10 Most Messed Up Junji Ito Moments
9. The Balloons Arrive - The Hanging Balloons
Often appearing in the vicinity of creepy clowns, balloons have already established a firm foothold in the horror genre. However, no one has managed to make these supposedly innocent celebratory objects as objectively horrifying than Ito when he wrote The Hanging Balloons.
Inspired by a dream he had, this frightening read begins with protagonist Kazuko unable to leave her house in fear of being killed by an unknown presence that uses her own voice to lure her out. The rest of the plot is told via flashback as we learn that Kazuko's friend recently commuted suicide before sightings of her head are seen floating above the streets.
Not long after, large balloon heads of everyone in Tokyo begin to appear from out of nowhere that seek the corresponding person to hang them from nooses attached to them.
While this story contains plenty of Ito's signature macabre style, including a girl's head deflating like a balloon when her balloon is popped, the most chilling sight is that of the arrival of the balloons themselves.
Drawn with such malevolence with no logical explanation, The Hanging Balloons is one of the best examples of ito's surreal, morbid, and wholly unnerving breed of horror.