It’s coming to that time of year again that I love so much, Halloween, when those who are unreceptive to the wonders of the horror genre suddenly become tolerant, perhaps even intrigued with horror media. Manga, as a storytelling medium, has a long and fascinating history with the horror genre and I thought it would be worth taking a look at how horror manga began and its place in the modern manga industry.
Horror manga began in the postwar period of Japan, first with the rise of lending libraries and then the popularity of the gekiga movement. In 1960, the legendary mangaka Shigeru Mizuki began releasing what would become his most famous series, GeGeGe no Kitarō, as a rental manga before later running in Weekly Shonen Magazine from 1965 until 1970. This series focused on yokai, spirits who appear in Japanese folklore and appear in a wide variety of forms and included many elements of horror, both genuine and comedic. GeGeGe no Kitarō proved to be very successful and has been adapted into numerous media such as anime, live-action films, video games etc.
While GeGeGe no Kitarō remains arguably the most popular and influential horror manga, many other important horror manga and mangaka began to appear around this time as well. Kazuo Umezu, another legend of horror manga, began releasing manga in the mid-60s. While touching many genres, works like Reptilia and Cat Eyed Boy established him as a tour de force when it came to horror manga and he later wrote The Drifting Classroom from 1972-74, the series that won him the 1974 Shogakukan Manga Award.
By the 1980s, horror manga had become popular enough that a dedicated horror manga magazine called “Monthly Halloween” was established. This magazine not only adapted numerous Western horror films into manga such as Nightmare on Elm Street, Re-Animator and Day of the Dead but also acted as a launchpad for the career of several mangaka who specialised in horror manga.
One of these mangaka was Junji Ito, one of the more famous modern horror mangaka who contributed numerous short stories to Monthly Halloween. He later wrote series such as Uzumaki, Gyo and Remina for Big Comic Spirits as well as many other horror manga such as Fragments of Horror, Mimi’s Ghost Stories and Shiver. Regardless of what you think of Junji Ito’s works, he has gained quite a cult following worldwide and I would even go so far as to say that he is the face of modern horror manga.
The history of horror manga is absolutely fascinating and I can only hope that this article has whet your appetite for horror manga. As the years go on, I would love to see more and more classic horror manga receive an English release. Let me know your thoughts on the fascinating history of horror manga, what horror manga you’ve read, which have been your favourites, which you would like to see released in English someday and any additional information you might have on the topic.
Hopefully you have found this article interesting and informative and, if you wish to seek any of the works I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk and amazon.com for all of your needs!