader, it really doesn't feel that the manga's finished.

she could be outside, right now, asking for a guy called yamamoto.

and she'll be outside for a very long time.