The Forbidden Library: Chapter 1 Horror Collector

Welcome to the Forbidden Library, the newest series here on Secret House of Anime. In this series we will be exploring and reviewing various Light novels (a form of popular writing from Japan), including some of my personal favourites. I look forward to introducing more people to these often-overlooked books and to teaching about them!

For those who have never heard of Light novels before, here is a brief history of the format.

Light novels were originally developed in the 1970’s from Japanese pulp magazines, which often included articles that combined pop-culture imagery and text. These books tend to be associated with teenage and digital formats (such as web and cellphone-based works), and usually contrast with what is considered, “classical,” Japanese literary forms. Often, they are also linked to anime, manga, and video game works, culture, and imagery, and are often adapted into and from these forms.

The popularity of Light novels in the United States is surprisingly recent. While manga companies such as TokyoPop and Seven Seas did offer Light novels in the mid to late 2000’s, a combination of factors such as the manga industry crash, a lack of interest in Light novels from publishers and readers, and translation costs and challenges made the interest in publishing Light novels quickly die out. Despite being linked to many popular anime and manga series, Light novels didn’t really become a major market force in the US until Yen Press (a manga subsidiary of the Kadokawa Corporation and Hachette Book Group) formed its Yen On Light novel line in 2014. This time Light novels proved highly successful, and created a major push for other companies such as Seven Seas and J-Novel club to produce more content. Now it is estimated that there are more than twenty-four new novel releases in the US each month.

Personally, I have a real love-hate relationship with Light novels. Like manga there is a lot of material to sift through, and a lot of it doesn’t end up interesting me. Even among the few novels I have read some have turned out to be disappointing, or even downright insulting. Due to this I am very picky about what novels I read and enjoy.

It also doesn’t help that so much material is constantly coming out and many of it looks so similar. This makes it hard for fans like me to keep up with even a fraction of what is being released. Because of this constant influx of new material those who aren’t familiar with the format often find knowing where to start daunting and intimidating, especially if they aren’t already anime and manga fans.

Another major barrier for getting into the format is a lack of libraries that know about and carry Light novels. Most librarians I have talked to are unaware and/or unsure about how to approach collecting Light novels. Even librarians who are aware and enjoy Light novels tend to face barriers purchasing them for their collections due to limited budgets, space, titles available through purchasing vendors, and a lack of patron interest. As a result, most libraries carry little to no Light novels, and don’t feature them in their promotional material.

Despite all these barriers and issues though there are a number of really great Light novels worth reading. That is why I decided to create this curated series. I hope to be a guide and to share some of the (mostly) great Light novels that got me interested in the format with others, as well as many of the promising new titles coming out this year (2024). While this does mean that most novels in this series will reflect my personal tastes and will exclude many common themes found in these books such as: power fantasies, Isekai (travelling or reincarnating into a fantasy world) and traditional “high,” fantasy, ecchi and sexual content, and video game-based titles; I will still try to include a variety of books and story themes, and to make my selections and reviews accessible to newcomers. Most of all though I hope you enjoy this new series!

Horror Collector:

I am a major fan of horror content, especially horror stories. Many horror tales contain some of the most imaginative and interesting elements and narratives I have read. Ranging from urban legends, folk tales, and campfire stories going back thousands of years, to finely crafted lengthy novels filled with unusual details, suspense, and clever twists; horror has played a major role in our oral and written traditions. Horror Collector draws upon these features to create short stories aimed at young readers.

Horror Collector features stories of children encountering Japanese urban legends and folk monsters. Each story typically involves a new character encountering something odd and out of place in their world, often causing them misfortune. The only through line in each story is a strangely knowledgeable mysterious boy in a red hood who often acts as a warning to the characters about the situation they face.

What really makes this novel interesting is its use of Japanese lore. Horror Collector draws from a surprising number of sources, and included many classic creatures and stories, including a few that I was unfamiliar with. While most children reading this title probably won’t have heard of legends it uses, each story is presented in an informative, accessible, and engaging way that is easy for newcomers to grasp. One thing I really appreciated was that the stories were not watered down. Despite being aimed at children many of these tales included classic horror tropes, and were effectively creepy. I can easily see this series being an eye-opening experience for a young reader, and getting them into the horror genre. While I didn’t find most of the stories actually scary as an adult and avid horror fan, I still had a great time reading them despite not being the target audience.

Most of the characters only appear in a single short story so it is hard to say much about them. Most of the cast are stock, with many of the main characters being middle schoolers designed to stand in for the intended reader. While this is a neat feature, most of the cast doesn’t really stand out on their own or reoccur outside of their story. The one character that does appear in each story is Fushigi Senno, the boy in the red hood. His backstory is purposely left vague with little pieces of information about him parsed out in each story. In many ways he is also the stand-in for the sort of horror mascot and warning figure often found in classic anthology works such as Uncle Creepy, The Crypt-Keeper, or Montgomery Darke. While most of the characterization in Horror Collector isn’t strong, it really isn’t meant to be with the exception of Senno’s who exemplifies a nice less is more effect.

Perhaps the best and worst feature of the Horror Collector is its use of simple diction. The language used is clearly designed to be easy for a kid to read. At times this does make the stories come off as a bit barebones for older readers, but its quick and imaginative style kept me from ever getting bored. What I do have to applaud though is how the style avoids getting in the way of the subject matter, and at time actually even enhances it with a campfire like quality. While these stories aren’t filled with gruesome gore they also don’t hold back on the scary material. Despite the simple language the wording didn’t detract from the series conveying interesting and creepy subject matter. While as an adult I was not blown away by the book’s style, I clearly wasn’t the target audience and despite this still really enjoyed reading it.

Horror Collector is a great introduction to the horror genre, and Japanese folk and urban horror stories. Despite not being the book’s target audience and its language being simple, I still had a blast reading it and look forward to exploring more titles in the JY Light novel line. As a librarian and Light novel fan I would absolutely recommend it to young horror fans hoping to learn more about Japanese horror traditions. This series is one I will absolutely be reading to its conclusion, and one that I will be recommending to those who like books that are similar to Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. 

The Magic of Manga: Horror

Japanese art has a long and historical connection with horror. The Yūrei-zu works of the 19^th century helped capture images of ghosts and monsters from stories dating back to the Edo era, and were strongly influenced by the works of master artist Katsushika Hokusai. These images made their way into manga, and became especially popular in the rental manga markets of the 50’s with creators like Shigeru Mizuki and Kazuo Umezu having a major impact on the genre. This rental manga movement led many alternative comics’ creators to create more extreme and surreal forms of horror such as Hideshi Hino, but it wouldn’t be until the 1980’s with magazines like Halloween that horror would become a mainstream genre of manga.

While horror manga has always been published by US companies, it hasn’t receive much mainstream attention until recently. Thanks to the popularity of Junji Ito’s horror manga the genre has seen a major renaissance in the United States. Ito’s works have brought a mainstream interest in horror manga, and have contributed to the publication and republishing of many more horror works. Despite his enormous body of work and the popularity of his manga, this list will continue highlight the work of a variety of important horror creators published in the United States.

1. Dorohedoro: Dorohedoro is a strange tale of magic, revenge, and class conflict. Dorohedoro’s world is divided between demons living in the underworlds of hell, the humans who are forced to live in a lawless hellhole, and the elite sorcerers living in their own glitzy but chaotic world. Dorohedoro follows the journey of Caiman and his friend Nikaido as they seek to know why Caiman was given the head of a humanoid lizard and why his past memories were erased. Things are further complicated as a gang of elite sorcerers led by their boss En end up not only having to deal with Caiman who is immune to their magic, but also the opposing Cross-Eyes gang.

Dorohedoro combines the creepy aspects of weird magic users run amok a with action story highlight themes of class and revenge. The violent anarchy of the story creates a world where the fear of violence is very real, even for the ruling class of sorcerers. This violent and chaotic world is emphasized with art that is detailed and at times abstract emphasizing both the gritty violence and the surreal magic of the story. Dorohedoro is a unique treat for those looking for a horror work outside the norm.

2. Uzamaki: When talking about horror manga especially in the United States Junji Ito is the first creator that comes to mind. A genius Ito pours all his considerable skills to create terror in his work Uzamaki. Designed specifically to give nightmares this story explores Kurouzu-cho a town that is being consumed by spirals. As these spirals continue to grow more frequent and alarming Kirie and Shuich both explore and attempt to escape being swallowed up by them.

Choosing a Junji Ito work for this list was extremely hard. Ito’s works are all incredibly influential in the States, and most if not all of his works are masterful portrayals of nightmarish scenarios. Had I not limited these lists I could have easily filled up this list with his works alone. Uzamaki stands out though even among Ito’s other works as one of the most terror inducing stories ever told. Uzamaki presents a world where peoples own bodies betray them in sickening ways, with each instance of horror being more shocking and worse than the last. Ito’s artistic portrayal of body horror and obsession makes this book both hard to put down and so frightening that it is difficult to read. Uzamaki is perfect for those looking for horror manga that is both brilliant and will give them nightmares.

3. GeGeGe no Kitarō: GeGeGe no Kitarō is a series following the adventure of Kitarō the last boy of the Ghost Clan. Along with his friends including a floating eyeball, a rat man, a cat girl and other ghosts and monsters, Kitaro hopes to unite the worlds of humans and Japanese supernatural creatures. To do this he battles evil monsters that cause humans trouble, and work to bring peace between the two sides.

GeGeGe no Kitarō was created Shigeru Mizuki during the 1960’s for the rental manga market. Designed to appeal to children and adults alike this series is iconic in Japan, and helped create an interest in horror manga. While writing this series Mizuki drew a strong influence from traditional Japanese monster stories combining them with a fun horror comedy tone to deliver a manga that is just as much about fun as it is being scary and weird. Mizuki’s was also strongly influenced by the classic Japanese Yūrei-zu horror art style, mixing it with cute and comedic influences to create a unique blend. GeGeGe no Kitarō is an exciting and spooky read, and does a great job of combining often contrasting elements.

4. MW: MW is one of the darkest, and most screwed up works of legendary manga creator Osamu Tezuka. It focuses on the serial killer Michio Yuki who was driven mad due to the exposure to the secret chemical weapon MW. Opposing him is Father Garai a gay priest who is racked by guilt due to his involvement in raping Yuki when he was a teenager and Yuki was only a child, and due to his continued attraction to Yuki.

MW is one of Tezuka’s strangest and darkest stories. It is clear that Tezuka was consciously trying to distance himself from his earlier works and themes, creating a much darker tale designed for the adult Gekiga market. Tezuka did not hold back in this story filling it full of adult themes and elements. While MW is filled with violence, cruelty, and sex, but it’s most unique and interesting aspects are the contrasts between larger than life elements and humanistic struggles.

One way that MW really stands out in this depiction is in how it explores inner guilt (or lack thereof). Garai and Yuki couldn’t be more different as characters. Garai is driven to be complicit and unable to directly stop Yuki due to his own person guilt, whereas Yuki is entirely amoral, and eager and willing to hurt and use others for personal gain. Despite all of Garai’s attempts though he cannot untangle himself from Yuki’s cruelty and grasp, and is constantly ridden with guilt over his past and present actions and his continued attraction to Yuki. Tezuka’s MW is frightening and ingenious, because it explores the effects personal guilt has on a deeply flawed person and how that guilt can be exploited by monstrous people to do further harm.

5. The Promised Neverland: The Promised Neverland is a series that quickly goes from cute and charming to nightmarish. The Promised Neverland features children who are living at an orphanage. One night two of the oldest children Emma and Norman come to realize they are being raised so that demons can slaughter and eat them. Watching over them, the orphanage’s mother figure Isabella soon is revealed to be a menace whose main job is to prevent children from escaping. The series follows Emma, Ray and Norman as they try to plan out an escape from the demon’s and the orphanages cruel caretaker to journey into a dangerous and unfamiliar world.

The Promised Neverland brings up a variety of thought provoking questions for the leads to grapple with such as how to escape while being tracked and monitored closely, whether and how to save the rest of the orphans, and how to survive what lies outside the orphanage walls. It keeps ratcheting up the tension as the Emma, Norman, and Ray know they are being closely watched by Isabella who knows of their plan and is tracking them. Another thing this story does a great job with is making the children look and behave like children. This contrasts with the very adult decisions and planning they have to make putting them in even more jeopardy, and adding to the tension of the story. The Promise Neverland is an excellent horror series that revels in creating fear and tension.

6. The Drifting Classroom: The Drifting Classroom tries to answer the question of what children and their teacher would do if they ended up in desolate and deadly ruined world. The answer is predictably frightening as the adults lose their minds and become desperate and violent, while the students are forced to fend for themselves. The Drifting Classroom stars Sho a young boy who tries his best to connect the kids to their original world through a psychic link, and to bring order to the school so that it doesn’t fall into chaos.

The Drifting Classroom draws a lot of inspiration from survival and coming of age tales like Lord of the Flies. Things in the story constantly are going bad to worse as Sho tries to prevent disaster from striking. This is not easy though as many groups of kids are pushed by their worst instincts and fears to make dangerous, and often violent decisions in a bid to survive. The adults of the story are also no help, and not only are poor role models for the children but also become dangerous tyrants. On top of this the students also have to contend with an environment full of giant monsters and a deadly disease. Though this title was published originally in the 1970’s it still remains a frightening and effective horror title.

7. Parasyte: In Parasyte high schooler Shinichi Izumi ends up having an alien infest his right hand by accident. Things could be worse for him though as he soon comes to realize that other parasitic aliens have invaded earth and taken over the brains of their hosts. These other parasites use the bodies of humans as a disguise to feed on other humans, and try to blend in with human society. Luckily for Izumi, Migi the alien that took over his right hand is sentient, wants to protect both of them from harm, and doesn’t require human flesh to survive. Together with Migi’s alien powers Izumi must protect himself and others from the other vicious man eating aliens.

The aliens from Parasyte draws more from creatures like the Thing or face huggers than from humanoid or monstrous aliens. Despite their initial small wormlike appearance though these creatures are still depicted as thinking beings, despite lacking humanoid emotions. What is scary about these creatures though is that despite their intellect they act upon violent instinct trying to eliminate humans and valuing survival above all else. Because of this Shinichi quickly finds himself in danger as Migi attracts the attention of others of in his kind, forcing him and Migi to decide how to handle the threats these creatures pose. Parasyte is an interesting and thought provoking invasion story with plenty of body horror and gore thrown in the mix.

8. Pet Shop of Horrors: Pet Shop of Horrors is all about a pet shop selling odd humanoid creatures. Run by the mysterious and androgynous Count D the shop offers these creatures to people, but also warns their owners to follow three rules vital rules. Problems arrive though when the new owner ultimately fails to follow their contract, which results in chaos, and draws the attention of LAPD detective Leon Orcot who wants to know what is going on in the shop.

Pet Shop of Horrors is a collection of tales tied together through the framing device of Count D and Leon. Each of its short stories are masterfully woven together to create an anthology style comics drawing from a format that is similar to other horror anthologies like Creep Show or Tales of the Crypt. Another interesting element of Pet Shop of Horrors is its Josei manga (comics for adult women) art style, which gives it a surreal and flowing feel. This style also works really well with the characters, especially Count D giving him a both a mysterious and at times humorous quality.  Pet Shop of Horrors is an interesting anthology with a strong sense of atmosphere and stylized story telling.

9. Mermaid Saga: While Takahashi is well known for her works in comedy many people don’t also realize how much of an impact she has had in the horror genre. While her works Inuyasha and Mao both contain horror elements, her most influential horror series Mermaid Saga is sadly often overlooked. Mermaid Saga contains stories featuring two immortals Yuta and Mana who travel together and encounter many instances of mermaids, monsters, and other immortals.

The stories in Mermaid Saga are set throughout different time periods and all link to mermaids whose flesh can either make people immortality or in most cases transform those who consume it into grotesque monsters. This series is full of violence and horror, but also has pathos as people (including the two leads) are often negatively effected by their encounters mermaids or dangerous immortals. What makes this series even more chilling though is that the antagonists have clear motives for their actions, giving them a sense a humanistic quality even when they are violent or cruel. This sense of humanity mixed with gore and violence creates an un-nerving and effective contradiction to this series. Although Mermaid Saga is extremely different from Takahashi’s other major works it remains a masterpiece of storytelling and art.

10. Hino Horror: Before Junji Ito became a huge hit in the United States, there was a major cult following of the works of Hideshi Hino. Hino’s works are well known for their tongue and cheek style, and their use of gore and surrealism. His stories in these collections contain Hino’s trademark themes of madness, dreamlike logic, and plenty of blood and guts.

Hino’s works are a prime example of the comics that came out of Garo magazine and the Japanese alternative comics movement. Hino’s works feature art and stories that are distinctly different in feel from the mainstream comics that came before (such as GeGeGe no Kitarō or The Drifting Classroom) or after. Hino likes to employ a nightmarish dream logic to his works making them stand out from most other creators. Another aspect that sets Hino apart is his attempts to get the reader to sympathize with the monstrous. Despite his works often being extremely gory and uncomfortable Hino still goes out of his way to make the reader feel for his characters. Hino’s strange tales and unusual art style made his works a cult hit in the United States, especially during the early period of manga publishing.