Yen Press is bulking up its horror line-up for the Halloween season with mangaka Matsuri’s Phantom Tales of the Night. The English translation of Volume 1 just released.
The original Japanese version of the latest Phantom Tales of the Night Volume 9 was released back on August 9, 2022. Volume 10 is launching on December 13, 2022.
In exchange for a secret, one is granted entrance to the Murakumo Inn. Tokihito Sasaki, believing he has no secrets, is unable to pay the admission fee — or so he thinks. The way out is blocked off by monsters, and unless Sasaki can figure out why a trail of butterflies has led him to the mysterious inn in the first place, he may be trapped forever.
Serialized in Comic Newtype — known for Meddlesome Kitsune Senko-san and several Code Geass spin-off series — Matsuri’s work remains a hidden gem in the manga world. But with the spooky season almost in full swing, it’s the perfect time to check out this dark and mysterious manga.
What are some other horror manga available in time for Halloween?
With Halloween right around the corner, there’s still plenty of time to pick up new and classic horror manga titles alike. Luckily, major manga publishers have no shortage of horror selections for the season with several newly released selections and pre-order available in time for October’s end:
Yen Press
- FromSoftware’s popular video game series Dark Souls is a popular title in the gaming world — the cryptic and eerie nature of the game’s world being a major selling point for fans. And now, those wanting to explore that story, have the Dark Souls manga to pre-order now!
- Also based on a video game, Angels of Death tells the story of Rachel Gardner, a young girl who wakes up to find herself trapped in the basement of an abandoned building. A series of puzzles aren’t the only thing standing in her way, however, as there are others remaining in the building who do not wish for her to escape.
Seven Seas
- Sometimes comedy helps to ease tense moments. Hawkman and Mecha-roots’s Night of the Living Cat is a play on the Night of the Living Dead franchise that has a disease that turns humans into cats becoming a wide-scale plague. Unlike zombies who wish to eat their victims’ brains, these cats just want to cuddle.
- Shiva has always been reminded to avoid outsiders for fear of suffering a horrifying curse. Day after day, she waits for her auntie to return and save her from the abandoned village she once called home. In The Girl From the Other Side: Siúil, a Rún, Shiva’s only guardian is one of the outsiders she’s been sworn to never touch.
Kodansha
- In Island in a Puddle, Minato is all his little sister Nagisa has as their mother often disappears for days at a time without a trace. During one occasion when their mother returns, she takes them to an amusement park where Minato is given a lump sum of cash and told to take his sister on the ferris wheel. Before the ride ends, however, Minato’s life is no longer his own.
- Growing up on an isolated island off the coast of Osaka, Ruka has always struggled making friends. And now that her crush, Oikawa, has decided to attend high school on the mainland, she worries she may truly be alone. After finding a strange mummified object washed up on the beach, Ruka uses it to pray to the island’s Golden God. Unfortunately for her, however, what she wished for may be far from what she’s received.
Manga Classics
- The Manga Classics brand has introduced new fans to the manga world by taking timeless literary classics and placing them into the manga medium. Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula helped solidify vampires as a popular monster in horror, and writer Stacy King and illustrator Virginia Nitouhei’s adaptation of the tale hopes to recreate that success in manga form.
- Likewise, fans of poet Edgar Allen Poe can view the author’s work in manga form thanks to The Stories of Edgar Allan Poe. Revisit The Mask of the Red Death, The Raven, The Tell Tale Heart, and more all by talented manga artists (who are regrettably not listed on Manga Classics’ website, tsk tsk).
Dark Horse
- Continuing the theme of classics-turned-manga, H.P. Lovecraft’s At The Mountains Of Madness by Gou Tanabe takes the haunting 1930s short story and paints it with terrifying yet beautiful imagery.
- Kei Kurono does care much for others, but after spying his classmate helping a drunk man who’s fallen onto the train tracks, he begrudgingly lends a helping hand. His good deeds are not rewarded when the train returns sooner than expected. When he wakes up, however, his fate is something more disturbing than death. Read the entire series in the Gantz Omnibus.
What is the most popular horror manga of all time?
When thinking of horror manga, the name Junji Ito no doubt comes to mind. With iconic works such as Uzumaki and Tomie, Ito has brought many mainstream horror fans to the manga world with his terrifying illustrations and psychologically haunting tales.
The late Kentaro Miura, as well, has contributed to the horror manga world with Berserk — a classic often cited as the inspiration for works such as FromSoftware’s Dark Souls and Elden Ring series. Fans of Berserk also have Kazushi Hagiwara’s Bastard and Norihiro Yagi’s Claymore to check out. Both combine dark fantasy worlds and gorey action with their own unique spins.
Beyond the classics, several recent horror manga have seen massive success as of late. The highly popular Chainsaw Man anime release was hyped in part due to how well fans received the Shonen Jump manga. Tatsuki Fujimoto’s gritty and gore-filled tale has a bounty hunter, Denji, making a pact with a devil after a fatal blow.
And with other popular Jump titles like Gege Akutami’s Jujutsu Kaisen incorporating elements of horror amongst action-packed scenes and comedic relief moments, there’s no better time for readers to dabble in the horror genre.