Shivers down the spine, disturbing dreams, and paranoia at night – only the grotesque and ghostly horror manga can make readers experience this frightening scenario that doesn’t go away easily. The interesting thing is that many seek to stumble upon such tales of horror that are emotionally stirring.
Whether it’s the psychological torment in Junji Ito’s works or the unsettling atmosphere of “Hideout”, these manga series provide a nightmarish reading experience. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the best horror manga that have given readers an exhilarating dose of fear and suspense. So, without further ado, let’s get started.
10. Jinmen
A creepy horror take on Jurassic Park, Jinmen is an unusual and disturbing manga by Katou Takahiro that is about humans being terrorized by nightmarish creatures. The story begins with Jinguu Masato, a little boy who develops a close relationship with an elephant named Hanayo at the zoo.
Years later when Masato returns to the zoo to meet his old friend, he discovers that things have changed as all the animals have become flesh-eating human-faced monsters who want only one thing – to treat humans the same way they did and kill them eventually.
9. Homunculus
Hideo Yamamoto’s Homunculus is a mature manga that explores the hollowness of humanity and how it damages people turning them into shallow beings. The series depicts the psychic turmoil of a disillusioned homeless man Susumu Nakoshi whose life changes forever after encountering a young medical student.
He offers Nakoshi an irresistible sum of money in exchange for partaking in a gruesome trial called “Trepanation” – the act of drilling a hole in the skull. The procedure results in Nakoshi gaining a repulsive perspective on the world, as he begins to see metaphysical representations of a person’s psychological disorder.
8. Gannibal
Gannibal is horror done right, as it doesn’t rely on heavy gore and weird-looking monsters but instead shows the dark side of human nature and how quickly a man can become a “beast”. The story follows Daigo Agawa, a police officer who is posted to a remote village after the mysterious disappearance of a countryside cop.
Daigo finds the charming mountain village quaint and his horror comes true when he discovers that he’s encroaching on a community of cannibals. The small-town village atmosphere, cult-like agenda, and the element of cannibalism are all thrown together to create this masterpiece of a horror manga.
7. Fraction
Beyond being a gruesome serial killer story, Shintaro Kago’s eponymous manga Fraction offers a surrealistic experience through its grotesque ero-guro setting and terrifyingly insightful meta-commentary. There’s the very clever use of literary allusion throughout this horror manga too.
The story is presented as an alternating double narrative, between a serial killer’s murders and a fictionalized Kago discussing his next project. The short stories that make up the remainder of the manga are a mixed bag that gets all kinds of meta and crazy, making up for violent and unpredictable storytelling.
6. Hideout
The gorgeous yet eerily haunting art style of Hideout makes it one of the scariest horror manga that gets creepier as the story progresses. The series is about a couple who is trying to deal with their son’s untimely death while vacationing on a beautiful island.
From a man’s good intentions of trying to reconcile with his wife to his intent to commit murder, Hideout starts off a tad dreary but goes from dramatic reasoning to psycho-lunacy and only gets better from there. It’s an unpleasant read but in a good sense.
5. Pumpkin Night
Pumpkin Night is a psychological horror manga that takes the readers on a grotesque journey filled with insanity and despair. Largely inspired by the Western slasher horror genre, the story follows a girl named Naoko who is bullied at school and eventually hospitalized in a mental asylum with a disfigured face.
A few years later, she manages to escape from the asylum and dons a pumpkin mask to exact revenge on those who had wronged her. Filled with deep-rooted hatred and disgust, Naoko goes on a rampage, gleefully killing anyone who stands in her way until she finds and tortures those who made her life hell.
4. Kiriko
Kiriko is a generic whodunit horror story with a supernatural twist that makes up for a decent one shot manga. The story begins with a small group of adults including protagonist Ryosuke Hayama being invited to a reunion at their old high school to remember the loss of their classmate Kiriko.
However, the reunion takes a dark turn when the schoolmates start dying in mysterious and gruesome ways. Ryosuke soon learns that Kiriko was a bullied and deformed girl who was killed in an accident and that she has returned as a vengeful spirit to take revenge on those who wronged her.
3. Jagaaan
Visually striking and action-packed horror manga for beginners, Jagaaan is similar to Hitoshi Iwaaki’s “Parasyte” in presenting an eerie world. Centering on Shintaro Jagasaki, the story sees a chaotic setting where people can transform into grotesque creatures if they suppress their desires.
One day while riding the train, Jagasaki discovers that he’s a fractured human warrior and can transform his right hand into a sort of gun. Now, he makes it his destiny to hunt down all the fractured humans infected by frenzied frogs so that he can bring back his dead girlfriend to life.
2. Tomie
One of the most introspective aspects of horror tales is the pervasion of atmosphere and fear of the unknown, and Junji Ito masterfully brings it in spades. Each chapter of this manga revolves around a femme fatale named Tomie who has this uncanny ability to regenerate any part of her body into another copy of herself.
Thus, she goes around making men go violent against each other like a beautiful agent of chaos. With Tomie being the only reoccurring character, the series gives an eerie claustrophobic vibe because she’s all-mighty and can be anywhere at any given time.
1. Uzumaki
The true legend of the body horror genre, Junji Ito has created myriads of unforgettable stories. Among those, Uzumaki remains the gold standard of horror manga. Through its escalating set of vignettes, Uzumaki paints a picture of a town and population descending into madness.
In this suspenseful tale, Ito focuses on a few central people affected by the spiral phenomenon slowly engulfing the town. While none of the characters seem original at first glance, the mangaka’s disturbing and inevitable logic transforms each one into a horrifying harbinger of events to come.
Which one of the following horror manga is your favorite? Feel free to comment down your thoughts and make sure to recommend some other manga like the ones listed above, also don’t forget to share this article with your fellow otaku friends.
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