4 Eerie Tales to Read on Manga Planet for Halloween

Halloween is upon us, which means that it’s time to pass around ghost stories and tales of the supernatural! And in a stroke of perfect timing, today happens to be Friday the 13th. Gather round as we share our recommendations for Halloween — and for those who can’t handle outright horror, take heart, as our roundup features a mix of terrifying tales and stories that just happen to have horror or supernatural elements.

1. You Mustn’t Come to Kuganegasawa

Author: Nana Ajika, based on a story by H. P. Lovecraft
Publisher: SAN-EI Corporation
Genre: Shonen/Seinen
Status: Completed (1 volume)
Access Options:

• Manga Planet Pass (readable in full)
• Points (readable in full)

Nana Ajika’s one-shot manga reimagining H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Whisperer in Darkness” in Japan begins with a certain Professor Matoba receiving a letter from his student, Eikuu Towada.

The young man claims to have proof that will finally confirm the hearsay about strange winged creatures existing in a closed-off village called Kuganesawa. And what’s the reason Towada is so sure that those creatures exist? He believes that his father was, without a doubt, abducted by those horrific beings.

Each new letter from Towada brings Professor Matoba closer to the truth about the creatures in Kuganesawa, and yet Towada warns his professor not to visit Kuganesawa. But as unsettling as Towada’s letters are, how can Professor Matoba resist the urge to investigate?

Whether or not you’ve read the original Lovecraft novella that this story was based on , this cosmic horror tale will send shivers down your spine, as it will fill you with a sense of unease. In this story, the “why” isn’t as important as the “what” — just the mysterious nature of the creatures and the ways that those in the know seem so determined to keep their secrets are already unsettling enough.

For a quick but effective scare, give You Mustn’t Come to Kuganegasawa a read! No prior knowledge of the Cthulhu Mythos is required. Who knows; you might be intrigued enough to check out “The Whisperer in Darkness” afterward, if you haven’t already!

2. Chilling Messages

Author: Masaya Hokazono
Publisher: Masaya Hokazono
Genre: Shonen/Seinen
Status: Completed (1 volume)
Access Options: 

• Manga Planet Pass (readable in full)
• Points (readable in full)
• Free preview of Chapter 1

Despite the cover art, Chilling Messages is actually more light-hearted than it looks, so it’ll make for a nice refresher after a heavy and/or scary read. In this collection of four-panel comics, mangaka and occasional horror writer Masaya Hokazono candidly shares his experiences as a creator of horror fiction: meeting phony psychics, investigating supposedly haunted locations, his brushes with the supernatural, and so on.

Though Hokazono-sensei says in an interview that he’s a skeptic when it comes to the supernatural, some of his anecdotes do involve encounters that he can’t quite explain. So despite him being no newbie at what he does, there still are things that leave him weirded out at best or at worst scare him, after all!

While Hokazono-sensei’s experiences are mostly told in a humorous, tongue-in-cheek tone, this series still has smatterings of scary stories here and there, as well as trivia related to Japanese superstitions, supernatural folklore, haunted and/or cursed locations, and so on.

A word of warning for the faint-hearted: don’t get too comfortable with the mostly playful art style, as you may get the occasional jumpscare in the form of random ghost art! (But hey, that means that you’ll get glimpses of what Hokazono-sensei is like as a horror artist.)

Insightful and funny, Chilling Messages is a worthwhile read for those who want a meta perspective into the world of horror writing and art.

3. Tales of Strange Coincidences in Kawabata-machi

Author: Shino Shinomiya
Publisher: SHODENSHA Publishing Co.,Ltd.
Genre: Boys’ Love (BL)
Status: Completed (1 volume)
Access Options: 

• Manga Planet Pass (readable in full)
• Points (readable in full)
• Free preview of Chapter 1

Here’s another story for those who’d rather not read outright horror: Tales of Strange Coincidences in Kawabata-machi is a sweet BL story with elements of the supernatural. 

College student Chisa Hirako gets a part-time job at the mysterious Suzushima Appraisal Research Company, whose business activities are vaguely described as “investigating the authenticity of objects.” But Chisa gets more than he bargained for at this job, as he discovers the stories behind the objects that the company is supposed to appraise.

The horror and supernatural elements in this story are as subtle as the sweet romance that unfolds throughout it. In this sense, one is reminded of ancient Japanese supernatural folk tales, some of which may not be scary by modern horror standards, but are still unnerving nonetheless because of the bizarre and fantastical elements that take place. Save for the occasional creepy figures that appear in a small handful of pages, this story won’t scare you, but it will leave you with a lingering sense of mystery and whimsy nonetheless.

As the story is interspersed with flashbacks, it may get a bit confusing at times, but Tales of Strange Coincidences in Kawabata-machi is short enough for you to reread. Take your time while you do so — a second (or third, or more) read can help you appreciate the story even better!

4. I Want To Hold Aono-kun So Badly I Could Die

Author: Umi Shiina
Publisher: Kodansha Ltd.
Genre: Shonen/Seinen
Content Warnings: Some depictions of suicide, self-harm and domestic abuse
Status: Ongoing (4 volumes available on Manga Planet as of this writing)
Access Options:

• Manga Planet Pass (partly readable — up to Volume 4)
• Points (readable in full)
• Free preview of Chapter 1

Ryuhei Aono from the class next door helps the shy and socially awkward Yuri Kariya out one time, and before she knows it, she falls head over heels in love with him. Yuri confesses to Aono and, to her surprise, he agrees to go out with her. But just as their young love begins to blossom, Aono dies in a traffic accident.

A devastated Yuri decides that a life without her Aono-kun isn’t worth living, but before she’s able to join him in the next life, Aono appears as a ghost to stop her. It seems like not even death can keep Yuri and her Aono-kun apart! And if you think that this will be the start of a fluffy slice-of-life romance between a girl and a ghost, think again, because it slowly becomes evident that Aono-kun didn’t come back quite right.

I Want To Hold Aono-kun So Badly I Could Die is a masterful blend of horror, romance, mystery, and slice of life that will keep you turning the pages, trying to find out whether it’s too late to stop the darkness from unfolding. From the moment we the readers and the character themselves figure out that Aono’s continued presence in Yuri’s life is (literally and figuratively) holding her back, we’re taken on a journey trying to find out what exactly went wrong and how to set it right.

It’s also worth noting that this series does a good job of deconstructing teen romance. Yuri wanting to end her life after Aono passes away — despite her only having been dating him for two weeks at that point — is not depicted as romantic in the least (even though Yuri herself certainly thought it was). Without going into spoilers, later volumes show why Yuri is the way she is, and her actions and personality begin to make more sense.

We can’t wait to see how the rest of this series plays out, so if you’re in the same boat, keep your eyes peeled for when subsequent volumes of I Want To Hold Aono-kun So Badly I Could Die are added to our library!