Of course, it's not yet Halloween, but who isn't already in the spirit?
(Quick note, in this article, spooky equates to "cute, upbeat and festive halloween," such as bats and pumpkins, and horror equals "oh my god he just got his eyes gouged out by the edge of a sheet of paper over the course of twelve hours" halloween. And, I don't know if that last bit is possible but you know what, it sounds scary.)
Fall is setting in, with nice breezes, eye-catching leaves, and warm food. I won't be freezing my ass off this year as I'm doing my studies from the home. American anime-watching teenagers can finally fulfill their "dreams" of being hikkikomori, huzzah! Jokes aside, staying home saves me commute and gives me more time to write on MFC, and as such, I have a question for everyone today...
What do you think is the best type of horror anime, as in, what genres (psychological, gore, existential) and tropes/archetypes (ghosts, vampires, yandere) do you like the most? Which horror anime is your favorite? If you're not a fan of the real scary stuff, and lean towards the cheery, bright parts of Halloween celebration, what do you like to see in a holiday-themed anime episode or manga chapter? Slice or life and high school settings could use Halloween to their advantage more often.
My personal thoughts leading up to my answers:
View spoilerBarely any horror movies scare me. I'm not on the edge of my seat or scared of what will happen next. Of course, horror movies aren't meant to scar you for life, but few chill me for even a moment. For example, Halloween directed by John Carpenter is an amazing, horrifying movie but it does not get my blood pumping, leave me with a hollow feeling, or anything else. It offers a lot of quality to dig into, it's a masterful direction of a worst-case scenario, given both realism and disbelieving parts to its benefit. And yet it doesn't give me fear, plain and simple. These following, however, these scare me. I have other anime horrors I love, but I'll stick to these for simplicity's sake.
(And, surprisingly, despite high-end animation studios, some storytelling methods not seen in live-action, and the strange stories out there in all of Japan, there are few horror anime.)
My answers below the cut:
View spoilerI've yet to finish Mononoke, but it has been creepy so far. It's atmospheric and stylistic, to the point of claustrophobia and a sense of the unknown, since its very avant garde.
As peaceful as one moment is, it can turn out to be short-lived. By that I do not mean there's fleeting happiness, but that normalcy is intruded on by vicious spirits. Reminiscent of reality, there are breaks in between the evil and clamor faced just by continuing to live in the world. It sounds foolish to say that, being it is so obvious no one knows what's coming next, but Mononoke brought that to the forefront for me out of many anime.
Otorimonogatari is a human, adolescent horror story masked as mystery. I don't want to give any major spoilers, but I think mostly everyone has seen the figure based upon the character in the GIf. The watcher becomes entranced with the contagious self-doubt of Sengoku. I wasn't scared by her change, I empathized, but was entranced, as evil-seeming as it was. Hallucinations of white snakes all the way to the breakdown of a psyche and personality. Brutal and would be tearjerking usually, if an arc in another series.
What's worse? The festering of who you are truly, and what you think you are, both of them in tandem right below your nose, until it's too late. Your identity convoluted for years. Or is it the next delusion up, that of how everything is betrayal and lies? Fuck me, is that depressing if not terrifying. The arc is a whirlwind of ill-spent blood, sweat and tears, about an unfinished person, a broken person, a cute person, who ends as a maniac with their life on hold as they settle in at a shrine.
I just began to read Blood on the Tracks, and-
...Jesus Christ. That's scary as hell. It's very-
...uh...zoinks.
I'm not kidding when I say those are some of the most terrifying panels I've ever seen! I'll leave it at that.
On one last note, talking about figures, I like the cheery halloween figures out there. Look at this beauty after all:
I love the combination of white hair, orange eyes, a larger then life witch hat and a fittingly mischevious grin.
That wraps this up. I've been trying to read more manga, especially horror manga. My next reads are Drifting Classroom and continuing Blood on the Tracks and Inside Mari. If anyone knows any good horror manga, then recommendations are welcome.
Thanks for reading everyone, have a good one.
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