Japanese horror has escaped its bounds and is taking over the sales charts.
For years, manga sales have been dominated by shonen action/adventure series such as Naruto, Fairy Tail, and My Hero Academia. Some series, such as Death Note and Black Butler, incorporated horror elements but the stories themselves were not designed to make the reader’s blood run cold; similarly, Vampire Knight, one of the few shojo titles to make the charts in those days, was a teen romance where the vampires were more angsty than terrifying.
By contrast, current best-sellers such as Chainsaw Man, Dandadan, and Jujutsu Kaisen lean heavily into the horror genre, and the deluxe hardcover edition of Berserk is a regular visitor to the BookScan top 20. The increasing popularity of these darker, more mature titles may reflect the aging of the manga audience.
This, along with the popularity of Junji Ito’s work, has encouraged publishers to bring out more modern and classic horror manga, often in prestige formats with a higher sticker price than manga aimed at teens. Even more is coming from the new manga imprints that have been springing up recently, including the Abrams imprint Kana (see “New Abrams Manga Imprint“) and Living the Line’s vintage horror imprint Smudge, which is curated by manga scholar Ryan Holmberg (see “New Imprint to Focus on Pulp, Horror, Mystery Manga“).
Here’s a look at some ongoing and upcoming horror series with an emphasis on adult titles (with a few more lighthearted volumes as well).
#DRCL – Midnight Children, by Shinichi Sakamoto, is a loose adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, set in 19th-century England. Viz is publishing it under its Signature line for mature readers in a slightly oversized hardcover format (roughly 6″ x 8″). Sakamoto is also the creator of Innocent, a story of the French Revolution that is currently being published by Dark Horse (see “Dark Horse Licenses Historical Manga“). Sakamoto’s beautiful linework contrasts sharply with the dark, often gory content of his stories, and his work has won numerous awards; Vol. 1 of #DRCL – Midnight Children was nominated for an Eisner. Viz will publish the third volume on September 17 with an MSRP of $27.00.
The Summer Hikaru Died, by Mokumokuren, is a creepy story set in a small rural village, where a teen boy disappeared in the mountains and when he returned, seemed subtly different. In fact, the real Hikaru has died and been replaced by a mysterious creature, but only Hikaru’s best friend, Yoshiki, knows the difference. This series was nominated for a 2024 Eisner Award, and an anime adaptation has been announced, although no date has been set. Yen Press just published the fourth volume on August 24 with an MSRP of $15.00.
The Strange House, a new series from Seven Seas, does that Junji Ito thing where something ordinary (in this case, a house) becomes an instrument of fear. The house in question holds dark secrets, including a room with no doors or windows hidden within its walls. The series is rated for readers 15 and up, and the first volume was released on August 6 with an MSRP of $14.99.
Marina Shirakawa’s UFO Mushroom Invasion was originally published in 1976, and yes, it does look dated, but it’s also horrifying in a B-movie way as mushrooms take over the earth and a government coverup just makes everything worse. The manga, which is rated 16+, includes an essay by “weirdologist” Udagawa Takeo setting out the historical perspective; it will go on sale on October 1 with an MSRP of $19.95.
H.P. Lovecraft’s The Call of Cthulhu is the latest of Gou Tanabe’s adaptations of Lovecraft’s work (see “Gou Tanabe“), which also include At the Mountains of Madness (available as two volumes or a deluxe omnibus edition), The Shadows Over Innsmouth, and H.P. Lovecraft’s The Hound and Other Stories, all published by Dark Horse. The Call of Cthulhu will be released on October 16 as a 288-page paperback with an MSRP of $19.99.
Manhole, by Tetsuya Tsutsui, is a three-volume series that mixes the bio-horror and thriller genres with a story of two detectives investigating a series of mysterious deaths who discover a parasite that threatens the world. The series is rated 16+, and Kana will publish the first volume on October 29 with an MSRP of $12.99.
100 Ghost Stories That Will Lead to My Own Death, by Anji Matono, takes as its framing tale the legend that someone who tells 100 ghost stories will gain the ability to see ghosts. Yuuma, the narrator, is on a quest to do just that, and the series will be a collection of short, one-chapter ghost stories. Seven Seas will release the first volume, rated Older Teen, on December 10 with an MSRP of $14.99.
Hell Is Dark with No Flowers, by Yoru Michio and Ruka Todo, is the story of a young man who can see monsters and is pressed into service assisting a boy who brings sinners possessed by yokai to hell. Yen Press released the first volume of the light novel on August 20, and the first volume of the manga is due out on January 21, 2025, with an MSRP of $15.00.
Sometimes even horror fans want to escape from the darkness for a while, and cute/dark cat manga are a whole genre unto themselves. In Junji Ito’s Cat Diary: Yon & Mu, Ito uses horror techniques and tropes to tell the story of his wife’s two cats and how he and they slowly adjusted to each other. Kodansha originally released this one-shot in 2015 as a paperback and then republished it as a hardcover Collector’s Edition in 2021 with an MSRP of $24.99.
The singly-named creator Pandania, on the other hand, keeps it simple with cute gag manga that feature cats blended with horror characters. Dark Horse will publish the latest one-shot, Cthulhu Cats, on November 6 with an MSRP of $14.99. The 136-page full-color paperback is rated for ages 12 and up. (For those who can’t wait, Seven Seas just released Vol. 8 of Yokai Cats, by the same author, with a 10+ rating and an MSRP of $14.99.)
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Source: ICV2
