hekate24's review against another edition
4.0
On a couple occasions the author would include an excerpt from the mysterious post, and then one paragraph later summarize it... even though it was functionally exactly the same as the previous paragraph. This was a little aggravating. Also pretty much every section ends with "we don't know if this was real or a troll/coincidence, but this mystery lives on in 2chan infamy." That's probably the only conclusion that can be made about any of these mysteries, but it does get repetitive.
Otherwise, I really enjoyed this book! I love internet mysteries and general oddities. These were very reminiscent of some mysteries I've read about on reddit, and it's kind of funny to me that the same sort of things happen everywhere. It runs the gamut to discussions about lost media, creepy pictures on real estate sites, stories about being stalked, and possible confessions from murderers. Even if it's relayed in a very calm manner the creepy stories in this book (as well as Toshiden) had a way of getting under my skin. There's something about creepy stories online that hit especially hard. I also really appreciate getting to hear these because these are what this one youtube channel calls "region locked mysteries." i.e. mysteries that go viral in one location of the internet but are unknown in other parts that does speak the language in question (in this case Japanese.)
Otherwise, I really enjoyed this book! I love internet mysteries and general oddities. These were very reminiscent of some mysteries I've read about on reddit, and it's kind of funny to me that the same sort of things happen everywhere. It runs the gamut to discussions about lost media, creepy pictures on real estate sites, stories about being stalked, and possible confessions from murderers. Even if it's relayed in a very calm manner the creepy stories in this book (as well as Toshiden) had a way of getting under my skin. There's something about creepy stories online that hit especially hard. I also really appreciate getting to hear these because these are what this one youtube channel calls "region locked mysteries." i.e. mysteries that go viral in one location of the internet but are unknown in other parts that does speak the language in question (in this case Japanese.)
yokaiakito's review against another edition
dark
informative
mysterious
fast-paced
5.0
If you are a fan of modern Japanese culture, internet mysteries, or just creepy stuff in general, I highly recommend this book!
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