Author: David Peach

this is me

Blackbird

Just who, or what, is this woman who has been helping, and still continues to help, Moriguchi in this very odd, stomach-turning way?

Blackbird — Synopsis

In Blackbird, we join a young man who is bird-watching alone along a beautiful stretch of a mountainous forest. This man’s name is Kume. Along his walk he comes across another young man who is lying injured amongst the foliage — his name, Moriguchi. It seems that Moriguchi has broken his leg, and has managed to survive for a month or so on nothing but the rationed food from his own backpack.

However, as the story continues we learn the deeper, darker truth to Moriguchi’s survival. On the first night of his rescue, he asks his new friend Kume to stay in the hospital room with him. He doesn’t give a specific reason, only that he is scared. That fear is soon realised by Kume during the night, when he witnesses a long black silhouette of a figure kneeling over Moriguchi with its face pressed against his.

On a closer look, Hume sees that the figure is a tall woman with empty, dead eyes and puffed-up lips. After she has made her swift exit, Moriguchi wakes and coughs up a huge chunk of raw flesh. The raw flesh having been fed to him from the mysterious woman’s mouth to his; bird-style.

Just who, or what, is this woman who has been helping, and still continues to help, Moriguchi in this very odd, stomach-turning way? Why did she choose to help him as he lay injured on that forest floor for a month? And will he ever be able to escape her shadow and her bird-like ways?

I’ve been rescued… but She came… but I don’t need the meat anymore…

Moriguchi wants the strange woman to leave him alone

A Faustian-like nightmare

This story had the air of a faustian tale for me. A sort of “deal with the devil” in exchange for something that must be later re-paid. Re-paid with one’s soul and eternal damnation.

The only difference here between The Blackbird and the more classical faust-inspired stories, is that Moriguchi seems to make this deal subconsciously during his fear for his life. As opposed to the more well-off people of a classical faust story; People who just want more knowledge and / or power.

At least this is my interpretation.

His own fear for losing his life could have somehow summoned this woman — this devil. The woman then taking him into a strange, almost recursive, nightmare from which he can never escape. But it’s only on finishing the story do you realise just how sealed Moriguchi’s fate really is.

After we discover that it is in fact his own flesh, somehow from his future, that is being fed to him, I realised that this was a deal that had already been claimed. Yes, she saved him from certain death, but it was from the meat of his own body.

So in essence he saved himself in that immediate moment, but at the expense of his future self.

Moriguchi’s death was always inevitable.

A shadow looms over Moriguchi

An interpretation of Death

Another interpretation I thought about with regards to the bird lady, was that she could be another manifestation of the Grim Reaper; Death incarnate.

The inevitability of death is equal for all living creatures. No matter when or how that time comes, it is something that we all share. So when this woman entered Moriguchi’s life and took him into her twisted nightmare, she did so knowing full well that she would take his life in the future.

In fact, from her point of view she had already begun.

When you think about it, Moriguchi was already about to face death, regardless of the woman appearing. So in fact, she actually gave him more time on the living earth.

Is the demonic winged lady truly an evil being? Could she even be responsible for Moriguchi’s initial state of injury? Or could she actually be something of an agent for good?

Here’s a thought — what if she was some sort of angel, with the power of life and death. What if she was actually trying to give Moriguchi a bit more time in the world?

Perhaps she knew that when death decides it is our time, then it is indeed our time. But maybe she had the power to prolong that person’s life, if only for a short while. But in doing so knew that the life in question was already chosen and must inevitably be claimed.

Moriguchi’s fear for the woman’s return
The strange woman has empty dead eyes

In Summary

The Blackbird was one of the first of Junji Ito’s stories I remember reading. It was one of the ones contained in the first of his collections that I bought — Fragments of Horror. And despite the fact that I have read a decent portion of his work up till this point, it still remains one of my favourites to go back to.

It’s a circular nightmare that I love to re-enter again and again. The imagery of the blackbird woman leaning into Moriguchi on the hospital bed is one of my favourites of Ito’s. Although the panel itself isn’t hugely detailed — especially the woman herself, being only a silhouette to Kume’s eyes — I just remember the sense of wonder I got on my first reading.

Being fresh to Ito’s work at the time it was something that really opened my eyes to his work and was one of the main catalysts in my wanting to actually write about that work. Too bad it’s taken a few years to actually get round to writing about this one.

Fragments of Horror is an incredible smaller collection of stories and I fully encourage you to take a look — if only to read the awesome story that is Blackbird.

The House on the Strand

My first book of 2021. An interesting take on the idea of time travel.

Selected Quotes

I remembered that the tide had been out, the stretches of flat sand exposed, the row of bathing-huts, lined like denture in an open mouth, forming a solid background to the golden expanse.

from The House on the Strand — Chapter One

The small, pane-less windows gave little light, the aperture tight closed by oiled parchment, while the lighted candles standing on the trestle table at the bed’s foot threw monstrous shadows on ochre-coloured walls.

from The House on the Strand — Chapter Six

The House (Uzumaki part 13)

In The House, Kirie and family must move home after theirs is destroyed in a storm. But their new home hides a deadly secret and a body-altering disease.

The floor where her son slept was covered with small holes. Now what was that about?

Wakabayashi questions the strange goings on

The House — Synopsis

After the violent storm from the previous Uzumaki chapter, Kirie and her family have no choice but to find a new place to live. Their home, along with all others around Dragonfly Pond, have been completely destroyed by the Hurricane.

The house that they are presented with is an apartment in one of Kurouzu-cho’s old row houses — the same kind of row house as featured in the earlier chapter Twisted Souls. Their new home is run down, dirty and barely hanging together. But it is their only option and they have no choice but to move in.

Immediately upon moving in, it becomes apparent that something is not quite right with the place. Kirie should have probably expected this based on her previous adventures in the town. Strange howling noises at night and the rumours of a haunting and / or monster that devours nearby missing dogs, are enough to keep the family on edge.

But will these rumours have any teeth? What are these strange markings that the family begin to show on their bodies? And will these markings become something much more sinister?

The Goshima’s new neighbour Wakabayashi
The new Goshima home is a little run down
The run down row house

Strange bodies

In this chapter we return to what Junji Ito is perhaps most known for — his unique depictions of body horror. From the strange wart-like markings that Kirie’s father begins to first exhibit, to the grotesque protrusions that come later. Along with one of the most imaginative monsters in the Uzumaki series.

I’m always impressed by just how much content and mystery Ito manages to pack into a lot of his stories. What we know is that the family is falling victim to some kind of local disease. And also that some kind of monster lurks somewhere within. But there is also a lot that we don’t know.

Is that monster the only one of its kind, spreading its disease but devouring its victims? Or is it one of a line of them created by the town’s spiral curse? Are the families within the row houses becoming like the monster themselves? Or are they just catching the disease as a result of the close proximity to the monster?

The answers to these questions don’t really matter — at least not to me. I always love it when a story opens more questions than it closes. It has the effect of deepening the world in which the story takes place. And there are few collections that I’ve read that are quite as deep as Uzumaki.

The Old Lady Points

Monster of the Week

The House has one of my favourite “monsters of the week” in it. A monster of the week refers to a TV series that would have an overarching storyline, but would often have a different monster (or another enemy) each week for the protagonists to fight.

(Kind of like The X-Files or Buffy the Vampire Slayer).

The monster in this chapter is also one of Junji Ito’s most grotesque in my opinion. At least out of the stories I’ve read so far. Since we know where the monster’s spiral tentacles have originated from, and that the nearby people are exhibiting similar symptoms, it made it all the more creepy for me.

The design of the monster as a whole was awesome too. Aside from maybe the blood-thirsty women of Mosquitoes, the monster of The House felt like Junji Ito’s most deadly creation yet. It even made me imagine some kind of later transformation of a creature from the Resident Evil game series.

The way in which the monster’s spirals pushed their way in through the wall made me think of potatoes too. Stay with me a second. Those growths that potatoes get when left in the cupboard for too long. For the longest time those potato sproutings, although natural, really freaked me out. This monster pricked that same repulsion I think.

On first reading I thought that the healthy neighbour was the monster all along. I thought that he was just playing the Goshima Family for fools. However, on re-reading I noticed how he asks himself what is happening with his own hand as he transforms. Leading me to believe that he is just as unaware as the others.

What I found most interesting though, was just how his state escalated so quickly. He went from very early symptoms, to the fully-fledged spiral monster within moments. It seemed to me that it was somehow his lust for Kirie that became the catalyst for his transformation. His desires being revealed as he spies on her through his peep hole into their apartment. This being true, it would give the story a whole new subtext of a sexual nature.

In Summary

I wont lie, I found the monster in The House quite creepy to look at. Sometimes you see a particular image that just gets under your skin. For me, it’s creepiness was like that of another Ito story called “Greased” (which I’m yet to write about). There is just something about those little spiral warts that just turns my skin.

This would be a great first story to jump into for a taster of Junji Ito’s style. The story is self-contained and gives just as much back story as is needed. And the body horror aspects, whilst being creepy and enough to almost turn my stomach, aren’t up in the realms of his more graphic depictions of horror.

I definitely put this into the top half of my favourites from Uzumaki. Not quite the top five, but definitely somewhere close.

2020 — Review of the year

Disclaimer — this post is still in a bit of a draft state. I have published it, however, as it is New Year’s Eve 2020 and if I don’t do it now I will probably forget to do it.

What an absolute bloody shit show this year has been. I’ve been super lucky when compared with most and still it’s probably been the most terrible year I’ve experienced.

Inept and corrupt Government; complete idiots who think wearing safety masks are against their civil liberties and more besides.

I thought I’d start a new tradition of reviewing the year just passed and looking towards a plan for the new year to come.

Work

I began this year working at a Birmingham based web agency called Substrakt. And although I enjoyed most aspects of the work, and 100% of the people, the job just didn’t end up being the right one for me.

From there I moved to another Birmingham based agency, Eastside Co — this time focusing on the Shopify platform. And despite having a great welcome and on-boarding, have decided that Shopify is not a platform I want to be focusing my time and energy.

At the time of writing I have recently handed in my notice and am planning to start at a new company come February time. Really looking forward to seeing what the future brings there.

Music I’ve discovered

I have fallen in love with an American metal band called Skid Row — more specifically their excellent album “Slave to the Grind”.

I have learnt to actually enjoy a couple of songs by The Killers. The two songs I have come to love are “The Man” and “Shot at the Night”.

Eminem’s album “Music to be Murdered by” is incredible and the recently-released Side B album is growing on me too.

The music of Low Roar was an obsession of mine thanks to the excellent PS4 game “Death Stranding“. My obsession was compounded when I was working at Substrakt as I would have to take my work laptop to and from work in a large laptop / travel backpack.

Sam, sam – He’s our man

Sam Porter Bridges from Death Stranding

Books I’ve read

This year I planned to read 12 books — 1 per month. However, I failed miserably and only manage a few.

I kicked off the year with George Orwell’s Animal Farm.

Next came my trying to read Dune, but stopped reading part way through. Not sure why if I’m honest.

I also tried to read Stephen King’s It, but I just couldn’t get my head around the shifting character points of view in a police interrogation scene near the start. Need to re-try that one.

I read a classic horror book this year — Bram Stoker’s Dracula. And I loved it. I read it because it felt like it was one of those bedrocks of horror that I should read in my life. I’m glad to say that I really got lost in that one. I definitely plan to read it again soon.

I have just (literally 1 hour before writing this) finished Stephen King’s Duma Key. One of the longest books Ive attempted, only surpassed by Clive Barker’s Gallilee some years ago. I really enjoyed the journey and characters of Duma Key but couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed by the closing chapters. To be honest I don’t think “disappointed” is fair to say. I think it was more like me just expecting a huge explosive ending, when in fact the ending was more low key. But I can’t really fault the book as a whole — it was a journey I enjoyed being taken on.

Films I’ve watched

I have been digging into Italian Giallo films more this year and even got round to watching the remake of Suspiria. Absolutely insane and incredible in equal measure.

I finally began watching the Friday the 13th film series (only the first 2 so far). Loved part 2 and looking forward to continuing this journey soon.

I really need to be making a note of the films I watch next year too. As I can only remember the ones I’ve written about on my site.

The New York Ripper and Rosemary’s Baby were stand out films for me that I discovered in 2020.

Games I’ve played

I have come to the decision that Horizon Zero Dawn is my favourite game of all time — at least until Forbidden West comes out. I finally played through the story of The Frozen Wilds DLC and found to be a glorious addition to an already perfect game. At least perfect in my eyes. I really must write up a post about that game.

Before the DLC, I conquered the game on Ultra Hard New Game plus, and really would have the game any other way. I am still working on getting 100% completion for it and its DLC content.

The Last of Us part 2 was the stand-out new release for me this year. And despite having to big twist spoiled accidentally the night before release — yes I managed to not hear anything up until then — I still enjoyed it for the dark, brutal, often tough-to-endure story that it is.

I have replayed Death Stranding and took my time, almost doubling the play time from my first play through.

I made a meme

2020’s Governor to 2021’s Negan — A Walking Dead meme I made

Next Year

Like many people I have some goals for the coming year. I want to buy my own home with my lady. I want to be move organised and more goal focused, which I’ve actually been working on in the latter part of this December 2020. I should thank Carl Pullein for this organisation boost as I am implementing his TIme / Sector system — it seems to be working for me so far.

I want to read at least 12 books this year. I have written out the 12 I want to read and in which months. Only this time I am determined to actually pull through with it. I am starting on January 1st with Daphne Du Maurier’s The House on the Strand.

I will be dedicating more time to building up my Junji Ito Manga site. Writing a lot more on there and building out the tag pages too.

Along with writing the posts on the Junji Ito site, I will be aiming to write a lot more heavily on this site also. As well as keeping better track of what I watch, read, hear and play.

I want to see many more Films this year too — specifically classic horror.

Install MongoDB with Docker for local development

Pull the docker image for mongo down to your computer.

docker pull mongo

Run the mongo container in the background, isolated from the rest of your computer.

# Command explained below
docker run -d -p 27017:27017 --name mongodb mongo -v /data/db:/data/db

What I love about this approach is that I don’t start muddying up my computer installing new programs — especially if it’s just for the purposes of experimenting with new technologies.

The main run command explained:

  • “docker run -d” tells docker to run in detached mode, which means it will run in the background. Otherwise if we close that terminal it will stop execution of the program docker is running (mongo in this case).
  • “-p 27017:27017” maps your computer’s port number 27017 so it forwards its requests into the container using the same port. (I always forget which port represents the computer and which is the container)
  • “–name mongodb” just gives the container that will be created a nice name. Otherwise Docker will generate and random name.
  • “mongo” is just telling Docker which image to create.
  • “-v /data/db:/data/db” tells Docker to map the /data/db directory on your computer to the /data/db directory in the container. This will ensure that if you restart the container, you will retain the mongo db data.

Setting up my own labs

I’m going to begin setting up my own “labs” area to play around with various web technologies.

For the longest time now I have been holding myself back quite a bit by only really learning technologies around current roles at the time and for my own personal site. This has mainly revolved around Laravel and to a lesser extent WordPress.

Whilst I will continue to love both of those projects, I do want to start pushing myself to learn things that are completely out of my comfort zone.

I will also begin writing more about my learning, discoveries and new things that excite me in web development — something I haven’t done for a long while.