The Suicide Forest

Last week, I read Spirit: Angel Smerti, which was a great action story thay updated a classic character. I really enjoyed the Spirit but it’s been awhile since I’ve read a true horror story that served no other purpose than to scare me. So, this week I read THE SUICIDE FOREST, written by El Torres, illustrated Gabriel Hernandez, published by IDW.

Alan is your typical American living in Japan. He has a job, a girlfriend and more than a little culture shock. But, no matter where you live, people are people and all relationships come to an end. So Alan breaks up with his girlfriend. Unfortunately for Alan, his girlfriend Masami is so distraught that she commits suicide. But Masami is so angry that she returns to exact vengeance upon Alan and those whom she feels wronged her. Alan’s only hope is Ryoko, a ranger in the forest where Masumi killed herself, who seems to know far too much about ghosts.

I’ve been a fan of the Torres and Hernandez team for a long time, and even talked about them before, so it came as no surprise that this book was very, very good. In this story Torres writes a ghost story that is reminiscent of such classic Japanese ghost tales as The Ring and The Grudge. Torres creates a sense of apprehension throughout the book that makes it hard to put down. Even better, although you know the ghost is coming and you know what is going to happen, the pages still drip with fear and tension. While Alan starts the story, it’s really Ryoko that drives it. Her back story is far more interesting than Alan’s and serves to focus the chilling sequences to a keen edge. And, like many classic horror stories, the ending is perfectly ambiguous so that you have an ending which is as unsettling as the story itself.

Hernandez has grown as an artist and it shows. His senses of style and composition have improved and it really carries the story. His style is full of thick, heavy lines, which work to wonderful effect when the characters are in the forest. The colors are perfect for the story. Many of the critical scenes take place in dark, secluded places. The colors capture the claustrophobic nature of the settings with being so dark that it obliterates the art.

The Suicide Forest is a great horror story full of tense moments and apprehension of impending doom. Once you realize the suicide forest is a real place, the Aokigahara forest in Japan, it just adds to the story. If you are looking for something to scare you, or just a creepy good time, then this is the book for you.

- David Lee