3.5 stars - An excellent set of horror concepts, covering multiple genres and styles. "Floating Water", made famous by the excellent film "Dark Water" entirely lives up to its adaptation, and "The Hold", Watercolours", and "Forest Under The Sea" all take the fundamental concept of water-based, and more particularly Tokyo Bay-based, horror and run with it in different, and very effective, directions. "Solitary Isle", "Dream Cruise", and "Adrift", on the other hand, I found less effective, though still fun. Throughout, the book succeeds in depicting water from all angles, and in constantly making it sinister.

The set of short stories only has two major issues for me. The first is that the language is often a bit clunky, catching on itself and hurting the effect and atmosphere at various points - Not being a Japanese reader, I cannot evaluate whether this is an issue with the translation or the original, but it has the feeling of a translation issue. The other is that the Prologue sets up an excellent premise, that the short stories are being spun by a grandmother on walks by Tokyo Bay to amuse her granddaughter, but the concept is quickly forgotten to be replaced by a different concept in the Epilogue, which is a shame.

Overall, though, the stories left me chilled, delighted, and eager for more Koji Suzuki!