Asian Culture
At Grimoire of Horror, we want to celebrate both Women in Horror Month and International Women’s Day by celebrating female trailblazers within horror who are paving the way for women to have autonomy, both as creatives within the industry, and as characters within film! The goal of initiatives such as Women in Horror Month and
It is a pleasure to research weird internet mysteries, above all, when they come from Japan. Due to the language barrier and its distinctive online culture, creepy stuff that originated in this country seems unusually eerie even for the most well-versed fans of the uncanny. Since I am a fellow seeker of disturbing content, I
Opening 6 April 2022 and running until 15 May at MERRY ART GALLERY in Yokohama is “Showa Bizarre MANGA Syndrome,” an exhibition organized by manga artist Miyako Cojima. As is well known, Japan is home to some of the world’s most outlandish and shocking horror imagery, much of which dates back centuries. More recently, when
Following WWII, there would be a shortage of decent alcohol and before long bootleg, shochu liquor, referred to as kasutori (effectively Japanese moonshine) began to circulate. Being made from whatever ingredients people could scrape together, sometimes even toxic chemicals, kasutori alcohol soon developed an extremely poor reputation in society. It was this term that would
We all love a good horror anthology, don’t we? From Creepshow (1982), Trick ‘r Treat (2007), The ABCs of Death (2012) to V/H/S (2012), horror anthologies have been a favorite in the horror genre, thanks to their multiple stories and enduring entertainment value. And aside from these examples, the Philippines turns out to be the home
Operation Wandering Soul was a creepy USA propaganda experiment orchestrated to frighten the superstitious instincts of Viet Cong during the Vietnam War. Propaganda has a variety of purposes to misinform, but a predominant one is to elicit fear: demoralize and route the enemy. Operation Wandering Soul was an audacious plan seeking to manipulate the Vietnamese’s
While zombies have traditionally been mostly influenced by Western culture, the zombie sub-genre has been getting a resurgence these past few years thanks to South Korean. Zombies are some of the most beloved monsters of horror cinema, from the early George Romero films that started with Night of the Living Dead in 1968 to the
Sitting at the southeastern corner of Asia lies the Philippines, which like any other Asian countries such as Japan or Thailand, has its own fair share of cinematic horrors. Filipino or “Pinoy” horror is mostly rooted in local folklore and religion, a result of the country’s beliefs and culture before and after it has been invaded
With the release of the new ‘Cowboy Bebop‘ live-action show, and a new Yoko Kanno soundtrack, perhaps it’s time to look at one aspect of anime that is often neglected: the music, and the way it is used by anime creators to tell the story. Why did that show choose that exact OP or ED
The “Death Game” is an unofficial genre of thriller wherein a set of humans (or at least sentient beings) are pitted in a contest where the consequence of failure is the player’s last reward. The appeal isn’t hard to explain – the premise packs immediate tension as characters are faced not only with the threat