8 of the Best Japanese Horror Reads

This is an incredibly weird read, which is my favorite thing about it. The Kuonji family seem to be plagued with misfortune after misfortune, from an unhealthily long pregnancy to an AWOL husband. Their difficulties attract the attention of many, including an exorcist unlike most — one who doesn’t believe in ghosts.

You’ve most likely come across an adaptation of this story, which was turned into a Japanese movie — that was then turned into an American movie — and then kept going. Still, the original is definitely worth a read, as each adaptation takes things in a very different direction. For those unfamiliar with the story, four teenagers have died a week after watching a videotape, and a journalist is determined to figure out why.

Kenji makes his money escorting rich tourists through the seedier parts of town. Unlike other tour guides, his clients don’t want to learn about the country’s history or admire its nature. They’re interested in sex and gambling, and Kenji’s happy to deliver. But his latest client is oddly clingy, and is getting weirder by the minute — weird enough that Kenji can’t shake the feeling that something is violently wrong.

Being dead doesn’t mean you don’t have things to do. Okiku was murdered around 300 years ago, and she spends her time these days hunting people who murder children in order to teach them the lessons they sorely need. When an interesting teenager moves into the neighborhood, her attention is drawn to him…and then things get even more bloody.

You can never go wrong with a bloodbath horror read, right? When a class of young teenagers is shipped to a deserted island, they’re instructed to pick up weapons and kill each other. It’s a story that we’re probably all vaguely familiar with nowadays, but this book is one of the first that explored the idea and it didn’t hold back at all on the gore. Be aware that the remastered version is the one you want — the original translation is a bit…botched.

This is a compilation of short stories that are all interconnected. There’s not much goth about it to me, but your mileage may vary. This is a very gory read, made more so by the (gorgeous) grotesque illustrations. Morino and her one friend are rather odd high schoolers. They’re both obsessed with murder — and there are murders happening all around them. There are seven short stories in this — six if you get the version without the bonus story.

Imagine starting a new school and finding out that you’ve been placed in the haunted class. Kouichi finds himself in this unenviable position and the bodies quickly pile up. Unlike most of the rest of the school, who’ve just resigned themselves to it all, he’s determined to get to the bottom of things and break whatever awful curse is causing the murders. Like most teenagers, he gets in way over his head.

What could be creepy about spirals? Shuichi Saito quickly learns that the answer to that question is a lot, after his father becomes obsessed with spirals in all forms, and then dies without an explanation. Spirals crop up more and more as time goes by, and soon the entire town has been affected — and people keep dying.

I wouldn’t advise reading this if you’re a spiral doodler. You’ll definitely end up freaking yourself out — and possibly chucking your notebook in a fire.