The horror genre will never be the same

The horror genre will never be the same. I'm not talking about 'The Conjuring,' 'Saw,' or even 'The Silence of the Lambs.' I am referring to the 'Ice Cream Bus.' Bring an extra pair of pants because if you want to get through the 'Ice Cream Bus' without wetting your britches, you would have to be a stone cold killer. This is the only story I will spoil because I can't get over how nonsensical and ridiculous it is, so skip the next paragraph if you don't want spoilers.

This sketchy guy brings his Ice Cream Bus to town, and all the parents line up to let him take their kids around in it because this guy is not alarming at all and completely trustworthy. One of the dads is concerned after they wouldn't let him on the Ice Cream Bus. He finds his kid eating the other kids who turned into ice cream and accidentally lops off his own son's head. The fact that this is unironically supposed to be scary just gave me a good laugh and I enjoyed this way more than I should have because I love bad horror shows/movies.

Some of the stories lose their effect because they are limited to an episode or even a half an episode. For example, 'Tomie' is one of his more notable works and only adapted one chapter, so if you want to continue that story you will have to go read the manga. That is just the case for some of these stories that were adapted. However, a lot of them end in a good place and follow the source material well despite the time they had. His work always attempts to be profound in its conclusion, whether it is complex or just creepy and terrifying.

I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy some of these stories. I liked the more goofy stories like 'The Hanging Balloons' and the 'Ice Cream Bus' because I just got a good laugh out of how silly they were. I also thought some of the horror aspects of stories like 'Layers of Fear' and 'The Whispering Woman' were well thought out and compelling. The animation and music are nothing to write home about, but I don't think they take away from anything either.

If you are curious about Junji Ito's work or are a fan of horror, then maybe you can give this a shot. You will probably find at least one story enjoyable, or you will at least get a good idea of what his work is like even if it isn't the best adaptation.

I ranked the stories from best to worst below:

Layers of Fear

Whispering Woman

The Long Hair in the Attic

Back Alley

Tomb Town

The Hanging Balloons

Library of Illusions

Ice Cream Bus

Tomie

The Story of the Mysterious Tunnel

The Bully

The Thing That Drifted Ashore

Intruder

Headless Sculptures

Where the Sandman Lives

The Bizarre Hikizuri Siblings

Souichi's Beloved Pet

Unendurable Labyrinth

Mold

The Room of Four Heavy Walls

His work attempts to be profound in its conclusion whether that be complex or creepy.

Animation is nothing to write home about but doesn't take away from anything either.

The music fit fine but nothing too special.

Short stories or episodic so you don't get too attached to the characters

I enjoyed myself even though these weren't the best adaptations of his stories. Some of it was fun bad, other times the stories were just plain bad. There were a few good stories though in my opinion.