Horror (273)

Creating—and maintaining—a sense of dread in the audience takes priority, eliciting shock, fear, or disgust through atmosphere and frightening scenarios. Mood must be of equal or greater importance than setting and characterization in horror stories. Almost always, the main cast will be under constant threat of danger. Many stories can incorporate elements of horror as a plot device to unnerve the audience, but the overarching narrative must be focused on evoking and maintaining apprehension to be Horror. Contrast with Suspense where the audience craves to know what will happen next rather than fearing it.

Joou-sama no InuHer Majesty's Dog

Takeuchi, Mick 2024
In today's world of computers and cell phones, few people have time for superstition and ghost stories—but that doesn't mean that they aren't real! Amane Kamori is a powerful medium from a remote village in rural Japan. Her guardian is Hyoue Inugami, a demon dog whose powers are literally fueled by her kiss! Together they protect humans from vengeful spirits and bring peace to the dead.

But when Amane's family moves to the big city of Tokyo, all the magical power in the world can't help her survive high school! Her chilly demeanor and lack of social graces make her a campus misfit. Popularity comes much easier to Hyoue, whose sexy good looks (in his human form) bring him lots of female fans. But Hyoue's lapdog loyalty to Amane only leads to more woe, as jealous classmates can't understand what he sees in her. If only they knew...

(Source: Go! Comi)
Jul 16, 2000 to May 16, 2006 | 46 chp | Publishing

Shounen Zanzou

Yuki, Kaori 2024
1. Boys Next Door
2. Devil Inside
3. When a Heart Beats
Mar 1998 | 3 chp | Publishing

Gyo: Ugomeku BukimiGyo: The Death-Stench Creeps

Itou, Junji 2024
When diver Tadashi and his girlfriend Kaori Sawahara take a trip to the coast of Okinawa, they find that their strained relationship is the least of their worries when they unwittingly witness the start of the apocalypse. Attacked by a strange, four-legged fish in their cabin, they manage to kill it, but are left unsettled by the putrid stench it carried—the haunting smell of death.

This lone assault is only the herald of what's to come, as soon, many more such creatures emerge from the sea, attacking anything in their path. Though Tadashi and Kaori quickly return to Tokyo, they find there is no longer any safe haven; no matter where they run, the death stench creeps...
Amigara Dansou no Kai (The Enigma of Amigara Fault)
After a devastating earthquake near Amigara mountain, a several-kilometer-long fault emerged. But this discovery was made more eerie by the thousands of human-shaped holes scattered among the rock face, each of which seemingly continues for miles within the mountain. Oowaki, one of the many spectators attracted to the sight, witnesses in horror as onlookers start to experience a personal, visceral calling to enter these holes—formed as if to fit only them.
Daikokubashira Hiwa (The Sad Tale of the Principal Post)
Celebrating their recent move into their new house, a family's festivities are cut short upon hearing the cries of their father. Finding him in the crawl space below, they bear witness to the bizarre and unexplainable tragedy that has befallen him.

[Written by Animeranku Rewrite]
Nov 12, 2001 to Apr 15, 2002 | 21 chp | Publishing

Tomie

Itou, Junji 2024
In a high school classroom, students mourn the loss of one of their own: Tomie Kawakami, who has been murdered and dismembered. Shocked by the announcement of her death, the class is puzzled by the cruel fate that has befallen someone so dear to them; such a radiant and beautiful girl did not deserve such a hideous demise. However, a strikingly familiar student suddenly appears at the classroom's entrance. Gorgeous, slender, and with a beauty mark under her left eye, Tomie smiles and apologizes for being late.

But this is just the beginning of the mysteries surrounding this seemingly inhuman woman. The men unlucky enough to catch her eye become smitten with her instantly, but also become driven by a dark impulse to dismember her, one they often succumb to. And each time, Tomie returns from the dead to continue her favorite pastime: toying with men.

[Written by Animeranku Rewrite]
1987 to 2000 | 20 chp | Publishing

Koroshiya 1

Yamamoto, Hideo 2024
In Shinjuku Kabukichou, the biggest sin town in Japan, there are two crazy guys. Ichi is a coward and a wimp, but once he breaks into tears, he turns into a human weapon. With great martial arts skill and a blade hidden in his boots, he butchers a bunch of enemies into mincemeat in the blink of an eye. His arch enemy is Kakihara, a yakuza boss who's tired of everything, including himself. Only when he pierces, cuts, and burns his own and other people's bodies does he feel that he is alive.
Feb 19, 1998 to Apr 5, 2001 | 114 chp | Publishing

Alive

Takahashi, Tsutomu 2024
Yashiro Tenshuu killed 5 people, including his girlfriend, and is now on death row. However, a secret government organization is willing to take him off death row if he allows himself to become a test subject to an experiment that requires a killer's intent.
1999 | 10 chp | Publishing

Ludwig Kakumei

Yuki, Kaori 2024
In this grim and realistic take on classic fairy tales, Prince Ludwig, a female corpse collector, is ordered by his father to find himself a wife more suitable than the women he often brings into the castle. Along with his servant Wilhelm, they travel across the land in search of fair maidens from classic stories in hopes of finding Ludwig a wife.

(Source: Aerandria Scans)
Nov 1998 to Jul 26, 2007 | 16 chp | Publishing

Blood: The Last Vampire (2002)Blood: The Last Vampire 2002

Tamaoki, Benkyou 2024
In 2000, 39 years after the events of the movie, Saya hunts another den of Chiropterans, but the one in charge of the Chiropterans appears to be Saya's twin. Meanwhile, more is learned of Saya's relationship with the US Government, her origin and that of the US Government.
Apr 2001 | 6 chp | Publishing

Ore to Akuma no Blues

Hiramoto, Akira 2024
A combination horror story and re-telling of the mythologies of the American South, "Me and the Devil Blues" features RJ, a man who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for the devil teaching him to play the blues. The story features many elements familiar to American readers but not much featured in Japanese comics, including the practice of lynching and the sharp racial divisions in the south around the time of the story.
Jan 2005 to ? | chp | Publishing

Elfen Lied

Okamoto, Lynn 2024
Lucy is a special breed of human referred to as "Diclonius," born with a short pair of horns and invisible telekinetic hands that lands her as a victim of inhumane scientific experimentation by the government. However, once circumstances present her an opportunity to escape, Lucy, corrupted by the confinement and torture, unleashes a torrent of bloodshed as she escapes her captors.

During her breakout, she receives a crippling head injury that leaves her with a split personality: someone with the mentality of a harmless child possessing limited speech capacity. In this state of instability, she stumbles upon two college students, Kouta and his cousin Yuka, who unknowingly take an injured fugitive into their care, unaware of her murderous tendencies. This act of kindness will change their lives, as they soon find themselves dragged into the shadowy world of government secrecy and conspiracy.

[Written by Animeranku Rewrite]
Included one-shots:
Volume 1: MOL
Volume 2: Digitopolis
Volume 3: Memoria
Volume 5: Elfen Lied
Jun 6, 2002 to Aug 25, 2005 | 113 chp | Publishing

Homunculus

Yamamoto, Hideo 2024
Susumu Nakoshi is a middle-aged man who spends his days between a lavish first-class hotel and a park full of homeless people. One day, an eccentric young man approaches Nakoshi in search of subjects willing to partake in trepanation—the procedure of drilling a hole in the skull.

This mysterious person claims that Nakoshi is the perfect man for the experiment. Initially rejecting the offer, he doubles back on his decision after his car gets towed off. Nakoshi agrees to let Manabu Ito, a 22-year-old medical student, drill a hole in his skull in exchange for 700,000 yen. The procedure bears no results at first, with Nakoshi showing no abnormalities. This normalcy comes to an abrupt end, however, when Nakoshi begins seeing the homunculus in every person. With his perception distorted, how will Nakoshi face these homunculi?

[Written by Animeranku Rewrite]
Mar 17, 2003 to Feb 21, 2011 | 166 chp | Publishing

Blaster Knuckle

2024
America, 1885. Slavery has been abolished and African Americans are able to live freely. Yet, tensions still run high in the country—they are shunned by the majority of the white population and ruthlessly killed by the vicious Ku Klux Klan. Amidst this era of uncertainty, former heavyweight boxer Victor Freeman contends with prejudice while evading the law and bounty hunters looking to collect the high price on his head. Though charged with the murders of several white folk, the truth driving Victor's actions is much more horrific than any truly realize.

Hiding among the human race are intelligent, man-eating demons, who have assimilated themselves into positions of power and taken advantage of mankind's bigotry to fill their bellies. Having witnessed his father being brutally devoured by demons as a child, Victor vows to eradicate their kind for good. However, slaying them leaves nothing but a human corpse behind, effectively casting him as a cold-hearted killer. Regardless, with his robust arsenal and unparalleled boxing prowess, Victor soldiers on to destroy demonkind—even if doing so will turn the world against him.

[Written by Animeranku Rewrite]
Dec 11, 1992 to Jul 28, 1995 | 20 chp | Publishing

Goth

Ooiwa, KenjiOtsuichi 2024
Itsuki Kamiyama has a strange fascination with the grotesque and the macabre, being particularly interested in disturbing murders. He can stomach even the most hideous crimes committed by the most warped humans and is drawn to unsolved cases like a moth to a flame. However, he is not merely intrigued by these cases—he is also adept at solving them.

While following the leads of an especially odd chain of crimes, Kamiyama gets familiar with his classmate Yoru Morino. As he spends more time in her presence, he begins to realize that she is more like him than he expected. With every case he unravels, Kamiyama slowly starts to uncover Morino's carefully shrouded past.

As Kamiyama's mask of normalcy steadily slips to reveal his dark tendencies, he finally allows himself to wonder—what if he were the one to take Morino's life?

[Written by Animeranku Rewrite]
Aug 26, 2002 to May 26, 2003 | 5 chp | Publishing

Warau Kyuuketsuki

Maruo, Suehiro 2024
Volume 1 : The Laughing Vampire.
While a young boy, just resurrected as a vampire, commits acts of awful ferocity, the city around him shows all its perversion. The adults abuse their power, the boys degenerate and use all the available means to achieve their goal to give vent to their low instincts. Whoever can't understand and make opposition is doomed to change or becoming crazy. So which is the real horror? The vampire who kills in order to feed himself or the crawling disease hidden in society, which slowy corrupts without being noticed?

Volume 2 : Paradise.
Following the events narrated in the first volume, Luna and Konosuke are now living together with the old woman vampire as fellows, as lovers, in a diabolic innocence, killing for quieting their thirst for blood, joining death and love under the dream of eternal youth. Meanwhile, a young boy named Makoto is looking for his lost sister Miko, who disappeared years ago in mysterious circumstances. But what really happened to that girl who liked eating grubs and dreamed of becoming one of them? And is there really a terrible secret that someone is hiding? The paths of all the characters will dramatically collide, bringing unexpected consequences after the things are gradually revealed.

A story suspended between weirdness and decadence, showing a clear nostalgia for German cinematography and Federico Fellini, where blood is used to trace a great and only apparently amoral story.

(Source: MangaUpdates)
1998 | 19 chp | Publishing

DoumuDomu: A Child's Dream

Otomo, Katsuhiro 2024
A twisted old man, gifted with extrasensory powers, silently holds sway over an entire block of apartments. The occupants are puppets for him to control. Life is his to give...and to take. But suddenly there is a new voice in his head, and before he knows it, a young girl with her own battery of psychic abilities has arrived to challenge him! Soon, the sprawling complex becomes a battleground between two minds possessing incredible, unimaginable power.

(Source: Dark Horse)
Jan 19, 1980 to Jul 6, 1981 | 4 chp | Publishing

Koudelka

Iwahara, Yuji 2024
A girl who has the ability to watch the spirits of the death, that has a very important secret in his memory, that unfortunately she lost after escaping from a mental institution. This manga is a sequel of the PSX game of the same name: Koudelka.
Nov 1999 to Sep 2000 | 15 chp | Publishing

Vampire MiyuVampire Princess Miyu

Kakinouchi, Narumi 2024
Stranded in the space between human and demon, Miyu was born a vampire and charged with the responsibility of returning evil demons called Shinma to the dark. Being eternally 15, she yearns to return to the dark herself but not until she has banished the Shinma from Earth. And since her awakening, she remains cut off by the facts of who and what she is.

(Source: ANN)
1989 to May 30, 2002 | 48 chp | Publishing

Hyouryuu KyoushitsuThe Drifting Classroom

Umezu, Kazuo 2024
Sixth grader Shou Takamatsu is a troublemaker who refuses to grow up. However, one fateful day, his world is turned upside down, forcing him to quickly mature—or die. When Shou arrives at school that morning, an earthquake of mysterious origin strikes, and the campus is teleported to an empty wasteland, far removed from society. Not only do Shou and his peers face an immediate crisis of food shortage, they must also contend with other problems, including new and dangerous external threats, and rising conflict among the student body. With the adults having a hard time adjusting, Shou finds the immense responsibility to quickly adapt to his new dystopian reality a heavy burden on his small shoulders.

Written by the horror specialist Kazuo Umezu, Hyouryuu Kyoushitsu is regarded as a classic in its genre—a unique blend of the riveting mystery behind the entrapment of Shou and his classmates on the barren, hostile world, and their struggle for survival.

[Written by Animeranku Rewrite]
1972 to 1974 | 44 chp | Publishing

Zashiki Onna

Mochizuki, Minetaro 2024
One night, mild-mannered college student, Hiroshi Mori, bumps into a woman visiting his next-door neighbor. A large, creepy woman, she has long hair, wears a coat and carries shopping bags in both hands. He had never seen her before. But then, without warning, the woman starts stalking Hiroshi, shifting her attention from his next-door neighbor whom she had been visiting to Hiroshi himself. Who is she and what is she after? Originally published in 1993 - before the term "stalker" was acknowledged in Japanese society, this well-written horror manga is about a young man pursued by a mystery woman. Serialized for just ten weeks, this short, single-volume manga unusually become a hit bestseller, selling a staggering 400,000 copies. Regularly chosen as "the scariest manga ever" in magazine horror specials.
Jul 6, 1993 | 11 chp | Publishing

7 Seeds

Tamura, Yumi 2024
In the immediate future, a giant meteorite has collided with earth. All living organisms, including mankind, have been wiped off the face of the planet. The government, who had foreseen this outcome, took measures to counter the worst-case scenario. In particular was Project "7SEEDS," in which five sets of seven young men and women were carefully selected and placed into teams (Spring, Summer A, Summer B, Autumn and Winter). Each participant was then put under cryogenic sleep in hopes of preserving the continued existence of mankind.

When those men and women awoke, they found themselves suddenly thrust into a cruel world. While bereft and grieved over forever losing their loved ones, they sought to find ways to survive.

(Source: MU)
Oct 13, 2001 to May 27, 2017 | 178 chp | Publishing

Dorohedoro

Hayashida, Q 2024
Hole—a dark, decrepit, and disorderly district where the strong prey on the weak and death is an ordinary occurrence—is all but befitting of the name given to it. A realm separated from law and ethics, it is a testing ground to the magic users who dominate it. As a race occupying the highest rungs of their society, the magic users think of the denizens of Hole as no more than insects. Murdered, mutilated, and made experiments without a second thought, the powerless Hole dwellers litter the halls of Hole's hospital on a daily basis.

Possessing free access to and from the cesspool, and with little challenge to their authority, the magic users appear indomitable to most—aside for a few. Caiman, more reptile than man, is one such individual. He hunts them on a heedless quest for answers with only a trusted pair of bayonets and his immunity to magic. Cursed by his appearance and tormented by nightmares, magic users are his only clue to restoring his life to normal. With his biggest obstacle being his stomach, his female companion Nikaidou, who runs the restaurant Hungry Bug, is his greatest ally.

Set in a gritty world of hellish design, Dorohedoro manages a healthy blend of comedy and lightheartedness with death and carnage. Taking plenty of twists and turns while following the lives of Hole's residents, it weaves a unique world of unearthly origin and dreary appearance not for the squeamish or easily disturbed.

[Written by Animeranku Rewrite]
Nov 30, 2000 to Sep 12, 2018 | 190 chp | Publishing

Narutaru: Mukuro Naru Hoshi Tama Taru KoShadow Star☆

Kitoh, Mohiro 2024
"From a dying planet shall come the children of light..."

While on vacation on a small island, young Shiina Tamai dives under the water near an old shrine and discovers an unearthly starfish-like creature. She nearly drowns but is rescued by the silent, wide-eyed little animal, who Shiina befriends and names Hoshimaru. To Shiina's surprise and delight, the creature changes shape, lets Shiina stand on him, and the two fly off into the clouds. But what looks to be a young girl's ultimate fantasy soon takes a darker turn as Shiina and Hoshimaru become entangled in a struggle between rival extraterrestrial factions who battle in the skies upon huge alien beasts called Shadow Dragons, with the fate of Earth hanging in the balance.

(Source: Dark Horse)
Mar 25, 1998 to Oct 25, 2003 | 68 chp | Publishing

Tokyo AkazukinTokyo Red Hood

Tamaoki, Benkyou 2024
Tokyo Akazukin is about an 11-year-old girl who usually just goes by the name of Akazukin (Little Red Riding Hood). She has a sick obsession with a being known only as Mr. Wolf, and wants nothing more than to be eaten by him to end her "immortal" life. Akazukin has lost all of her memories and doesn't even know who she really is. Her reason to want to be eaten by Mr. Wolf is not even known to her, instead it's a desire that is locked deep within her consciousness.
Jul 15, 2003 to Aug 30, 2006 | 27 chp | Publishing

Partner

Obana, Miho 2024
Shoujo manga that quickly turns dark. When the story begins, we are introduced to identical twins, Ousawa Nae (oldest) and Ousawa Moe (youngest). The twins are best friends with a set of fraternal twins, Soeda Takeshi (younger) and Soeda Ken (older). Nae likes Ken, who happens to be the boyfriend of her twin sister. Typical shoujo plot right? Wrong. Things take a quite a twist shortly thereafter.

(Source: J-Fan Manga)
Aug 3, 1999 to Sep 2, 2000 | 14 chp | Publishing