PIGPEN

This will be a spoiler-free review, which is challenging considering the number of twists the thriller takes - I am not that familiar with the genre, but Carnby Kim knows how to build a story. Other works by Kim that I have read are Sweet Home and Bastard, both stories that I would also strongly recommend if you are looking for psychological horrors, or if you are new to manwha.

But this review is about PIGPEN, which follows an un-linear narrative through Jinhyeok, a man who washes up on the shore of an island with a bad case of amnesia. The island is uninhabited, with the exception of one terrifying family who do not leave the island - Jinhyeok finds himself trapped into their life, with no memory, no direction and so many questions. As he begins to regain his memories, the perplexing clues dropped along the way unravel a larger plot.

The art is well-suited to the story, I mean it is terrifying. The examples above show its eeriness, with muted colours, malicious facial expressions and the composition of each image. Any other examples that truly would evidence the story's thrill are either spoilers or would ruin the aesthetic of the review - so I will leave that to the imagination. A content warning to keep in mind when reading would be its violence, it's not for the squeamish!

The family in the story are compromised of five members: The parents and their three children, my favourite characters were the sisters. The younger sister Yumi is characterised as a psychotic brat who likes to experiment on bugs and taunts the main character with un-childlike language. The older sister is Romi, a young adult with a femme-fatale air about her. Their sisterly dynamic and interactions with Jinhyeok were the most thrilling to me.

Thematically, the common question is trying to distinguish what is reality and what is illusion. Along with constant pieces of the puzzle being dragged into the mode of making sense out of the story, some supernatural elements further perplex the mind. The story follows family values, morals, isolation and survival.

I would highly recommend this to anyone, despite its confusing plotline, it is quite a digestible story. Reading the mystery being unraveled through the perspective of an amnesiac is rewarding with the story constantly keeping you on edge and its final denouement.