Horror Manga Artworks (image intensive)

[Corman]

While it can sometimes wade into uncomfortable fetish territory, the series Franken Fran is a wealth of David Cronenberg-inspired body horror: Insectoid humans, young lovers swapping torsos to overcome emotional trauma, and a grim (and somewhat ongoing) parody of the popular Japanese superhero Kamen Rider are all included in the proceedings. You can find it here (like Daniel Lau's Ito scanlations, it is also in the original right-to-left format).

[ToALonelyPeace]

Not sure if all of these manga artists fit under horror. Some veer into the crazy and surreal territories more than staying 'tight'. Some of them I also haven't read.

Doctor Du Ming by Zhang Jing and Han Jinglong. Artwork gives a nostalgic and yet realistic lens to the story. It's a oneshot that hasn't been translated to English.



Hideout by Kakizaki Masasumi. I haven't read this one, but from what I see the artist draws great horrific expressions.


Freesia by Matsumoto Jiro. His drawings can be very raw or ambiguous, adding to the surrealness of the story.


Abstraction by Shintaro Kago. Kago is special. He has great concepts and knows how to use the reader's viewpoints and expectations to trick them. A good example is below. Harem and Fraction are also good.

[ToALonelyPeace]

The work of Kitoh Mohiro isn't often classified as horror, but it tends toward a nihilistic and tragic world view. His female has small, slender body and his male is never muscular, resulting in the 'adolescent effect'. Famous works include Bokurano and Narutaru, both have been made into anime.

Narutaru (Shadow Star)
One of my favorite manga because of its ending and brutal world view despite its initial magical promise. A quote from one character: ""When you don't fit in anywhere in the world, what should you do? Carve yourself to fit the world...? ...Or carve the world to fit you?!"



Kakutoshi no Yume (Hallucination from the Womb)
Short stories in futuristic setting with the common theme of a world in ruins.

[ToALonelyPeace]

Goth written by Otsuichi and artwork by Kenji Ooiwa. The art lends an elegance to the stories told from perspective of its unsentimental narrators. Sometimes it paints a heroic light on their monstrosity, which fits the story's theme of 'ghost encounters ghost'.




Monster by Naoki Urasawa. The art has a realism without the attraction of realism. The reader doesn't get distracted by its beauty and still can pay attention to the chase between Dr. Tenma and Johan-The Antichrist in the story.

[symbolique]

nil

[ToALonelyPeace]

I also enjoy Kago's subversion of size and frames. Here in Anamorphosis-- a story about a group of people invited in a haunted set for a certain prize--we see a size comparison between the made-up set and real people and then the subversion of this size difference as real-life people become miniatures upon facing the monster and miniatures turn real-life.



There's also the interview of a manga artist (the author personified) about his recent murder mystery work. He tries to explain to the reader and interviewer his method, while in the process practicing this method.

[ToALonelyPeace]

Another abstract horror I recommend:

Quote

From Fantagraphics: A DECADE-SPANNING JOURNEY INTO DARKNESS Even as butterflies ominously proliferate in town, the rumor of a mysterious creature lurking in the tunnel behind the school spreads among the children. When the body of Arié Kimura's mother is found by this tunnel's entrance, next to apparently human traces, the legend seems to be confirmed. Is the end of the world coming? In order to appease the wrath of the beast, the children decide to offer it a sacrifice: The unfortunate Arié, whom they believe to be the cause of the curse, is shoved into a well that leads to the Nijigahara tunnel — an act that in turns pushes Komatsuzaki, the budding thug who has carried a torch for Arié for a while already, entirely over the edge.

This manga reminds me of Zhuangzi who dreams he is a butterfly who dreams he is Zhuangzi.

[Robert Adam Gilmour]

WeAreComplicated: Alternative Manga & Gekiga: Recommendations (Updated List)

[dr. locrian]

After a recent post by Marioneta with a side question about Ligotti and Manga, I thought I'd revive this thread.

[marioneta]

My son is reading Deathnote, black edition, by Tsugumi Ohba. It's premise is a bored student who finds a notebook dropped by a rogue Shinigami death god. Any human whose name is written in the notebook dies. The implications are an immensity of fatal possibilities.