Akai Hebi
The Red Snake

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I first learned about Hino through another talented artist who works in the field of horror manga, Junji Ito. In a short bio at the end of one of his books, Ito cited Hino, as well as the American writer H.P. Lovecraft, as two of his influences. Ito was also the recipient of an award which carries Hino's name which honors Japanese artists who have mastered tales of terror. I already knew about Lovecraft. If you're into horror and you don't know his name, you should. Ito . . . well, let's just say the guy continues to amaze me. "Uzumaki" was fantastic, as was ... "Gyo". So, long story short, I put 2 and 2 together (and for once I didn't come up with 22). I reasoned that it made sense--considering the logical connections--for me to learn more about Hideshi Hino. At the time, I could only find two of his books on Amazon: "Hell Baby" and "Panorama of Hell". Both were out of print. Far too lazy (and picky) to buy them used, I waited for the day when more of his works would be published in English. That day has come! DHP has recently published two of his books, "The Red Snake" and "The Bug Boy". Hino. How can I describe his work? His drawing style has a childlike quality about it. This does nothing to offset his horrific tales. In reality, it accentuates the disturbing atmosphere that hangs over each and every page of lush black and white illustrations. "The Red Snake" is a story told from a young boy's point of view. He lives in a house surrounded by an endless forest that he can't escape. To make things worse, he is surrounded by lunatics: his grandfather has a large growth hanging from his jaw, his grandmother believes she is a chicken and lives in a nest, his father, who raises chickens with sadistic affection, aids her dementia by giving her baskets of eggs that he claims she laid herself, his mother tends to grandfather's boil with far too much tender loving care, and his sister fondles insects with erotic glee. As if the poor kid doesn't have enough to worry about, his grandfather tells him that the large mirror in their house is, in reality, a barrier that blocks the gates to Hell. I'm not going to spoil the story for you, but it should come as no surprise that events unfold in a manner that is reminiscent of lingering nightmares. As for the format of the book, DHP has remained true to the original layout; the pages and panels are meant to be read from right to left. This has become a current trend, as many translated mangas are now printed like this. If, however, you are new to this sort of thing, have no fear, it's easy enough to adjust your reading habits. I ordered "The Red Snake" along with "The Bug Boy" (not quite as dark, but a worthwhile read, nonetheless). Both books are well worth the money. Considering each volume consists of roughly two hundred pages, the price of ten dollars is a steal. With more Hino books to be released in the future, I would strongly suggest you start your collection now. With over 400 Hino title in print, it could turn out to be a rather large collection.

I was first exposed to this manga when I was 8 years old and it stayed in my memory ever since. At the time I had just discovered the world of manga through Naruto, which was being published monthly in tankobon form here in my country. I fell in love with the format and wanted to learn more about the different types of mangas that existed out there. At the time I wasn't much online and resorted just to looking up on the "comic book" section of bookstores

I was just a child and didn't really have any money so I wasn't really planning on ... buying any manga in the bookstore but they allowed us to just browse and take a quick look at the stuff. So I was looking at the spines of the books for interesting things. I remember there being your usual Full Metal Alchemist, Samurai X, One Piece. But near the top of the shelf was this red book with dark red snakes. I picked it up and the image of the woman being covered in snakes while a little boy watched from a distance instantly imprinted itself into my head and still hasn't left

I was somewhat of an impressionable child, and I had no idea manga could be gorey and violent. I mean, I had read Naruto which does have blood and violence, but not on Hideshi Hino levels, of course. What really hooked me was the boy, who looked genuinely terrified, and perhaps I identified with him because the image was as impressionable to me as it seemed to be to him. I instantly flipped through the book

I don't remember stopping to actually read any of the individual pages and was just more interested in looking at the images, and oh boy did I see some shit. This manga has some really gruesome imagery which maybe for someone who's used to guro and Junji Ito stuff might not be THAT impressive but for a child who had never seen anything like that before, it absolutely was. I remember specifically the old man with a disgusting face and a huge tumor on his chin, and, what is probably the thing that terrified me the most, the deformed mother putting a comb on her head and it stabbing her skull and leaving a bloody mess

As I read this now as an adult I realize I've grown quite used to these violent sights and all the things I remember being awful to look at were just bizarre at most now. The part with the mom wasn't even the way I remember it lol But it was absolutely interesting to go back and actually read through the story to understand what was actually happening.

I'll say that the manga in my head was a lot more terrifying than the real one that exists, but that's just my subjective memory anyways