Greetings to one and all on this, the creepiest night of the year!
Its fitting that the GNP’s 31st update should fall on the 31st of October, because this Halloween night, I have a special surprise to unveil to you all!
To celebrate this most spooky of holidays, I’m proud to present the begining of a brand new short story, a tale based on one of Toho’s most revered creature features…
Introducing…
Casefile: “MATANGO” – The Testimony of Kenji Murai
That’s right, folks! The GODZILLA NOVELIZATION PROJECT is taking its first tentative steps outside of the G-franchise, and, on this special occasion, turning its attention to another corner of Toho’s classic genre output.
1963’s Matango is a masterpiece of filmic storytelling. With its layered metaphors, engaging characters, allegorical thickness, and memorable mushroom monsters, Ishiro Honda’s tale of castaways clashing with temptation – and each other – as they slowly succumb to poisonous mushrooms that rob them of their humanity has become a timeless cult classic, and a triumph for Toho’s committed team of storytellers.
Inspired both by my love of the film and the wonderful experience I had in crafting the GNP’s previous short story, The Steve Martin Report, I decided to tackle an adaptation of Matango in a fashion similar to how that previous story had been tackled: by making it an in-universe “artifact”. In the case of Matango, the “artifact” in question is a medical report that contains the testimony of the film’s lead character, Kenji Murai, as given to his doctor while in the psychopathic ward of Tokyo Hospital. Since the story of the film is relayed by Murai (partially by narration), it only makes since that his entire testimony would, in effect, summarize the film in the first person.
Crafting a retelling of the story from Murai’s perspective has been an interesting challenge, and I must say I’m enjoying it immensely! I hope you will enjoy it, as well.
And so, without further ado, I invite you to sit back, get comfy, and get ready for a spooky good time. Begin the testimony by clicking here.
Happy Halloween!
The Godzilla Novelization Project 