Panorama of Hell cover Starfruit Books

Panorama of Hell is a 1984 Japanese horror one-shot manga, written and illustrated by Hideshi Hino. Known as a master horror mangaka, Hino is most notable as the writer/illustrator for such well-known works as Hell Baby, Lullabies from Hell, and Town of Pigs. Moreover, Hino has also worked as a director on multiple films, such

Continue Reading

First published in May 1949, Wacky Magazine was devised as a more lighthearted spinoff to the popular kasutori magazine Mysterious Magazine. Whilst Mysterious Magazine focused on fairly explicit topics, Wacky Magazine took a more surreal approach to content though still maintained the same air of casual eroticism. Each issue of Wacky Magazine begins with a short illustrated

Continue Reading

Dead Sushi 2012

Dead Sushi is a 2012 Japanese splatter horror comedy film, written and directed by Noboru Iguchi, with additional writing from Makiko Iguchi and Jun Tsugita. Known for his over-the-top implementation of gore, comedy, and all-round silliness, Iguchi is known as the director behind such classics as The Machine Girl (2008), Robo-Geisha (2009), and Hentai Samurai

Continue Reading

The fact that both Hideo Nakata (Ringu, Dark Water) and Takashi Shimizu (Ju-On, Reincarnation) have been consistently releasing new horror films as of late is astonishingly overlooked. At the same time, one can argue that the not-so-favorable critical reception for these films is the reason why they’re not gaining the traction that their predecessors once

Continue Reading

Mieruko-chan Anthology Comic is a 2023 compendium of short, one-shot manga based around the characters of Tomoki Izumi’s popular supernatural manga/anime Mieruko-chan. The anthology features work from Yousuke Katayama, Shuu Kageyama, Michiru Noroi, Yoshiyuki Nishi, Dora Urasaka, Satoshi Karasuya, Imari Arita, Shikiji Sorakura, Yakan Nabeya, Goumoto, Aki Mizuki, Harenochiame, and Sayman Downman. “Creepy, crawly, grotesque…

Continue Reading

Door is a 1988 Japanese psychological horror thriller written and directed by Banmei Takahashi with additional writing from Ataru Oikawa. Beginning his career in Pinku Eiga in the 70s, Takahashi has worked with some of the greats in the genre, such as Mamoru Watanabe and Koji Wakamatsu to name a few. He is notable for

Continue Reading

Nighty Night: Midnight Nightmares is a 1986 independent Japanese horror anthology, directed by Hirohisa Kokusho. The film was certainly unrecognized upon its initial release, receiving an extremely limited VHS run in Japan but soon faded into obscurity. It wasn’t long before the film was considered lost media, with no known copies of these VHS releases

Continue Reading

My Mother’s Eyes is a 2023 Japanese science fiction psychological thriller, written and directed by Takeshi Kushida. No stranger behind the camera, Kushida is also the creative mind behind the short films FLOW (2003), KANNNON (2004), Reincarnation (2008), I AM A CAMERA (2013), The Earth was Bluish (2015), and VOICE (2018), as well as the

Continue Reading

Higurashi: When They Cry – GOU is a 2-volume psychological horror manga written by Ryukishi07/7th Expansion and illustrated by Tomato Akase. Ryukishi07 is a Japanese author, artist, and representative of the group collective 07th Expansion, who are well-known as the creators of the When They Cry series, consisting of Higurashi When They Cry, Umineko When

Continue Reading

After contributing to periodical manga magazines such as Manga OK in the mid-60s, the ever-ambitious Taro Bonten would decide to create his own bespoke gekiga magazine in 1969 named Black Ace. However, this wouldn’t be just any normal magazine and would seek to recreate the mystery genre started by kasutori magazines in the late 1940s.

Continue Reading