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Dark Water

2006Kōji Suzuki

3.8/5

You might not be aware of Koji Suzuki, you might not be aware of Hideo Nakata who adapted his work for the screen, but I'm sure you know the American version of The Ring. It was the first American remake of a Japanese horror, and to this day it remains the best.Everyone knows The Ring movie, but not everyone knows that it was adapted from part one of a trilogy of novels. A few years ago, late summer, I got the first one and read it in two days. It intrigued me well enough to hunt down the other two and read them too. It was exciting reading; I have fond memories of it, and will no doubt read it again one day in the future. I don't know how it will hold up, but I remember the feeling these novels gave me. Dark Water has nothing to do with The Ring universe. It's a collection of seven short stories, with an additional prologue and epilogue. The running theme is, you guessed it, water. I love short stories and I got this just after completing Loop, the last of the Ring novels, but somehow never managed to get through it in its entirety. I did now, and here are my thoughts.Floating Water: This is the first story, and its the basis for a horror movie Dark Water which was remade for the American market in 2005. It's a quite simple story of a woman and her daughter who move to a new apartment, and find a kitty bag. It has little to do with the movie; when things start getting interesting the story peters out and ends. There is little creepiness factor and the premature conclusion doesn't add to the enjoyment.Solitary Isle: This one was much better. A guy boasts that he dumped his girlfriend on an abandoned island in the middle of Tokyo bay, and his friend sets forth to discover the truth for himself. It didn't turn out the way I thought it would, and had enough suspense and twists throughout to keep me interested.The Hold: Why does the fisherman have a headache all the time? And where has his wife gone? Even though it's a pretty standard horror tale, it's atmospheric enough to pull the average premise off. Enjoyable, if a bit formulaic.Dream Cruise: A young man is lured onto a yacht of two people who try to convince him to become a part of a pyramid scheme. Not bad, but it really could be so much more and pales in comparison with the next story, which is:Adrift: Similarly to the previous story, this one also takes place on a boat. A crew of fishermen finds an abandoned ship, and after consulting their discovery with the sea service they decide to haul it and met a rescue ship in the middle of their way to port. One of the fishermen decides to board the empty ship and stay there throughout the voyage.This is by far the best story in the volume. Taking a familiar premise, Suzuki spins his most atmospheric and creepy tale throughout the whole volume. This is the one that I've re-read, an wished he would expand on the idea.Watercolors: This seems to be an experiment that didn't work - at least for me. A strange story which might please some readers, but most will likely find it inferior to the previous story.Forest Under The Sea: This is the concluding story, and the only one in the collection not to have any supernatural elements whatsoever. Two spelunkers find an uexplored cave, and not surprisingly become trapped. The feeling of longing is prevalent throughout, and it ties nicely with the epilogue.Overall, I'm glad that I've read Dark Water. What I liked most about it was the quietness of it. Like with The Ring novels, Suzuki doesn't go for the gore and the skeletons jumping out of the closets; this collection is almost Zen-like with its calmness and restraint. The bad thing is that most stories just end up without any powerful twist or memorable conclusions; they just fade away, disappear. Maybe it has something to do with Suzuki's personal sentiments and his method of writing simplistic, straight-to-the marrow horror; something more elegant, more orient and distant. Some of the prose is clunky, and I fear that it's a classic case of things lost in translation.Still, this collection is pleasant enough reading of short horror tales for any horror aficionado, with one winner, Adrift, to which the film rights have already been optioned. Yay!
Picture of a book: Dark Water

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