Oct 1, 20224 min read

Have a Hella Chill Halloween!

Recommending horror, supernatural, and fantasy manga in time for this spooky day!

Just gather 'round, and I'll elucidate about manga you can read when it gets late. From scary to hairy and from cheeky to freaky, here are some manga perfect for your campfire tonight.

Enjoy!

The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window manga panels; speech bubble says, ":Right, here we go." — The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window

Key:

📺 - has an anime adaptation

🎃 - have read or currently reading

🏳️‍🌈 - LGBTQ+

🔗 - digital-only (as of this post)

Are you afraid of the dark?

Horror anthology stories to read around a campfire.

Be Very Afraid of Kanako Inuki! by Kanako Inuki
Came the Mirror & Other Tales by Rumiko Takahashi 🎃
Never Open It: The Taboo Trilogy by Ken Niimura
PTSD Radio by Masaaki Nakayama
Tatarism ~ Takayama Tatari's Selected Works by Takayama Tatari (published in print/digital by Star Fruit Books)

Horroribly talented mangaka

If you love horror, supernatural, or fantasy manga, check out these mangakas!

Aya Shouoto (The Demon Prince of Momochi House, Kiss of the Rose Princess, He's My Only Vampire, etc.) 🎃
Junji Ito (Dissolving Classroom, Cat Diary, Tomie, The Liminal Zone, etc.)
Kaori Yuki (Angel Sanctuary, Demon from Afar, Alice in Murderland, Beauty and the Beast of Paradise Lost, etc.) 🎃
Kazuo Umezz (Orochi, The Drifting Classroom, etc.)
Rumiko Takahashi (Mermaid Saga, Mao, Came the Mirror & Other Tales, etc.) 🎃
Shintaro Kago (Dimentia 21, Super Dimensional Love Gun, etc.)
Osamu Tezuka (Dororo, Ode to Kirirhito, Bomba!, etc.) 🎃

Ghostbusters

They came. They saw. They kicked its ass.

Bleach by Tite Kubo 📺
Ghost Reaper Girl by Akissa Saiké
In/Spectre by Kyo Shirodaira and Chasiba Katasen 📺 🎃
Mitama Security: Spirit Busters by Tsurun Hatomune (digital-only; published by VIZ) 🔗
The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window by Tomoko Yamashita (BL) (digital-only; published by SuBLime) 📺 🎃 🏳️‍🌈 🔗

Haunted House

Would you rather live in an ooky spooky, scary house or a van down by the river?

Elegant Yokai Apartment Life by Hinowa Kouzuki and Waka Miyama (digital-only; published by Kodansha) 📺 🔗
Kakuriyo: Bed & Breakfast for Spirits by Waco Ioka, Midori Yuma, and Laruha 📺
Kamisama Kiss by Julietta Suzuki 📺 🎃
Shadows House by Somato 📺
The Demon Prince of Momochi House by Aya Shouoto 🎃

Rosen Blood Stella and Levi — Rosen Blood

Blood-sucking good manga

Sink your fangs into some vampire manga.

Biting a Vampire by Abuku (BL) (digital-only via Futekiya) 🏳️‍🌈 🔗
Happiness by Shuzo Oshimi 🎃
Honey-blood Beauty and her Vampire by Toma Fuyuori (digital-only; published by Kodansha) 🎃 🔗
Rosen Blood by Kachiru Ishizue 🎃
Scarlet by Chiri Yuino (GL) 🏳️‍🌈
The Vampire and His Pleasant Companions by Marimo Ragawa (BL) 🎃 🏳️‍🌈
Vampeerz by Akili (GL) 🏳️‍🌈

Season of the Witch

If you're looking for stories about witches, look no further than this category!

5 Seconds Before a Witch Falls in Love by Zeniko Sumiya (GL) 🏳️‍🌈
Flying Witch by Chihiro Ishizuka 📺
Hi, I'm a Witch, and My Crush Wants Me to Make a Love Potion by Eiko Mutsuhana, Kamada, and Vient 🎃
Witch Hat Atelier by Kamome Shirahama 📺
Witches by Daisuke Igarashi

Little Shop of Horrors

Little Shop of Terror. Watch 'em drop!

Box of Light by Seiko Erisawa
Nightmare Inspector: Yumekui Kenbun by Shin Mashiba
Petshop of Horrors by Matsuri Akino (manga is out-of-print/oop and not available digitally, but the OAV anime is in-print) 📺 🎃
xxxHolic by Clamp 📺 🎃
Yokai Rental Shop by Shin Mashiba 🎃
Yume Kira Dream Shoppe by Aqua Mizuto

The Walking Dead

Enjoy some tales about the living dead.

Boys of the Dead by Douji Tomita (BL) 🏳️‍🌈
Sawanabe Zombie by Kakio Tsurukawa (digital only via Star Fruit Books) 🔗
The Walking Cat: A Cat’s-Eye View of the Zombie Apocalypse by Tomo Kitaoka
Velveteen & Mandala by Jiro Matsumoto
Versailles of the Dead by Kumiko Suekane 🎃
Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead by Haro Aso and Kotaro Takata 🎃

Can You Just Die My Darling manga panel; boy has crazed look in his eyes and hand on a girl's shoulder; speech bubble says "I Want to Kill You" — Can You Just Die, My Darling?

All Around the World

Grits ain't groceries. Eggs ain't poultry, and viruses go around the world. The following manga deal with fighting pandemics but not the kind that'll make you eat brains or hack your lungs out. I'm talking about the kind that'll turn you into a dog or make you kill people.

Alive: The Final Evolution by Tadashi Kawashima and Adachitoka (TW: suicide) (digital-only; published by Kodansha) 🎃 🔗
Can You Just Die, My Darling? by Majuro Kaname and Sousou Sakakibara (digital-only; published by Kodansha) 🎃 🔗
Ode to Kirihito by Osamu Tezuka 🎃

Let's play a game

The rules are simple: kill or be killed. Lots of blood, gore, and violence ahead!

Fairy Tale Battle Royale by Soraho Ina 🎃
High-Rise Invasion by Takahiro Oba and Tsuina Miura 📺
Platinum End by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata 📺
The Immortal Demon by Komatsu Maki (digital-only via MangaPlaza) 🔗
The Shadows of Who We Once Were by Yae Utsumi (digital-only; published by Kodansha) 🔗

Ax-Crazy

If you're looking for yanderes, here you go.

Happy Sugar Life by Tomiyaki Kagisora (GL) (yandere female lead) 📺 🏳️‍🌈
Love & Heart by Chitose Kaido (yandere male lead) 🎃
One Room of Happiness by Hakuri (digital-only via MangaUp! app) (yandere male lead) 🔗
Red Riding Hood and the Big Sad Wolf! by Hachijou Arata (yandere female lead) 🎃

Mr. Purple People Eater, don't eat me!

It had one big horn and one big eye. Or maybe it was Godzilla? Whatever it was, it came from outer space(?) and is now wreaking havoc all over the place!

Asadora! by Naoki Urasawa
Dolly Kill Kill by Yukiaki Kurando and Yusuke Nomura (digital-only; published by Kodansha) 🔗
Kaiju No. 8 by Naoya Matsumoto 🎃
Parasyte by Hitoshi Iwaaki 🎃
Starving Anonymous by Yuu Kuraishi, Kengo Mizutani, and Kazu Inabe (digital-only; published by Kodansha) 🎃 🔗