That’s certainly true judging by my (very limited) experience so far. I’m still trying to understand what the characteristics of the books they’re labeling as horror are supposed to be. I’m sure I’ve read Japanese books that weren’t labeled horror that felt much scarier than horror ones.
Edit: Found a nice article on Horror that recommends horror books in various categories, starting with Horror-fantasy for horror beginners ( 夜市 is in there), up to truly scary stuff. One category is interestingly titled 日本と海外の怖さの違いを楽しめる. Apparently I’ve only been reading horror beginners so far?
One of the books in 現実系 is Rika, which I saw the TV drama adaptation of. I remember thinking it was absolutely hilarious, and then I watched the movie adaptation and it was… Unexpectedly brutal and I stopped watching as I wasn’t in the mood for something that dark.
Quick heads up for the Bookwalker fans: This book is currently discounted (as in, cheaper to buy) and on top it also benefits from the currently ongoing 50% coin cashback. Win-win-win
This ultra-price-reduction ends on 2023-03-27T00:59:00Z.
Summer is (nearly) here, and I thought I’d revive this thread to gauge interest in reading something spooky during the summer months, as is the custom in Japan. This can be anything from short stories to manga to a horror novel, but first, is anyone interested, and if so, when would you prefer to start?
Would you be interested in joining a Spooky Summer Reading Club?
yes
no
maybe
0voters
If yes, when would you prefer to start?
June
July
August
0voters
Edit: I just realized it would have been better to have the month poll be multiple choice, or at least add a “whenever” option. Sadly I can’t edit the poll now, but we can discuss more in comments if need be.
The outlandish and haunting Inspector Onuki bravely pursues a murderer into the amusement park’s “House of Mysteries”. Waiting in the eerie darkness are vampires, a mummy man, a gorgon, and a werewolf. But there are more terrifying creatures in this world than these monsters. This is the eighth installment of the popular Inspector Onuki series, which contains four stories including the title story.
(automatic Deepl translation)
This looks like it’s likely to be a lot goofier than our more hardcore horror suggestions, but I thought it might be a nice item to toss into the pile for variety. It’s certainly got that monster vibe going on. I haven’t read any of the other books in the series, so hopefully it’s fine to jump around; I picked this specific one since I already own it, haha. It looks like it’s a collection of short stories, so it might be lighter fare. One drawback is that not all of them may be horror-themed, unfortunately, besides the title story.
(Whoops; this wasn’t supposed to be a reply to your specific post, omk3!)
In the aftermath of a massive earthquake, a Japanese elementary school is transported into a hostile world where the students and teachers are besieged by terrifying creatures and beset by madness.
Out of nowhere, an entire school vanishes, leaving nothing but a hole in the ground. While parents mourn and authorities investigate, the students and teachers find themselves not dead but stranded in a terrifying wasteland where they must fight to survive.
This is apparently one of the granddaddies of horror manga, being an inspiration for Junji Ito himself. There are six volumes, so if we wanted to read the full thing it’s pretty doable.
That Japanese summary is pretty whoa; I actually checked a couple of different places to see if the first one I found was bad somehow, but no…
Rika, an ordinary office worker, is a terrifying monster she met on the Internet. With her long black hair in disarray, is there any way to escape Rika’s escalating madness? Winner of the 2nd Horror Suspense Grand Prize.
The TV show (both original and リバース) feature Rika as a deeply obsessive and vain woman who does not accept reality which doesn’t align with her desires. Both were incredibly campy. The movie was also campy, but veered a bit too dark for what I was prepared for after seeing the shows.
Here’s some trailers to give you an idea how how it’s been adapted: movie, リバース show
I honestly have no clue if the movie or the shows are that close to the book or not, sometimes adaptations are way off.
I was almost done typing up a nomination for 残穢 in this list: 夏に読みたい妖や怪異に関する不思議な本13選 - ゴミ本なんてない because the list writer gave it 3/3 horror, 1/3 grotesque and it sounded perfect
And then I saw it didn’t have an ebook and it wouldn’t be right to nominate a non-ebook for omk3’s favorite club I hope they make it an ebook though because it sounds like something you’d like!
Thank for thinking about me, but I’m not sure my own preferences should translate to rules for this club. I’ve included the information about whether each nomination is available in ebook in the OP, and if people still want to read a book even if it’s not available digitally, who am I to say no?
I’ll still leave it to someone else to nominate if they feel so inclined. Goodness knows my own bookshelves are overflowing, do I really need more paperbacks when I have a few years worth of reading to go through yet?
Okay, since there haven’t been any new nominations in the last few days, and there were some people possibly interested in starting in July, I’m thinking it might be best to start the poll earlier rather than later. I’m thinking of possibly setting up the poll on Sunday, so if you have any last minute nominations, now is the time!
We’ve got some good options here, I think. Voted for shorter ones due to nothing but time constraints; I’m hoping I’ll be freer in October for some good spook.
I hope they make it an ebook though because it sounds like something you’d like!
. There will be another poll for Halloween closer to the time.