Nukekubi are a variety of yōkai from Japanese wraith story who , despite seem like regular humans , are really otherworldly beings capable of detaching their principal from their bodies , at which point their heads fly through the air terrifying unsuspecting the great unwashed . They ’re the variety of mystical apparitions that have stalk the imagination of storyteller for centuries , and they ’re also a common thread between the late Anthony Bourdain and Hellboy creator Mike Mignola .
In Mignola ’s 1998 story “ headspring , ” Hellboy travel to Kyoto , Japan on a curious military mission to investigate a long - abandon firm where demons are bruit to live far from the pry eyes of humanity . Hellboy ’s none too worried about the supposedly dangerous creatures living in the forest , but when a kind military personnel offers him protection in a nearby house , the hero gladly accept , figuring he might as well get a good night ’s slumber . Of course , the comic ’s diabolic submarine have dead no sleep at all because nothing in the earthly concern of Hellboy is ever quite what it seems .
If you ’ve read “ Heads , ” then “ The Heads , ” a news report from Bourdain and his co - author Joel Rose ’s Hungry Ghosts strip anthology , is likely to voice very , very similar . A butcher ’s young apprentice in dire need of work awakens on an Italian street to an offer for room and board at a nearby villa , where he believes he might be able to begin the next chapter of his living . But as the son settles into his new abode , he cursorily agnize that the other masses there are … something more than human .
Both comics are fantastic . And in celebration ofHungry Ghostnow being collected in hardback , io9 has the whole of “ The Heads ” here for you to read right here :
And as an add bonus , we ’ve also got Mignola ’s “ Heads ” from Abe Sapien : Drums of the Dead for you to check out :
Both Hungry Ghosts and Hellboy : The Complete Short Stories Vol . 2 are in stores now .
Both “ The Heads ” from Hungry Ghosts and “ Heads ” from Abe Sapien : Drums of the deadened copyright Dark Horse Comics . Reprinted with permission .
HellboyMike Mignola
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