I’ve always had a soft spot for samurai manga. There’s something timeless about the image of a lone swordsman facing impossible odds: the clash of steel, the rhythm of the duel, and the raw physicality of every strike. I love the choreography of sword battles, but just as much the quieter, more contemplative moments that accompany them. Beyond the action, samurai manga offer glimpses into Japan’s past, reflections on honor, duty, and the thin line between life and death.

There’s no shortage of manga that feature samurai or samurai-like characters. It’s an archetype that has become one of the most popular and influential in Japanese storytelling. Not all of them are worth your time, though. That’s why I put together this list of my favorites, samurai manga that stand out for their storytelling, atmosphere, and unforgettable characters.

Some of these stories are brutal revenge tales; others are deep character studies or meditative journeys about purpose and the warrior spirit. While some might lean more toward fantasy, others feature tournament-style action packed full of larger-than-life characters and sheer spectacle.

And yet, each of them stands out and has a reason for being on this list. From the elegant brushwork of Takemitsu Zamurai to the savage beauty of Shigurui, and from the philosophical artistry of Vagabond to the chaotic energy of Gintama, this list spans the full spectrum of samurai fiction.

Mild spoiler warning: I’ll avoid major reveals, but some plot details are necessary for context.

Below is my ranking of the 12 best samurai manga and what makes each one worth reading (last updated: October 2025).

12. Ichigeki

Most samurai manga celebrate noble swordsmen or stoic masters of the blade, but Ichigeki takes a different path entirely. Written by Yoshio Nagai and illustrated by Jiro Matsumoto, it’s a grim and grounded historical samurai manga set during the final days of the Edo Period, as Japan teeters on the edge of the Meiji Restoration. Instead of polished warriors, the story focuses on peasants pressed into military service. They are normal men given swords, minimal training, and the vague promise of glory.

The story follows Ushigorou, a farmer recruited into a one-strike, one-kill squad tasked with covert attacks against the Satsuma forces. Alongside nine other conscripts, he learns to fight with a single decisive blow, since defense is a luxury they can’t afford. What unfolds is a raw, unflinching depiction of class, desperation, and the illusion of honor.

Matsumoto’s sketch-like art perfectly complements the tone. The loose lines and rough shadows capture motion and chaos alike: the blur of blades, the exhaustion of soldiers, and the confusion of men fighting battles they barely understand. It’s not a traditionally beautiful manga, but it’s fiercely alive. Every panel feels grimy, real, and human, which suits a story about moral decay and emotional ambiguity.

What makes Ichigeki stand out among other samurai manga is its focus on perspective. Instead of romanticizing the samurai ideal, it exposes its dark truth. For most, the sword was not a symbol of honor, but a tool for survival. Ushigorou and his later rival Imuta embody this tension: two men from opposite sides of the conflict, each shaped and scarred by the same violence.

Though its pacing can feel uneven and the political background may confuse readers unfamiliar with the Meiji era, Ichigeki remains one of the most original and brutally authentic samurai stories in recent memory. Short, sharp, and unforgettable.

Genres: Historical, Samurai

Status: Completed (Seinen)

11. Gamaran

Few series capture the thrill of sword duels like Gamaran. Written and illustrated by Yosuke Nakamura, this samurai manga is a pure celebration of swordsmanship, and a tale of warriors who live and die by the blade. Set in the Edo period, it takes the structure of a grand tournament and turns it into a relentless display of combat techniques, discipline, and pride.

The story begins when the daimyo of Unabara declares a massive competition to determine his successor. Each of his sons must choose a champion to represent them, and only one will remain. Naoyoshi Washitsu sets out to recruit the infamous swordsman Kurogane Jinsuke, but instead finds his son Gama, a prodigy with untold potential. What follows is a cascade of duels as Gama faces martial artists from across Japan, each specializing in distinct weapons, schools, and philosophies.

Rather than focusing on melodrama or politics, Gamaran is entirely devoted to the art of battle. Every encounter feels like a lesson in samurai discipline. More than thirty different fighters appear throughout the series, each showcasing their own martial approach, from precise swordsplay to raw, brutal strikes. Nakamura explains their techniques and weapons in enough detail to make the fights feel grounded, yet never slows down the pace. The result is one of the most dynamic and readable action series of its kind.

Visually, the manga emphasizes clarity over flash. The choreography is crisp, every strike carries weight, and the motion feels almost cinematic. It’s a grounded, tactile kind of action that many samurai manga lack. When blades meet, there’s always the sense that one wrong move means death, and this tension keeps every chapter alive.

If there’s a weakness, it’s in the storytelling depth. Beyond Gama’s determination to grow stronger, the plot doesn’t evolve much, and character arcs are minimal. But that simplicity is part of Gamaran’s strength. It never pretends to be more than a showcase of martial skills and raw intensity.

For readers looking for the best samurai manga centered on dueling, training, and the spirit of competition, Gamaran remains a standout.

Genres: Action, Samurai, Tournament

Status: Completed (Shonen)

10. Jin

Among all the samurai manga on this list, Jin stands out for one simple reason: it isn’t about warriors. Instead, it’s about a man of science, navigating a world ruled by the sword. Written and illustrated by Motoka Murakami, Jin tells the story of Minakata Jin, a modern brain surgeon who, after a bizarre medical incident involving a fetus found in a patient’s skull, is suddenly thrown back to 19th-century Edo. Stranded in a time before antibiotics or anesthesia, Jin must use his knowledge to treat the people of the era while struggling to understand why he was sent there in the first place.

Set on the brink of the Meiji Restoration, this historical manga captures a time when tradition and modernity were violently colliding. Samurai still held political power, but Western science was beginning to reshape the country. Murakami uses Jin’s medical work as a bridge between those worlds. Each chapter focuses on a different illness or injury, from head trauma to epidemics, revealing both the miracle and fragility of life.

What makes Jin remarkable is its attention to historical and medical detail. The surgeries are drawn with clinical precision, and the setting, from narrow Edo streets to candlelit sickrooms, feels alive and authentic. Rather than relying on spectacle, the manga builds tension through intellect and empathy. Watching Jin improvise with crude tools or collaborate with local healers carries the same thrill as a duel might in a more traditional samurai manga.

At times, the medical jargon and technical discussion can be overwhelming, and the time-travel explanation itself verges on abstract. Yet that hardly matters. Jin isn’t about science-fiction; it’s about humanity, and saving lives in a world defined by violence.

For readers interested in stories beyond sword fights and revenge, Jin offers something not only different but deeper, a thoughtful, emotionally grounded story that redefines what a samurai manga can be. It’s a history lesson, a character study, and a celebration of how knowledge can change lives.

Genres: Historical, Drama, Time Travel

Status: Completed (Seinen)

9. Takemitsu Zamurai

If there’s one title on this list that defies every expectation of what a samurai manga can be, it’s Takemitsu Zamurai. Written by Issai Eifuku and illustrated by Taiyō Matsumoto, the manga reimagines the classic wandering swordsman tale through an avant-garde lens. It’s both meditative and unpredictable, filled with humor, melancholy, and brushstroke art that feels closer to ink painting than to traditional manga panels.

The story follows Souichiro Senou, a mysterious ronin who settles in a poor Edo tenement after abandoning the life of a warrior. Hoping to leave violence behind, he trades his katana for a bamboo blade and spends his days quietly observing the world: chasing butterflies, befriending neighbors, rediscovering the simple joys of life. But Edo is not a place to seek peace. When assassins and old grudges resurface, Souichiro is forced to confront both his past and the bloodlust that still hides inside of him.

Matsumoto’s art makes Takemitsu Zamurai a masterpiece. His calligraphic linework evokes the spirit of woodblock prints and Edo-period ink paintings. Characters bend and flow with the brush, the world drips with atmosphere, and whole scenes play out without dialogue, conveying emotion purely through movement and shadow. The result is an experience that feels both ancient and experimental. It’s easily one of the most visually striking works among the best samurai manga ever made.

What’s remarkable is how human the story remains beneath its abstraction. Souichiro isn’t a grand hero or a brooding archetype, but a man learning to live again. His interactions with the townspeople, from curious boys to weary landlords, create a gentle rhythm that makes each burst of violence even more haunting.

While the plot is deceptively simple, the execution is brilliant. Each chapter feels like a vignette, a glimpse of a man caught between peace and duty. For readers open to something different, poetic, and deeply Japanese, Takemitsu Zamurai remains one of the most unforgettable historical samurai manga ever drawn.

Genres: Historical, Samurai, Slice of Life

Status: Completed (Seinen)

8. Gintama

Hideaki Sorachi’s Gintama is one of the strangest, longest-running, and most beloved samurai manga ever created, though it hardly resembles a traditional example of the genre. Equal parts science-fiction, slapstick comedy, and sincere character drama, it reimagines Edo Japan under alien occupation. Swords have been outlawed, the samurai class has fallen, and the once-proud warriors now scrape by in a world ruled by absurdity and bureaucracy. Yet, even in this absurd parody of history, Gintama captures the heart of what makes samurai stories so enduring: perseverance, loyalty, and the struggle to uphold one’s honor in a changing world.

The story follows Gintoki Sakata, a lazy former samurai turned freelancer, who runs an odd jobs business with his companions Shinpachi, Kagura, and their oversized dog, Sadaharu. Their daily lives swing from the ridiculous to the profound. One chapter might parody shonen stereotypes or break the fourth wall, while the next dives into heartbreaking flashbacks or deadly sword duels. Sorachi’s genius lies in how he balances these tones. Beneath the chaos lies genuine emotion, and beneath the jokes, an aching melancholy about a generation of samurai left behind.

While Gintama’s art starts off simple, it steadily improves through its massive 700+ chapter run. Sorachi’s clean paneling and expressive faces make the humor land perfectly, and when the story shifts into serious arcs like the Benizakura or Shogun Assassination arcs, his choreography and atmosphere rival those of any other samurai manga. The contrast between laughter and tragedy gives those moments a shocking gravity.

What truly elevates Gintama is its ability to evolve. It begins as a parody of samurai manga and ends as a love letter to the genre. Through Gintoki’s laziness, Shinpachi’s ideals, and Kagura’s alien innocence, the series explores what happens when the samurai code loses its meaning, and how individuals must redefine themselves.

Its length and tonal whiplash can intimidate, but for those who stick with it, Gintama offers one of the richest and most unpredictable journeys in manga. It’s a chaotic blend of humor and honor, and proof that even in a world ruled by aliens and absurdity, the spirit of the samurai never truly dies.

Genres: Comedy, Action, Sci-Fi, Samurai

Status: Completed (Shonen)

7. Demon Slayer

Koyoharu Gotouge’s Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba isn’t your typical samurai manga. There are no rival clans or political wars here. Instead, it reimagines the samurai ethos through the lens of myth and fantasy, crafting a story about demon hunters wielding breathing techniques that transform swordsmanship into something almost elemental. It’s easily the most fantastical entry on this list, yet its spirit remains unmistakably samurai: duty, loss, and the pursuit of mastery through hardship.

The story follows Tanjiro Kamado, a kind-hearted boy whose family is slaughtered by demons, leaving only his sister Nezuko, now transformed into one of the monsters he’s sworn to destroy. Joining the Demon Slayer Corps, Tanjiro takes up the sword to avenge his family and find a cure for Nezuko’s condition. From that simple premise, Demon Slayer builds a vast, emotionally charged world of monsters, mentors, and tragic villains. Every battle feels personal, and every demon slain carries a story of human pain and regret.

What made Demon Slayer a cultural phenomenon isn’t originality, but precision. Gotouge’s storytelling is clean, fast-paced, and sincere. It embraces every hallmark of classic shonen, from training arcs and emotional flashbacks to ranked villains and explosive final battles, executing them with near-perfect balance. The Breath Styles and beautifully choreographed duels give the manga its unmistakable energy. You can practically feel the motion of the strikes and the flow of water and flame.

As a fantasy samurai manga, Demon Slayer transforms swordsmanship into something mythic. Its characters are not warriors of history but protectors of humanity, fighting an endless battle against the darkness within and without. It may not offer the philosophical depth of other samurai manga on this list, but it delivers a story full of emotions, courage, and compassion that will resonate with readers of all ages.

If you want sweeping action, heartfelt storytelling, and the distilled essence of modern shonen in a samurai-inspired world, Demon Slayer is a must-read. It’s a masterclass in craft and heart: proof that even the most familiar formulas can feel fresh when executed flawlessly.

Genres: Action, Fantasy, Adventure, Samurai

Status: Completed (Shonen)

6. Sidooh

I first started reading Sidooh years ago during a period when I was devouring samurai manga. At the time, I didn’t finish it, but I’m glad I went back to it. Tsutomu Takahashi’s work is far more mature and emotionally grounded than I remembered. Rather than glorifying swordsmanship or samurai ideas, Sidooh captures the harsh reality of the Tokugawa era’s end.

Set in 1855, during Japan’s turbulent transition toward modernization, the story follows two orphaned brothers, Shoutarou and Gentarou Yukimura, as they struggle to survive. Their only inheritance is their father’s sword and their mother’s dying words: to live by the Path of the Warrior, Sidooh. What begins as a tale of endurance soon evolves into something greater: a brutal chronicle of two boys forced to become men amidst corruption, war, and change.

Takahashi’s approach to storytelling is uncompromising. Every chapter pulses with tension and tragedy. Violence isn’t a spectacle, but a constant, dirty reality. The brothers encounter ronin, warlords, and revolutionaries, each scarred by loss or ambition. Over time, Sidooh becomes less a chronicle of bloodshed and more a historical epic about a society on the verge of transformation, clinging to old ideals.

Visually, Takahashi’s art is unmistakable: raw, heavy, and atmospheric. His brushwork gives every duel a sense of weight and chaos, while quieter scenes feel almost haunted. His depiction of Edo’s crumbling streets and the looming presence of Western influence make Sidooh one of the most immersive historical samurai manga out there.

Sidooh’s tone is neither romantic, idealistic, nor clean. It’s a rough, realistic, and deeply human story about two brothers carving a path through an era that no longer has a place for them. For anyone interested in a more grounded and emotionally charged take on samurai fiction, Sidooh is a must-read.

Genres: Historical, Action, Drama, Samurai

Status: Completed (Seinen)

5. Tenkaichi

Tenkaichi is a samurai manga that fully embraces the myth of samurai legend, and it’s one of the most entertaining series I’ve read in years. It’s a high-octane, alternate history tournament where Japan’s greatest warriors face off in brutal duels to decide the fate of the nation. Think Record of Ragnarok but with samurai, ninja, and warlords from Japanese legend: all reimagined as larger-than-life martial gods.

The premise is simple but effective. The year is 1600, a decade after Oda Nobunaga unified Japan. Sensing his death approaching, he declares a grand tournament. In it sixteen of Japan’s strongest warriors will fight to the death, with the victor’s master granted the right to rule the nation. What follows is a series of cinematic, brutal duels that blur the line between history and fantasy.

Each combatant is drawn from real Japanese history and legend. Tenkaichi throws together icons like Miyamoto Musashi, Sasaki Kojirō, Honda Tadakatsu, Fūma Kotarō, and countless others, transforming them into near-mythic figures. Their designs, fighting styles, and personalities all reflect distorted echoes of the legends they’re based on. This makes it part history, part fever dream. Watching these figures collide in exaggerated, near-divine combat is a thrill in itself.

Stylistically, Tenkaichi is one of the most impressive samurai manga currently running. The art is detailed and explosive, filled with muscular anatomy, dynamic motion, and perfectly timed double-page spreads. Every swing feels heavy, every wound visceral, and every match builds to an insane crescendo. It’s pure spectacle, but it’s done with such commitment and polish that it earns every drop of hype.

What separates Tenkaichi from something like Gamaran is tone. Where Gamaran grounds its swordsmanship in believable technique and discipline, Tenkaichi goes completely over-the-top. Its samurai are closer to demigods than warriors, characters who transform and ascend to new heights in the heat of battle. And yet, despite the excess, it never loses sight of its core appeal: watching legends clash in a contest of strength, skill, and ego.

It may not be subtle or philosophical, but few series deliver action with this much flair. For fans of historical what-ifs and wild tournament arcs, Tenkaichi easily earns its place among the best samurai series of today.

Genres: Action, Historical, Martial Arts, Samurai

Status: Ongoing (Seinen)

4. Lone Wolf and Cub

Few works have defined the spirit of the samurai manga genre like Lone Wolf and Cub. Written by Kazuo Koike and illustrated by Goseki Kojima, this 1970s masterpiece remains one of the most influential manga ever created. It laid the foundation for countless later works, from gritty revenge epics to philosophical wandering-swordsman tales, and remains the definitive samurai road story.

The premise is both simple and mythic. Itto Ogami, once the Shogunate’s chief executioner, is betrayed by the scheming Yagyū clan and accused of treason. Stripped of his honor and title, he becomes a ronin, wandering the land with his infant son Daigoro in a wooden cart. Together, they take assassination contracts as they carve a blood-soaked path of vengeance across feudal Japan.

Each chapter functions like a moral parable or folktale, as the duo encounters corrupt officials, desperate villagers, and rival assassins. Beneath the endless duels lies a tale of fatherhood, duty, and the cost of violence. Ogami’s stoic resolve contrasts beautifully with Daigoro’s quiet innocence, creating one of the most iconic dynamics in manga history. It’s brutal yet tender, a story of survival, legacy, and the unbreakable bond between father and son.

Artistically, Lone Wolf and Cub is unmatched in atmosphere. Kojima’s art blends stark precision with the cinematic language of jidaigeki film. Each panel feels deliberate: blades slicing through snow, silent standoffs on moonlit bridges, wind sweeping across empty fields. The pacing is slow, meditative, and often wordless, yet every motion carries immense weight. Even half a century later, its visual storytelling remains a benchmark for other samurai manga.

Modern readers might find the pacing slow compared to newer action series, but that’s part of its timeless strength. It’s not about flashy techniques or exaggerated duels; it’s about the burden of revenge and the quiet dignity of endurance.

If you’re exploring the best samurai manga ever made, Lone Wolf and Cub is a must-read. It’s the blueprint that shaped everything that followed, a classic that captures the beauty, brutality, and tragedy of the warrior’s path.

Genres: Historical, Action, Samurai

Status: Completed (Seinen)

3. Shigurui

If Lone Wolf and Cub embodies the legend of the wandering swordsman, Shigurui represents its antithesis: the corruption beneath the code. Few samurai manga have dared to strip away the myth of honor and reveal what lies beneath: pain, obsession, and decay. Based on Norio Nanjo’s novel and illustrated by Takayuki Yamaguchi, Shigurui is the most grotesque, haunting, and psychologically devastating samurai story on this list.

The manga opens with a tournament unlike any other. Daimyo Tadanaga Tokugawa announces a deadly competition in which combatants must fight not with wooden swords, but real blades. The first duel pits two broken men against each other: Gennosuke Fujiki, missing an arm, and Seigen Irako, blind and lame. From that shocking introduction, Shigurui descends into their shared past, exposing the brutal training, rivalries, and betrayals that forged them.

What separates Shigurui from most samurai manga is its refusal to romanticize the warrior class. There is no heroism here, only the suffocating weight of hierarchy and obedience. The samurai code is portrayed not as a source of honor, but as a system of cruelty. Students are beaten, mutilated, and humiliated in pursuit of perfection. Women exist as bargaining chips or victims, bound by the same dehumanizing code as their masters. Every duel, every act of violence, feels ritualistic: an expression of beauty and madness intertwined.

Yamaguchi’s art is breathtaking and horrifying in equal measure. His anatomical precision turns every sword strike into something disturbingly real. Flesh tears, bones shatter, and blood flows. Yet amid the horror, there’s an undeniable elegance. Panels are composed with painterly care, capturing the eerie stillness before death and the hypnotic motion of the blade. It’s both mesmerizing and repulsive; violence as art.

Shigurui isn’t for everyone. It’s slow, grim, and often nauseating in its detail. But for those who can stomach its intensity, it’s one of the best samurai manga ever written, a work that challenges everything the genre stands for. Beneath the gore lies a profound critique of blind devotion, power, and the human need for transcendence through suffering.

Genres: Historical, Action, Drama, Tragedy, Martial Arts

Status: Completed (Seinen)

2. Vagabond

Few works in manga history reach the level of refinement and depth found in Vagabond. Written and illustrated by Takehiko Inoue, this adaptation of Eiji Yoshikawa’s Musashi is not only a landmark in the medium but often cited as the spiritual summit of samurai manga. Through stunning brushwork and philosophical storytelling, Vagabond transforms the legend of Miyamoto Musashi into a meditation on mastery, ego, and the search for peace.

The story begins with Shinmen Takezō, a violent and impulsive youth who dreams of becoming the strongest under heaven. After surviving the carnage of war alongside his friend Matahachi, he returns home, but is soon branded a criminal. His rebirth comes through the monk Takuan, who grants him a new name: Miyamoto Musashi. From that moment, the tale becomes a lifelong pilgrimage: a man’s journey to understand the sword, and ultimately, himself.

Inoue’s storytelling captures both the grandeur and the silence of the samurai era. Each duel is rendered not merely as combat but as a reflection of character and philosophy. Musashi’s early battles are savage, driven by raw instinct and pride. As he matures, his fighting style evolves. The blade becomes an extension of himself, his purpose more inward than outward. This transformation feels organic, mirroring his slow path toward enlightenment.

Artistically, Vagabond stands alone. Inoue’s ink work is fluid and painterly, bridging the gap between manga and fine art. Every page is stunning, be it the motion of grass in the wind, rain cascading through bamboo, or the stillness before a strike. His visual language conveys what words cannot: exhaustion, fear, serenity, the quiet dignity of persistence. It’s a world alive with texture, emotion, and impermanence.

What elevates Vagabond above even the best samurai manga is its willingness to confront the emptiness behind the warrior’s path. The glory of victory fades quickly, and what remains is solitude. Musashi’s story becomes a universal one, not about killing or triumph, but about learning how to live.

Though unfinished and likely to remain so, Vagabond endures as a complete experience in spirit. It captures both the ferocity and fragility of the human soul. For anyone seeking beauty, depth, and truth within samurai manga, this is the summit, an unparalleled work of art and introspection.

Genres: Historical, Action, Drama, Samurai

Status: On Hiatus (Seinen)

1. Blade of the Immortal

For many readers, Vagabond defines the peak of the samurai genre. For me, that honor belongs to Blade of the Immortal: Hiroaki Samura’s brutal, stylish, and deeply human revenge epic. Where Vagabond is meditative and philosophical, Blade of the Immortal is full of raw emotion and grit. It’s the punk sibling of Japan’s greatest epics, violent, morally tangled, and unforgettable.

The story follows Manji, the infamous Hundred Men Killer. Cursed with immortality by the nun Yaobikuni through sacred bloodworms, he’s doomed to wander the land, unable to die. Seeking redemption, Manji vows to slay a thousand evil men to regain his mortality. His path collides with Rin Asano, a teenage girl whose family was slaughtered by the Itto-ryu, a sword school that rejects all notions of honor. United by vengeance, the two travel Japan, confronting warriors, assassins, and their own consciences.

Unlike most samurai manga, Blade of the Immortal doesn’t glorify Bushido or romanticize feudal ideals. Its characters are messy, contradictory, and painfully human. Morality is fluid; even villains like Anotsu, the Itto-ryu leader, have their own ideals and philosophies. The manga constantly blurs the line between justice and revenge, exploring whether killing for a righteous cause is any less sinful than murder itself.

Samura’s art is breathtaking, scratchy, expressive, and alive. His brushwork alone balances elegance with chaos, rendering every duel as both dance and carnage. These sword fights are among the best drawn in manga: fast, visceral, full of unpredictable choreography. Blood sprays across panels, yet the violence almost always feels purposeful, seldom gratuitous.

Equally impressive is the cast. Blade of the Immortal boasts one of the richest ensembles in all of samurai manga. Women like Maki and Hyakurin are not passive bystanders but warriors and survivors, defined by strength and tragedy. Almost every other character, ally or enemy, carries scars, both literal and spiritual. The only outlier is Shira, one of manga’s most unhinged and despicable antagonists, whose scenes often spiral into excessive brutality and torture.

If Vagabond is the refined Zen of swordsmanship, Blade of the Immortal is its punk brother. It’s a story about revenge, but also about the people driven by it and what made them that way. With its unforgettable art, savage duels, and existential undercurrent, it’s not just one of the best samurai manga ever made; it’s one of the greatest manga of all time.

Genres: Historical, Action, Drama, Revenge

Status: Completed (Seinen)

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More in Manga

I’ve always been a fan of horror and have devoured everything in the genre. Almost two decades ago, I read the first of many Junji Ito stories, and I’ve been captivated ever since.

Junji Ito is not only one of the greatest horror mangaka but also one of the most distinctive artists of our time. His work stands apart not just because of his meticulous, detailed art, but also because of his unique narrative style.

His stories often delve into cosmic horror, grotesque transformation, psychological breakdowns, and deep-seated phobias. Ito’s creations are truly one of a kind, and I believe there are few other horror mangaka who can match him.

Some works, like Uzumaki, draw on classic Lovecraftian horror. Others, such as The Bully, are grounded in realism. Then there are the utterly bizarre and absurd tales like Hanging Balloons.

If you want to learn more about Junji Ito, I’ve also written an in-depth article on his style and themes.

Reviewing Ito’s work can be challenging because his stories rarely center on twists or conventional plots. Instead, they drop us into a horrific world and let us witness the dreadful events that befall his characters.

I’ll do my best to avoid major spoilers, but sometimes it’s unavoidable, so consider this a spoiler warning.

As a fan for countless years, I’ve compiled this list of my favorite Junji Ito stories. It’s a long list, but still captures only a fraction of his body of work.

So here’s the list of my favorite 40 Junji Ito stories (last updated: August 2025).

40. Slug Girl

Slug Girl is a short but memorable piece of pure body horror. It’s one of Junji Ito’s most well-known stories, often appearing on horror manga lists.

Part of its appeal is how it delivers everything you expect from a classic Junji Ito story: bizarre imagery, creeping dread, a touch of disgust, and an unexpectedly sad ending.

Still, it’s over far too quickly, and I can’t help but wish the premise had been explored further.

The story follows Yuuko, who suddenly develops a painfully swollen tongue. At the same time, her family’s backyard becomes overrun with slugs, prompting her parents to eradicate them.

As Yuuko’s condition worsens, the disturbing truth about her illness is revealed.

It’s an absurd yet unsettling tale that taps into our fear of strange, inexplicable diseases, and is made even more disturbing by Ito’s grotesque artwork.

Where to read: Collected in Tombs.

39. Bronze Statue

Bronze Statues is one of those Junji Ito stories where a single disturbing image can linger far longer than the plot itself. I first read it in raw Japanese, with no idea what was actually happening, yet the mental image stayed with me. We witness a group of women encased in plaster, their final, torturous moments immortalized in statue.

Compared to Ito’s more extreme work, this one isn’t the most grotesque or psychologically devastating, but the method of murder is chilling in its creativity. Once I finally read the translation and understood the story, I found it less impactful overall. The plot revolves around vanity, jealousy, and an obsession with beauty, all themes Ito has explored more effectively elsewhere.

While the narrative itself may not rank among his best, Bronze Statue is still worth reading for that unforgettable image of artistic cruelty.

Where to read: Collected in Tombs.

38. Drifting Spores

Drifting Spores is one of the quieter and more unusual Junji Ito stories you’ll encounter, and rarely mentioned in other lists. It’s not a typical horror piece filled with grotesque imagery, but rather a somber, thematically heavy tale.

In a small town, strange airborne spores appear that can mimic people’s voices and repeat what they’ve said. Locals begin collecting them, first out of curiosity, then to hear personal memories and secrets they were never meant to know.

The story explores themes of privacy, obsession, and the dangerous temptation of forbidden knowledge. One character’s fascination with the spores gradually escalates into obsession, culminating in a chilling act.

While it lacks the shock factor of Ito’s more infamous works, Drifting Spores is unsettling in a quieter way, and a reminder of how far human curiosity can push us when we tamper with things we don’t understand.

Where to read: Collected in Tombs, retitled Floaters.

37. Blood Sickness of the White Sands Village

Blood Sickness of the White Sands Village is one of the most underrated Junji Ito stories. It’s a slow, atmospheric tale I almost never see mentioned.

It follows Furahata, a young doctor who moves to a remote, isolated village. The residents seem lifeless, gaunt, and perpetually unwell, plagued by a mysterious illness that causes sudden, profuse bleeding at irregular intervals.

As Furahata investigates, he unravels the disturbing truth behind both the sickness and the village itself. The pacing is deliberate, building an oppressive mood that feels almost Lovecraftian in its creeping inevitability.

I’ve always had a soft spot for this story, not just for its unsettling atmosphere, but because its final reveal reminds me of one in my own novel, New Haven. It’s a quiet gem in Ito’s catalogue.

Where to read: Collected in Tombs, retitled The Blood Story of Shirosuna.

36. Ice Cream Bus

Ice Cream Bus starts with a premise that seems almost wholesome. The title alone evokes childhood nostalgia. For me, it brings back memories of the weekly ice cream truck during the hot summer, stocked with sweet treats.

But this is Junji Ito, so innocence never lasts.

In this story, an ice cream man visits the neighborhood each week, selling not only frozen treats but also offering the kids a ride in his truck. The narrator, a recently divorced father, eventually allows his son to join.

Over time, he notices something strange. Everything in his home, the neighborhood kids and even his own son feels sticky. The unease builds until the truth is revealed in a memorably grotesque finale.

While the concept borders on the absurd, it’s a great example of Junji Ito’s ability to twist something mundane and comforting into something deeply unsettling. It’s not his strongest story, but it’s undeniably memorable for how it turns a sweet childhood memory into pure horror.

Where to read: Collected in Alley.

35. Mold

Mold is one of the most revolting Junji Ito stories ever, and with a title like that, it’s easy to see why.

A young man returns home after a year abroad to find his subtenants have vanished, leaving the place in a state of filth and abandonment. Even worse, mold has crept across the walls, floors, and ceilings. The previous tenant, his former teacher Mr. Rogi, had an unusual passion for studying fungi.

The narrator’s attempts to clean the house are futile. Whatever he does, the mold grows back faster and thicker, slowly transforming the entire building into a festering, pulsing nightmare. Black liquid oozes from strange tubular growths, and the air feels heavy with rot.

As the infestation worsens, the narrator eventually learns the horrifying fate of not only Mr. Rogi but his entire family, a fate he might soon share.

With its claustrophobic setting and stomach-turning imagery, Mold is a germophobe’s worst nightmare, brought to life by Ito’s unmatched ability to make decay feel almost tangible.

Where to read: Collected in Alley.

34. The Village of Ether

Village of Ether is one of the most intriguing modern Junji Ito stories, collected in The Liminal Zone Vol. 2.

Yota and three of his university friends return to his hometown of Towano, only to find it eerily abandoned. Two enormous slag heaps, which weren’t there before, loom over the outskirts. As they explore, they stumble upon something even stranger: a perpetual motion machine, quietly and impossibly running.

Yota insists such machines are real, recalling how a local man named Haruto, a childhood friend, devoted his life to perfecting his father’s designs. The group soon finds more of these devices scattered throughout the village, their silent movements defying the laws of physics. But what begins as a curious mystery soon twists into something far darker, when the truth about Haruto’s work and the state of the town finally come to light.

Village of Ether starts with a concept so ambitious it feels like classic science fiction, then spirals into chaos in true Ito fashion. While its ending and final reveal aren’t the most satisfying, the premise and build-up make it stand out as one of his most memorable recent works.

Where to read: Collected in The Liminal Zone Vol. 2.

33. Ribs Woman

Ribs Woman is one of the most surreal and unsettling Junji Ito stories, exploring themes of plastic surgery and body image. Yet the premise feels unusual given that both main characters, Yuki and Ruriko, are still in high school.

Yuki longs to be beautiful, and her obsession eventually drives her to undergo an extreme procedure, removing several ribs to achieve a slimmer waist. Her friend Ruriko has undergone the same surgery, but soon begins to hear eerie, haunting music that no one else seems to notice. The source turns out to be a strange, menacing woman playing a grotesque harp made from bone.

From here, the tale unravels into pure nightmare fuel as the truth behind the instrument, and the woman who wields it, comes to light. The final revelation features one of Junji Ito’s most infamous body horror visuals, an image that has since gained widespread recognition.

While the setup involving high schoolers and extreme cosmetic surgery feels odd and somewhat disjointed, the haunting imagery and bizarre final concept make Ribs Woman a standout in Ito’s catalogue. Part of its grotesque creativity even inspired my story, Real Art Always Has a Price.

Where to read: Collected in Lovesickness, retitled The Rib Woman.

32. Unbearable Maze

Unbearable Maze follows Sayoko, a young woman who joins her friend on a hiking trip. Her friend is concerned because Sayoko hasn’t been to school in some time and won’t explain why. When the two become lost in the mountains, they stumble upon a remote monastery.

On a whim, Sayoko decides to stay and join the monastery’s healing meditation program, drawn in by the promise of peace. From another visitor, they learn the truth: the monks’ eternal meditation ends in their becoming Buddhist mummies.

Eventually, Sayoko and her friend wander into the labyrinth where the preserved monks rest. Deep inside, they discover something far worse: a section where the monks are still alive, their eyes now staring straight at them. Here, under the gaze of hundreds of unblinking eyes, Sayoko finally admits her secret: she suffers from an intense fear of being watched.

While the setup is fairly simple, Ito turns it into a deeply personal nightmare. The final image of Sayoko trapped in a never-ending corridor of staring monks is unforgettable, and the perfect embodiment of her private hell.

Where to read: Collected in Deserter, retitled Unendurable Labyrinth.

31. Mimi’s Tales of Terror

Mimi’s Tales of Terror is a collection of six ghostly encounters experienced by a young woman named Mimi. What makes this volume unique is that Junji Ito didn’t write these stories; instead, he adapted well-known Japanese urban legends into manga form.

The result blends classic folktale eeriness with Ito’s signature art style. While the illustrations carry his trademark unsettling atmosphere, the narratives themselves feel noticeably different from his usual work. They’re simple, more in line with traditional ghost stories than Ito’s surreal or grotesque horror.

Of the six, The Seashore is my favorite because it contains the most stunning piece of visual horror in the entire collection, even if it doesn’t quite reach the same intensity as other Junji Ito stories.

Still, Mimi’s Tales of Terror offers a fascinating glimpse at how urban legends can be reimagined through Ito’s pen. It’s a worthwhile read, especially for fans of Japanese folklore.

Where to read: Mimi’s Tales of Terror (single-volume edition).

30. The Insects of Bishakeura

The Insects of Bishakeura is a standout tale from Sensor, Junji Ito’s collection that leans into philosophical horror and showcases some of his most striking artwork. While Sensor as a whole never fully clicked for me, this particular story still lingers in my mind.

The main character, Byakuya Kyouko, arrives in a small coastal village overrun by strange, fleshy insects known as suicide bugs. One nearby cliff is a famous suicide spot, and it soon becomes clear that the two are connected. Invited to stay in the village, Byakuya eventually learns the grim truth.

It’s a short, straightforward narrative, but its strength lies in the repulsive, visceral imagery. The bugs themselves, including the squishy, oozing remains they leave behind, are rendered in nauseating detail, pushing Ito’s mastery of body horror to the forefront.

In a collection full of grand, abstract Junji Ito stories, The Insects of Bishakeura is refreshingly direct and revoltingly memorable.

Where to read: Collected in Sensor.

29. Hellstar Remina

Hellstar Remina is one of Junji Ito’s most striking examples of Lovecraftian cosmic horror because it leans fully into planetary-scale doom.

The story begins when Professor Oguro discovers a wormhole, and beyond it a strange new planet. When he names it after his daughter, Remina, the young woman turns into a celebrity overnight. Yet the planet’s movements defy all orbital logic, zigzagging through space as nearby stars mysteriously vanish.

Soon, the truth becomes horrifyingly clear: the planet is alive, and it is heading straight for Earth. As it enters our solar system, it devours the planets one by one, drawing ever closer. From here, the story spirals into chaos. Humanity’s reaction becomes as dangerous as the threat itself, as the mob turns on the professor and his daughter in a frenzy of fear and paranoia.

Visually, Hellstar Remina is spectacular. The planet with its gaping eyes and maw is nothing short of unforgettable. Even worse is its twisted surface, which is the stuff of nightmares.

As the plot continues, however, it grows increasingly frantic and absurd, causing some of the tension to slip away.

Even so, the premise is brilliantly unique, and while the execution may stumble here and there, the sheer creativity and imagery make this one of the best Junji Ito stories of all time and a must-read for fans of cosmic horror.

Where to read: Hellstar Remina (Deluxe Edition).

28. Flesh-Colored Horror

Flesh-Colored Horror begins with Miss Takigawa, a kindergarten teacher, walking home late at night when she is suddenly attacked by an unknown assailant and doused in a strange liquid.

Back at the kindergarten, she’s already dealing with trouble from Chikara, a violent, disruptive child who lashes out at his classmates. Concerned, Miss Takigawa visits his home to speak with his parents, only to uncover the horrific truth behind his behaviour, as well as the nature of the liquid she encountered.

This is one of the first Junji Ito stories I ever read, and it left a strong impression. The concept is bizarre, grotesque, and entirely original. It’s the type of imaginative body horror Ito excels at. While not as well-known as his other works, Flesh-Colored Horror is a memorable showcase of just how strange and inventive his horror can be.

27. Den of the Sleep Demon

Den of the Sleep Demon is one of the shorter Junji Ito stories on this list, but it’s a fantastic read that blends paranoia, surreal horror, and impossible odds.

Yuji, a young writer, confesses to his girlfriend Mari that he hasn’t slept in three days. It’s not because of insomnia, but because he’s terrified of his own dream-self. According to Yuji, this other self wants to replace him in the waking world, and emerges every time he falls asleep.

Mari dismisses the idea at first, but agrees to help him rest. Soon, however, she realizes Yuji’s fears aren’t as irrational as they sound, and that he’s trapped in a battle he can never win. After all, no one can stay awake forever.

It’s a simple premise, but Ito elevates it with unsettling imagery and the creeping inevitability of Yuji’s fate. The result is a tight, chilling piece of nightmare logic.

Where to read: Collected in Deserter, retitled Where the Sandman Lives.

26. Gyo

Something stinks.

Gyo is one of Junji Ito’s most iconic and absurd works. The premise is deceptively simple: sea creatures emerge from the depths and invade the land on spindly, insect-like mechanical legs.

The story begins with Tadashi and his girlfriend Kaori on vacation. Kaori, sensitive to smells, soon notices a foul, rotten stench. The source is a strange fish skittering through their home on metal legs, leaving the stench in its wake. At first, it’s a single small fish. Soon, larger ones appear, and eventually even a giant shark.

Back in Tokyo, the death stench spreads, and millions of sea creatures flood Japan in an apocalyptic tide. Ito cleverly combines two primal fears: the unknown horrors of the deep sea and the unsettling, frantic movements of insects. To all this, he adds the sensory assault of a nauseating, inescapable smell.

While Gyo is brimming with creativity and unforgettable imagery, it suffers when Ito attempts to explain the phenomenon. The mystery begins as absurd, shifts to ridiculous, and ends in outright silliness. Horror often thrives when left unexplained, and here, the attempt at logic weakens the horror.

Still, the visuals are phenomenal, especially in later chapters, when it’s not just fish but bloated, disfigured humans marching on metal legs. A standout moment to me was the infamous circus chapter, which arrives out of nowhere and delivers one of Ito’s most stunning single pages.

Despite its flaws, Gyo remains a unique, memorable work. It’s a bizarre, grotesque spectacle and clearly one of the best Junji Ito stories.

Where to read: Gyo (Deluxe Edition).

25. The Chill

Considering Junji Ito’s interest in phobias, it was inevitable that he’d tackle trypophobia. The Chill is the result, and it’s a fantastic story. There’s something about holes appearing across the human body that is both deeply unsettling and strangely fascinating.

The story begins with Yuuji, who talks about his neighbor Rina, a girl who rarely leaves her home because of a strange illness. Holes appear all over her arm, and when Yuuji sees them, he remembers his grandfather once suffered from the same condition, and eventually died from it.

Disturbed, Yuuji confides in his best friend Hideo, and together they investigate. Their search leads them to a strange jade statue that seems tied to the disease.

Like many other Junji Ito stories, The Chill is a tale about humans meddling with forces they don’t understand, driven by greed and obsession. And at its core, it’s a story about holes, lots and lots of holes.

Where to read: Collected in Shiver, retitled The Chill.

24. The Human Chair

The Human Chair is originally a story by Japanese writer Edogawa Ranpo, later adapted into manga form by Junji Ito.

It follows a female writer bearing the same name as the original author, who receives a letter from a fan. Inside is a deeply unsettling manuscript about someone secretly hiding and living in her armchair.

This is one of Ito’s most frequently mentioned works, and for a good reason. The premise alone is disturbing, touching on themes of privacy, obsession, and the violation of personal space.

What makes this adaptation so effective is Ito’s signature art style, which lends an extra layer of discomfort to an already unnerving concept. It’s a simple setup, but one that lingers in the mind longer after you’ve finished reading.

Where to read: Collected in Venus in the Blind Spot.

23. Dissection Girl

Dissection Girl is a prime example of Junji Ito’s mastery of body horror and his incredible artistic skill.

At its core, it’s a story about body dysmorphia, but in true Ito fashion, it takes the concept to disturbing extremes. This isn’t about altering one’s appearance; it’s about the obsessive desire to be cut open and dissected.

Ruriko, a young doctor, is approached by a mysterious woman who requests just that. As the story unfolds, we learn more about her and the disturbing reason behind her fixation.

This tale combines two of Ito’s most prominent themes: grotesque bodily transformation and psychological instability. What truly makes it memorable is the final page, which delivers one of the most absurd yet unforgettable depictions of body horror.

Where to read: Collected in Fragments of Horror, retitled Dissection-Chan.

22. The Secret of the Haunted Mansion

As the title suggests, The Secret of the Haunted Mansion centers on a haunted attraction, but the word haunted might put it lightly.

The story follows two young boys who hear about a mysterious new haunted house in town. They watch a visitor enter, only to flee moments later, pale and terrified. Curiosity gets the better of them, and when the eccentric owner offers them free admission, they instantly accept.

What follows is a series of bizarre and unsettling surprises, both for the boys and the reader, especially since some of Ito’s recurring characters make an appearance.

The Secret of the Haunted Mansion is one of the most memorable Junji Ito stories, not just for its strange twists, but for one of Ito’s most unsettling illustrations, a single image that will linger in your mind long after you finish reading.

Where to read: Collected in Smashed, retitled The Mystery of the Haunted House.

21. The Thing That Drifted Ashore

The deep sea is one of the few places on Earth that remain largely unknown.

Unlike the vastness of space, which feels distant, the ocean is right here, bordering our coasts. And yet, we’ve explored so little of it. That uncertainty sparks the imagination, and the thought of what might lurk in its depths can be deeply unsettling.

The premise is simple but chilling: a massive, grotesque deep-sea creature washes ashore. It’s not a whale, nor anything recognizable. Instead, it’s an unidentifiable, almost Lovecraftian horror.

Crowds gather, some driven by morbid curiosity, others hoping to identify the bizarre specimen. As the story unfolds, an even more horrifying revelation emerges: something is moving inside the creature’s body, something that’s very much alive.

While many Junji Ito stories deal with the unknown, what makes this one so memorable is the sense that it isn’t entirely implausible. In the unfathomable dark of the ocean, who’s to say there aren’t real creatures as strange and terrible as the one Ito imagines?

Where to read: Collected in Tombs, retitled Washed Ashore.

20. The Window Next Door

This is another of the most popular Junji Ito stories.

The premise is simple. Hiroshi and his family move into a new home, which sits right next to a strange, almost entirely windowless building. There’s only one window, and it faces directly into Hiroshi’s room.

They soon learn that the building is home to a reclusive woman. But when Hiroshi finally sees her, Ito delivers one of his most iconic and unsettling illustrations.

It’s the detail, the atmosphere, and the sheer artistic skill in this single image that elevate the story. The rest is almost forgettable, even anticlimactic.

Still, I hold The Window Next Door in high regard, not only for its visual impact but because it inspired my own story, The Disappearing Alley.

Where to read: Collected in Tombs.

19. Black Paradox

Black Paradox is wild, weird, and surprisingly compelling.

It begins with four strangers who form a suicide pact, agreeing to end their lives together. Somehow, our main character Marusou ends up with a group of doppelgangers instead.

After uncovering the truth and reuniting with the real group, they delay their plan and agree to meet again to go through with it. From there, the story only grows stranger, more philosophical and existential.

One of Junji Ito’s longer works, Black Paradox runs for six chapters. Its biggest flaw is the disjointed opening. It begins with a suicide pact, but the series quickly shifts focus to something entirely different.

Still, Ito’s signature artwork and wild imagination are on full display. As strange as the beginning is, the story improves as it continues, and its surreal twists make for an unforgettable ride.

Overall, Black Paradox is an enjoyable read, and one of the most unique Junji Ito stories on this list.

Where to read: Black Paradox (single-volume edition).

18. Glyceride

Many Junji Ito stories feature disturbing imagery, but Glyceride might be the most stomach-churning of them all.

It follows Yui, a young girl living with her sadistic older brother and father above the family’s yakiniku restaurant. The constant cooking has coated the entire house in a thick layer of grease.

Her abusive brother soon hits puberty and develops acne. Thanks to the suffocatingly greasy air, and his unsettling habit of drinking oil, his pimples become far worse than normal. You can probably guess where this is going.

But the horror doesn’t end with a single grotesque eruption. There’s something even more sinister lurking behind the walls of the family restaurant.

Interestingly, Ito said the story was partly inspired by his time in dental school, when he was forced to sleep on a dirty, sweat-soaked futon.

Glyceride is easily one of Ito’s most revolting tales, and it delivers another of his most infamous illustrations. Read it, but consider yourself warned.

Where to read: Collected in Shiver, retitled Greased.

17. Town Without Streets

I’ve always been a fan of concepts like a city contained entirely within a building, which is why I love stories set in confined and restricted spaces.

This story follows Saiko, who’s sick of her family constantly spying on her. She decides to leave and stay with her aunt instead.

When Saiko arrives, she discovers something strange: all the streets have been blocked off by ramshackle wooden structures. In fact, the entire town has been boarded up to the point that it feels like a single, massive building.

With no open roads, residents are forced to travel by passing through one another’s homes. Privacy has been completely erased, and an unsettling sense of being watched hangs over the town.

There’s also a secondary plot involving a killer who appears in people’s dreams. While it feels somewhat disconnected from the main storyline, it could be read as another metaphor for intrusion. Not even your dreams belong to you.

The real strength of this story is its bizarre, claustrophobic setting and Saiko’s journey through the interconnected homes. It’s a perfect example of Ito blending surreal concepts with deeper, more serious themes like the erosion of privacy. Definitely one of my favorite Junji Ito stories.

Where to read: Collected in Alley, retitled Town of No Roads.

16. The Bully

Oh, The Bully, what a story.

Junji Ito’s works are rarely grounded in reality. They almost always feature monsters, bizarre powers, or supernatural entities. This one is a rare exception.

It’s a simple tale about a young girl who bullies a little boy. Years later, the two meet again as adults, and at first it seems things might take a turn for the better.

But this is a Junji Ito story, so there’s no happy ending to be found.

What makes The Bully so disturbing is not only the complete absence of the supernatural but also its plausibility. Everything in it is painfully real, and that makes the horror hit even harder.

Where to read: Collected in Deserter, retitled Bullied.

15. The Licking Woman

Imagine a stranger running up to you and licking your face. That’s the unsettling premise of this Junji Ito story.

Miku’s fiancé Tsuyoshi gets licked by a mysterious woman on the way home. But this isn’t just about the disgust of unwanted contact. The Licking Woman’s saliva turns out to be deadly, and soon after Tsuyoshi dies from it.

As time passes, more attacks are reported, and more people are injured or killed. Driven by grief and anger, Miku vows revenge and sets out to kill the Licking Woman. But her path comes to a surprisingly grim and absurd conclusion.

The Licking Woman is one of the rare Junji Ito stories that delivers on multiple levels. The revulsion of the act itself, the horror of its consequences, and most of all, Ito’s unforgettable imagery. The bloated, glistening tongue, the warped mouth, and the wild eyes turn the Licking Woman into something grotesque and barely human.

Overall, it’s a grotesque and memorable tale, and one I enjoyed a lot.

Where to read: Collected in Venus in the Blind Spot.

14. Frankenstein

Most people are familiar with the story of Frankenstein, or have at least heard of it. Having read the original novel and seen several movie adaptations, I can say Junji Ito’s take is absolutely phenomenal and perhaps the best adaptation of Mary Shelley’s work to date.

Ito’s strange, unsettling imagery doesn’t just translate Shelley’s work to a different medium, it enhances it. His atmosphere and visual style lend themselves perfectly to Shelley’s gothic horror story. When the horror hits, Ito’s exaggerated expressions and grotesque body horror transform the story into a visual nightmare.

This volume is nothing short of a masterpiece. I highly recommend it to anyone who’s a fan of either the original novel or Junji Ito stories.

Where to read: Frankenstein (single-volume-edition).

13. Tomie

Tomie is another one of Junji Ito’s recurring characters and probably his most popular character. Her stories span three volumes and spawned an entire series of live-action movies.

It’s even more interesting when you consider that Tomie was one of Junji Ito’s earliest works.

Tomie is Junji Ito’s most famous creation. She’s a recurring character whose stories span three volumes and have inspired a series of live-action movies. It’s remarkable that this is Ito’s debut work, when his art was still developing but his imagination was already in full force.

The saga begins with Tomie as a beautiful high school student having an affair with her teacher. During a school trip, she dies in a gruesome accident, and her classmates, desperate to cover it up, dismember her body and dispose of the pieces.

The next day, Tomie returns to class as if nothing happened. From there, the horror escalates. She is revealed to be something inhuman, an entity with regenerative powers so extreme that even the smallest fragment of her body can grow into a new Tomie.

Her danger isn’t limited to physical immortality, though. Tomie exerts an almost supernatural pull over men, who inevitably become infatuated, then obsessed, until their fixation drives them to madness and violence. It’s a cycle that repeats endlessly: attraction, obsession, and destruction.

I first discovered Junji Ito through Tomie and read all the chapters in a single day. The series is uneven, and some stories are forgettable. But the best chapters rank among the most disturbing and visually unforgettable Junji Ito stories out there. At her peak, Tomie isn’t just a character; she’s a perfect embodiment of beauty as something alien, corrosive, and utterly lethal.

Where to read: Tomie (Deluxe Edition).

12. Oshikiri

Oshikiri is another of Junji Ito’s recurring characters, with most of his stories revolving around the bizarre events in the sprawling mansion he calls home.

These Junji Ito stories don’t seem to follow a consistent overarching storyline. In fact, given what we learn about the mansion, they might not even be connected at all. Still, they are united by some of Ito’s most striking imagery and body horror.

The first story involves unsettling hallucinations in which people’s necks stretch and twist unnaturally. Another focuses on a mysterious medication that warps the human body into grotesque abominations.

While Oshikiri’s stories are rarely mentioned among Ito’s most famous works, I find them to be among his most creative and haunting. They’re strange, imaginative, and at times deeply disturbing.

Where to read: Collected in Frankenstein.

11. Headless Statues

Headless Statues is one of the earliest Junji Ito stories, yet it remains a favorite of mine.

The story follows Rumi, her boyfriend Shimada, and their art teacher Mr. Okabe, a sculptor known for his eerie headless statues. When Mr. Okabe is suddenly murdered, things quickly take a sinister turn. Shimada, the last person seen with him, begins acting strangely, and when the couple returns to the scene of the crime, events spiral into full-blown horror in classic Ito fashion.

From the title alone, you might think you know where this is going, but it’s the execution that makes it memorable. The grotesque, distorted faces, the nightmarish imagery, and the sheer brutality of the visuals make Headless Statues stand out.

It also boasts one of the most chilling final panels in all of Ito’s works.

10. Fashion Model

Fashion Model is one of Junji Ito’s most beloved short stories.

We first meet Miss Fuchi through a fashion magazine spread. Her appearance is immediately unsettling: an impossibly long face, sharp, unnatural features, and eyes that don’t seem human. The sight is so disturbing that our protagonist, Iwasaki, begins having nightmares about her.

Eventually, Iwasaki overcomes his fears until his student film crew starts searching for a female lead and recruits Miss Fuchi herself. Seeing her in person only deepens the unease. She’s unnervingly tall, almost towering, and her inhuman proportions hint that something is very wrong.

On the way to the filming location, we get our first real glimpse of the monstrous truth behind Miss Fuchi. From there, things escalate quickly.

While the story is more straightforward than many other Junji Ito stories, with no supernatural powers or cosmic horrors, Fashion Model remains unforgettable. It’s simply a tale of a monster, but what a monster she is. Like Iwasaki, you won’t be able to get Miss Fuchi out of your head.

Where to read: Collected in Shiver.

9. Lovesick Dead

Lovesick Dead was one of the very first Junji Ito stories I ever read, and it’s stuck with me ever since. I’ll admit its place in my personal top ten is as much because of nostalgia as it is for its merits.

One of Ito’s longer works, the story spans five chapters and is set in Nachou-Shi, a town perpetually shrouded in thick, heavy fog, a perfect backdrop for horror.

At its heart is the seemingly harmless practice of intersection fortune-telling: you wait at a crossroads, stop a passerby, and ask them to predict your future. When our protagonist, Ryuusuke, returns to the town after many years away, a mysterious figure appears: the Intersection Pretty Boy. Anyone who encounters him during a fortune-telling will receive only grim prophecies, and soon after will meet a terrible fate.

As with many Ito tales, things spiral into obsession, madness, and grisly death. While some plot threads feel disjointed, the atmosphere and imagery more than make up for it.

The perpetual fog, the sense of isolation, and the strange blend of urban legend and fatalism give Lovesick Dead a unique mood. It’s creepy, mysterious, and laced with memorable visuals, making it a must-read.

Where to read: Collected in Lovesickness.

8. Long Dream

Long Dream is one of Junji Ito’s most fascinating and unique concepts. It’s a horror story that blurs the line between reality and the dream world, but also centers on deeper themes: identity and mortality.

Mami, a young woman with a terminal diagnosis, lives in terrible fear. She claims death visits her hospital room at night. It isn’t death, however, but another patient, Tetsuro Mukoda, who suffers from a bizarre condition: his dreams stretch across impossible spans of time. Days. Weeks. Months. Entire lifespans.

As his dreams grow longer, his grasp on reality slips further and further away. The most chilling idea here isn’t death itself, but the thought of becoming lost in an endless dream. Even worse, forgetting not only the real world, but even your real self.

Ito also layers in a dose of heavy body horror, as those afflicted with the condition slowly transform into something warped, alien, and unrecognizable.

What makes the Long Dream so powerful is its restraint. There are no monsters, no supernatural villains. No, there are only dreams, and the quiet terror of being unable to wake up.

Where to read: Collected in Shiver.

7. Army of One

Army of One was originally a bonus chapter included in Hellstar Remina, but at least in my opinion, outshines the main story entirely, and is one of the strongest Junji Ito stories I ever read.

It begins more like a thriller than straight horror. People start disappearing, only to reappear later, their corpses stitched together into grotesque human chains, displayed in public like nightmarish art installations. At first, it’s only pairs of victims. Then, groups of four. Then more. As the numbers rise, one horrifying truth becomes clear: this can’t possibly be the work of a single killer.

Even stranger, there are no defensive wounds, and nothing to suggest the victims fought back before being sewn together.

The brilliance of Army of One, however, lies in how it flips one of horror’s core survival rules on its head. In most horror, strength comes from sticking together. Here, togetherness is a death sentence. The first to die aren’t those alone; it’s those who gather in groups.

It’s a chilling, high-concept idea warped in a tightly paced nightmare, and a reminder of why Ito remains unmatched in turning simple rules into twisted death traps.

Where to read: Collected in Venus in the Blind Spot, retitled Billions Alone.

6. Lingering Farewell

Lingering Farewell is rare among all the Junji Ito stories out there. It’s not terrifying, but quietly melancholic. It trades monsters and grotesquerie for something far more human: grief.

It follows Akiko, a young woman haunted all her life by the fear of losing her father. Years later, after marrying Makoto and joining the Tokura household, she discovers the family’s unusual tradition. When a relative dies, the Tokuras gather to perform a ritual that creates an afterimage of the departed: a faint, lingering presence, as if the person never truly left.

As Akiko learns more about these afterimages and their unsettling nature, the story becomes less about horror and more about the fragility of memory, the way we try to keep the dead with us, and the quiet sorrow of letting go.

It’s a small, bittersweet tale, but it holds a special place in Ito’s work, and is a reminder that his mastery isn’t limited to fear alone, but extends to stories that can haunt the heart as much as the mind.

Where to read: Collected in Fragments of Horror, retitled Gentle Goodbye.

5. The Enigma of Amigara Fault

The Enigma of Amigara Fault is one of Junji Ito’s most famous works. It’s a modern classic that has haunted readers ever since it first went viral in the mid-2000s.

After a powerful earthquake, a mountainside splits open, revealing hundreds of unnervingly precise human-shaped holes carved into the rock. News footage of the site spreads across Japan, and something strange happens: people begin to feel an inexplicable pull toward the fault, convinced that their hole is there, waiting for them.

Our main characters, a young man and a woman named Yoshida, are among them. On arrival, they witness others sliding into their perfectly matched holes, disappearing into the darkness without hesitation. The compulsion to enter is overwhelming, even as the sight fills them with dread.

Ito never explains the holes. There’s no origin, no logic, just an impossible phenomenon and the human need to answer it. That mix of claustrophobic terror, existential mystery, and the horror of inevitability makes The Enigma of Amigara Fault so unforgettable.

It’s a masterpiece of pure, lingering unease, and one of the best Junji Ito stories of all time.

Where to read: Collected in Venus in the Blind Spot.

4. Layers of Fear

Layers of Fear is, in my opinion, one of the best Junji Ito stories of all time. It’s built on one of his most bizarre concepts, paired with some of the most jaw-dropping, unsettling imagery of his career.

When I first encountered it, I couldn’t find an English translation and read it in the original Japanese. I didn’t understand a single word, but I couldn’t look away. The visuals alone were enough to make my skin crawl.

It begins with a professor unearthing the grave of a child, which is constructed from layers stacked upon another like geological strata. Years later, the professor’s family is traveling to a memorial ceremony when they’re in a car accident. One daughter, Remi, suffers a terrible injury to her face. At least, that’s what it seems like, but instead of flesh and bone beneath her skin, there’s another layer of skin.

From there, Ito’s imagination spirals outward. The body horror escalates in unpredictable ways, intersecting with the unnerving presence of Remi’s mother, who is still obsessed with preserving her daughter’s childhood.

The genius of Layers of Fear lies in its prolonged horror: the grotesque physical concept, the psychological unease, and the familial obsession. It’s Junji Ito at its peak, and I recommend it to anyone who thinks they’ve already seen his wildest ideas.

3. My Dear Ancestors

My Dear Ancestors is one of those Junji Ito stories that makes you pause mid-page and wonder what the hell you’re reading.

Risa, a young woman suffering from temporary amnesia, is plagued by recurring nightmares of a massive, caterpillar-like creature. Her boyfriend, Shuichi, tries to help her recover her memories and invites her to his family home to meet his father.

That’s when things take a turn for the surreal. Shuichi’s father enters the room in a strange, crab-like crawl, a movement so unnatural it instantly puts the reader on edge. From there, the truth unravels quickly, revealing the unsettling connection between the father’s grotesque movements and Risa’s missing memories.

My Dear Ancestors is pure Ito: grotesque, bizarre, and unforgettable. It’s one of those Junji Ito stories that leave you equal parts horrified and fascinated, cementing itself as one of the most disturbing entries in his entire catalogue.

Where to read: Collected in Shiver, retitled Honored Ancestors.

2. Uzumaki

Uzumaki is widely regarded as Junji Ito’s magnum opus.

This surreal, three-volume masterpiece is set in the coastal town of Kurouzu-cho. The story revolves around an inexplicable curse: spirals. They appear in objects, landscapes, weather patterns, and even in the bodies and minds of the townfolk. At first, the phenomenon is strange but harmless, until obsession takes hold, and the spiral begins to warp reality.

From the earliest chapters, Ito delivers some of his most unforgettable imagery. We witness a man twisting his body into a spiral, lovers entwining themselves into a grotesque knot, people slowly transforming into snail-like creatures, and hair writhing with a life of its own. These aren’t isolated. The spiral touches everything, steadily eroding the town in both mind and matter.

The first two volumes are episodic, each chapter a self-contained tale connected by the setting and recurring characters. This structure allows Ito to explore the spiral curse from multiple angles, blending body horror, psychological terror, and the fear of the unknown.

The final volume ties things together in a climactic conclusion, though in my view Ito is at his best when the mystery remains unresolved.

What really makes Uzumaki shine is the spiral itself. It’s not a monster, not a villain, only an abstract force that cannot be reasoned with.

With its clean yet haunting art, Uzumaki showcases Ito at the height of his craft. The precision of his black-and-white art makes the grotesque transformations and impossible shapes even more disturbing.

Reading Uzumaki for the first time is a uniquely unsettling experience, one I highly recommend to any horror fan out there.

Where to read: Tomie (3-in-1 Deluxe Edition).

1. Hanging Balloons

Hanging Balloons is, in my opinion, the best of all Junji Ito stories on this list. It’s a surreal, nightmarish version of an apocalypse unlike anything I’ve seen in horror before.

The story begins with the suicide of Kazuko’s best friend, Terumi, whose body is found hanging outside her apartment. Soon, sightings of Terumi’s ghost spread through town, but it isn’t her full figure, and only a giant floating head. At first dismissed as mass hysteria, the phenomenon becomes undeniable when photographic evidence emerges.

One night, Terumi’s boyfriend, Shiroishi, calls Kazuko, claiming to have been following the ghost. What she witnesses next reveals the truth: massive floating balloons, each bearing the face of a specific person, roam the skies. Each balloon stalks its counterpart relentlessly, attempting to kill them by hanging.

It’s a chilling, absurd premise that grows more horrifying the longer you think about it. There are no monsters or zombies here, only the grotesque image of your own face hunting you down.

Ito masterfully paces the story, starting with the atmosphere of a ghost tale before shifting into full-blown apocalyptic horror. The mystery is never explained: we don’t know where the balloons came from, why they exist, or how they choose their victims. These unanswered questions only make the story more unsettling.

And then there’s the unforgettable final panel, a single image that cements Hanging Balloons as a masterpiece of bizarre horror.

With its slow build-up, disturbing visuals, and surreal concepts, Hanging Balloons is one of the most uniquely terrifying apocalyptic scenarios in fiction.

Where to read: Collected in Shiver, retitled Hanging Blimp.

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More in Junji Ito

Over the years, I’ve read countless horror manga, as you can see on my list of the best horror manga of all time.

Yet, there’s something special about the works of Junji Ito. Ever since I first read Tomie a decade and a half ago, I’ve been a fan of his.

His works are full of body horror and often feature phobias, fears and obsessions. It’s often the mundane that gets warped, becomes twisted and ultimately deadly. If you’re interested to learn more about the themes and the style of his work, check out my article on why Junji Ito scares us.

These days, many of his works have been translated into English and are available to a wider audience. For this reason, I created a ranking of all the available Junji Ito books.

24. Stitches

Stitches is not your typical Junji Ito book because it’s not a manga. Instead, it’s a short collection of supposedly true ghost stories by Hirokatsu Kihara, each accompanied by illustrations from Junji Ito. This follows an old Japanese publishing tradition of illustrated short stories that was popular in the past.

It’s definitely an interesting piece of work, and Junji Ito’s illustrations are excellent as always. The book even ends with one of his previously unpublished one-shots, which should be a selling point for fans.

Unfortunately, the problem lies in the stories themselves. Most read like brief vignettes rather than complete narratives. Characters aren’t named; the tales fizzle out instead of delivering satisfying endings, and none of them are particularly scary or well-written. Whether it’s due to the source material or the translation, they lack the tension and atmosphere that make Ito’s work so enduring. Even the included one-shot feels forgettable.

Stitches is a curiosity worth checking out for completionists, but most readers are better off moving on to the stronger Junji Ito books.

23. Dissolving Classroom

Of all the Junji Ito books, Dissolving Classroom might be the strangest, though not for the right reasons. The premise centers on Yuuma, a polite young man whose constant apologizing is more than just a personality quirk. Every apology hides a bizarre supernatural power, one that leads to grisly consequences for anyone unlucky enough to cross his path. Following him is his younger sister, Chizumi, a gleefully cruel child who seems to revel in the chaos he creates.

Ito fills these stories with the kind of imagery that makes his horror so infamous: skin melting away, brains turning to liquid, and human bodies collapsing into shapeless sludge. At first it’s shocking and grotesque in all the right ways, but after the opening chapter, you’ve essentially seen the trick. Most of the remaining stories follow a predictable rhythm, and even the final chapter that tries to change things up doesn’t land.

The tone wobbles as well. Yuuma’s obsessive apologizing comes across as absurd rather than eerie, and Chizumi’s over-the-top psychopathy makes her nothing but a caricature.

There are moments here that showcase Ito’s skill for stomach-turning horror, but they’re buried in a structure that quickly becomes formulaic. Unless you’re a completionist working through every Junji Ito book, this one you can safely skip.

22. Soichi

Soichi has become one of the most familiar faces in Junji Ito’s bibliography. He’s a grinning, nail-chewing boy with a taste for curses, bizarre rituals, and elaborate jokes. His misadventures blur the line between grotesque horror and absurd comedy, but lean far more toward the latter.

Across these chapters, Soichi turns everyday situations into chaotic spectacles. Relatives, classmates, and even strangers alike find themselves the unwilling targets of his schemes, often involving the arcane, strange disguises or hexes. Yet, in true karmic fashion, his tricks almost always backfire.

There are certainly highlights. Mannequin Teacher (Teacher of Cloth in the VIZ translation) stands out for its sheer weirdness. As a whole, however, the tone of Soichi’s stories never quite resonated with me. They feel like exaggerated slapstick cartoons, and lack the creeping dread and psychological bite that I value in other Junji Ito books.

Personally, I see Soichi more as an annoying side character in Ito’s world, and whenever I encounter him, I can’t help but sigh. For fans of dark comedy and grotesque gags, I am sure his antics can be quite entertaining.

21. Junji Ito’s Cat Diary: Yon & Mu

Judging Junji Ito’s Cat Diary: Yon & Mu alongside his horror works feels unfair. It’s a pure comedy manga, worlds apart from the dread and body horror that define other Junji Ito books.

The premise is simple but charming: horror manga artist J moves into a new home with his fiancée A-ko. Soon, A-ko brings her family cat, Yon, and adopts Mu, a fluffy Norwegian Forest cat. What follows is a lighthearted chronicle of Ito’s real-life struggles to adapt to life with two mischievous felines.

What makes this book memorable is the presentation. Ito applies his signature horror aesthetic to otherwise ordinary, often adorable cat antics: wild, bulging eyes, exaggerated facial expressions, and unsettling close-ups. The contrast between his eerie art style and the gentle subject matter creates a kind of comedic dissonance that’s hard not to smile at.

That said, this isn’t a standout in the grand lineup of Junji Ito books. It’s a quirky experiment and a heartfelt homage to his cats, but it lacks the tension and atmosphere that make his best works so gripping. For completionists or cat lovers, it’s a fun curiosity. For everyone else, it’s nothing more than a short, amusing detour.

20. No Longer Human

No Longer Human is an adaption of Osamu Dazai’s novel by the same name. It’s a work that deals heavily with topics such as suicide, alienation and depression.

No Longer Human is one of the most popular Japanese novels of all time. It’s a bleak work, centered on a man not fitting into society and his decent into decadence.

Junji Ito’s adaption of the novel is interesting, but it suffers from a major problem. No Longer Human is a character-driven novel, one of internal horror. Yet, if there’s one thing Junji Ito isn’t good at, it’s character work. Many of Junji Ito’s characters are mundane, boring, and even uninteresting. They are only exist as vessels for his stories, for his horrors and for us to witness their demise.

That’s the main reason No Longer Human isn’t working. Junji Ito isn’t able to convey the intricacies of the character, the story, and the internal horror of it. Instead, he turns it outward, showcasing it in his usual style.

While I appreciate the visuals, and love the creepy and eerie mood they create, it wasn’t enough to adapt a work such as No Longer Human satisfactorily.

Once more, I’d say this is a work worth reading for fans of Junji Ito, but fans of the original novel might be disappointed.

19. The Liminal Zone Vol. 1

The Liminal Zone Vol. 1 is one of the most recent Junji Ito books released in English, and it’s a showcase of just how far his illustration skills have come. It’s full of meticulous details and features some of the best artwork in his career. Unfortunately, the narratives don’t quite match the quality of the visuals.

This volume contains four longer stories, giving Ito more space than in his usual short-form horror. In theory, that extra length should allow for deeper, richer storytelling, but in practice the plots feel overblown, and take some awkward turns. Weeping Woman Way delivers some memorable visuals, while Madonna fuses religious horror with grotesque school drama. The Spirit Flow of Aokigahara begins with a genuinely unsettling premise, only to end in a finale that feels more bizarre than frightening.

My personal highlight, Slumber, follows a man plagued by vivid nightmares of murders he may have committed. It’s a strong premise brimming with psychological horror potential, but even here, the story’s resolution veers toward absurdity instead of delivering a chilling payoff.

Like many of the more uneven Junji Ito books, The Liminal Zone Vol. 1 is both frustrating and fascinating. The moments of brilliance and the breathtaking art are weighed down by inconsistent storytelling. For collectors and those who value Ito’s visuals above all else, it’s worth owning. For readers seeking tightly constructed horror, it’s, unfortunately, not a must-read.

18. The Liminal Zone Vol. 2

The Liminal Zone Vol. 2 feels almost like a deliberate attempt to improve on the problems of the first volume, and in some ways it succeeds. The artwork is once again spectacular. Page after page is brimming with grotesque textures, uncanny facial expressions, and the unsettling detail that has made Junji Ito books instantly recognizable.

Two stories stand above the rest: Monster King of Dust and The Shells of Manjunuma. Both pair Ito’s surreal imagination with pacing that keeps the horror tight and memorable. Village of Ether, meanwhile, starts with one of Ito’s most ambitious and bizarre premises, but its spiraling chaos in the final act might be divisive.

Across the volume, there’s a clear sense of experimentation. Ito stretches into longer, more intricate plots, which can be seen as a departure from the punchier short-form horror that built his reputation. This expanded format allows for deeper worldbuilding and stranger concepts, but also exposes pacing issues and narrative stumbles.

Even with flaws, The Liminal Zone Vol. 2 offers enough eerie invention and striking visuals to warrant a spot among modern Junji Ito books. For fans who value atmosphere and art as much as tight plotting, it’s an unsettling and rewarding read.

17. Sensor

Among Junji Ito books, Sensor stands out as one of his most visually striking works. Every page is layered with meticulous linework and an almost ethereal beauty, proving that Ito’s skills as an illustrator remain unmatched.

The plot follows Byakuya Kyouko, a mysterious woman whose connection to an isolated village sets off a chain of strange and otherworldly events. Ito blends cosmic horror with philosophical undertones, weaving in themes of light and dark, humanity’s role in the universe, and the mysteries that lie beyond human comprehension. This gives the story a dreamlike, almost mythical quality that sets it apart from his more isolated horror stories.

Here, fans will still find moments of classic Ito nastiness. We see everything from warped flesh, grotesque insect imagery, and unsettling body transformations. Yet these moments are scattered between stretches of slower, more abstract storytelling. While this approach makes Sensor feel more ambitious and different, it can also cause the narrative to feel disjointed.

Even so, Sensor remains a fascinating entry in Ito’s catalog of works. It’s not his most frightening book, but readers who appreciate bold ideas paired with some of the most gorgeous artwork in Ito’s career will not regret picking it up.

16. Smashed

Among the many Junji Ito books available in English, Smashed is one of the most packed, containing thirteen stories in a single volume. It sounds great, but while the variety is there, the quality wavers from one tale to the next.

Some entries are fantastic. Bloodsucking Darkness is an old Ito standout, The Mystery of the Haunted House is not only creepy but features one of his greatest panels, and Earthbound is haunting in both concept and execution. These are the moments when the collection shows what makes Junji Ito books so appealing.

The rest, however, are almost entirely forgettable. Even with Ito’s masterful art, warped anatomy, and disturbing textures, they can’t deliver on their premises.

In the end, Smashed is a mixed anthology. It’s worth owning for the standout chapters and the consistently strong artwork, but for newcomers, there are stronger points in his bibliography.

15. Mimi’s Tales of Terror

Mimi’s Tales of Terror is one of the more unusual Junji Ito books, leaning heavily into Japanese urban legend rather than original plots. The volume follows Mimi, an unlucky young woman who seems to get entangled in the supernatural wherever she goes.

Across six loosely connected tales, the horror feels intimate and close to home. In one story, a weird woman keeps following her; in another, she finds herself in a basement hiding a dark secret; and in another, she bears witness to a muscle-bound man trying to impress the dead. While each chapter stands alone, they all share the same eeriness.

My personal standout is The Seashore, in which a visit to a beach ends in tragedy and culminates in the best panel of the entire collection.

Interestingly, these stories aren’t Ito’s own inventions, but are adaptations of established ghost tales. This, however, makes them feel not only different but also weaker when compared with his purely original works. Yet his distinct art style elevates them, effortlessly moving from moments of quiet dread to panels that are pure nightmare fuel.

While it may not hold the same legendary status as Uzumaki or Tomie, Mimi’s Tales of Terror offers a fascinating glimpse at how Junji Ito can take existing folklore and shape it into something uniquely his own. For fans who want to explore a more folkloric side of Junji Ito books, it’s a chilling and memorable pick.

14. The Art of Junji Ito: Twisted Visions

Twisted Visions stands apart from most Junji Ito books. It isn’t a manga or short story collection but a lavish art book dedicated entirely to Ito’s visual genius. Instead of panels and narratives, you’re treated to page after page of his most striking, unsettling, and intricately detailed artwork, reproduced in beautiful high-quality print.

For fans used to seeing his work confined to the borders of manga panels, this format is a revelation. Seeing his eerie figures, warped bodies, and grotesque creations on full pages gives you a new appreciation for just how meticulous and imaginative his style truly is.

The book also includes a handful of never-before-seen illustrations tied to unpublished works, making it more than just a greatest hits compilation. There’s also an insightful interview with Ito himself, plus a complete register of his works for collectors.

While Twisted Visions contains no stories, it’s still one of the most impressive Junji Ito books for anyone who values the artistry behind the horror. For longtime fans, it’s a chance to savor his craft without distraction. For art enthusiasts, it’s a stunning gallery of one of manga’s modern masters.

13. Hellstar Remina

Hellstar Remina is perhaps the closest Junji Ito has ever come to fully embracing Lovecraftian cosmic horror. Equal parts apocalyptic and surreal, it delivers a vision of planetary doom unlike anything else in manga.

The story begins when Professor Oguro discovers a mysterious wormhole, and within it, a strange new planet. Naming it after his daughter, Remina, he unintentionally thrust her into the public eye. At first, the discovery seems like a scientific triumph, but soon unsettling patterns emerge: the planet drifts unpredictably, has no stable orbit, and stars near it begin to vanish.

Before long, the truth becomes clear: Planet Remina is alive. Even worse, it’s heading straight for Earth, consuming everything in its path. What follows is a bizarre mix of mass hysteria, cult-like persecution of the professor’s daughter, and some of Ito’s most nightmarish imagery. The planet’s gaping eyes and mouth are unforgettable, while its grotesque surface feels taken straight from a fever dream.

Admittedly, Remina takes a turn into the absurd and even comical in its later chapters. Yet, that wildness is part of its charm. It’s a bold, unrestrained vision of cosmic apocalypse.

Flawed but unforgettable, this remains one of the most iconic Junji Ito books, especially for fans of cosmic horror. The story may lose tension at times, but the imagery alone makes it a must-read for anyone drawn to the grander side of Ito’s imagination.

12. Deserter

Deserter is one of the more recent Junji Ito books published by VIZ, compiling twelve short stories that range from instantly forgettable to some of the most chilling tales in his career. As with many of his anthologies, the mix is uneven, but the high points make it worth owning for dedicated fans.

Among the strongest entries are Den of the Sleep Demon and The Long Hair in the Attic. Both are twisted nightmares that mix eerie atmosphere with grotesque body horror imagery.

Two stories in particular elevate Deserter beyond a standard mix of short stories. Unbearable Maze follows two young girls who stumble upon a secluded mountain meditation retreat, only to discover just how disturbing the place truly is. Its ending is among the creepiest Junji Ito has ever drawn. Then there’s The Bully, a rare foray into entirely realistic horror. With no supernatural elements to fall back on, Ito crafts a story so cruel and psychologically brutal it will linger long after you finish reading it.

While not every entry in Deserter is memorable, the combination of standout tales, diverse tones, and Ito’s ever-detailed artwork make it a worthwhile addition to any collection of Junji Ito books.

11. Alley

Alley is one of the newest Junji Ito books released in English, bringing together a diverse assortment of the artist’s older short stories. The tone shifts from grotesque body horror to surreal social satire, making it an uneven but fascinating snapshot of his early creativity.

Several entries stand out as some of Ito’s most memorable short works. Falling (Decent in the VIZ translation) is a chilling brush with cosmic horror that leaves its mystery deliberately unsolved. The Ward transforms a hospital setting into a surreal nightmare, while Mold assaults the senses with revolting imagery that’s as unforgettable as it is disturbing. Town Without Streets (Town of No Roads) offers a surreal vision of a world stripped of privacy, its concept alone lingering long after the final page. The title story, The Alley, uses a deceptively simple premise to deliver an unexpectedly creepy payoff.

Not every tale in this collection lands with equal force. Some feel like curiosities rather than essential reads. Still, Ito’s impeccable art elevates even the weaker pieces, transforming flat concepts into striking visual experiences.

For completionists, Alley is a must-have among Junji Ito books, and proves even his lesser-known works can disturb and entertain with the right mix of eerie atmosphere and unsettling imagery.

10. Black Paradox

Black Paradox is one of the strangest and most unpredictable Junji Ito books you’ll ever read. It opens with a suicide pact between four strangers, only for our main character, Marousou, to end up with a group of their exact doppelgangers. This bizarre twist leads to the group postponing their plans. What follows quickly spirals in an entirely different direction far beyond anything you might expect.

The opening feels almost disconnected from the rest of the narrative, but it’s also part of its charm. The initial premise gives way to a story that might contain Ito’s most otherworldly and existential ideas, layered with stunning imagery only he could come up with. It’s a work that starts weird and only grows stranger, moving into a realm few horror manga ever attempt.

At six chapters, Black Paradox is one of Ito’s longer stories, and his impeccable art elevates every page. Even when the plot takes its sharp turns, the visuals keep you locked in, from eerie doppelgangers to bizarre different realms.

While the disjointed start might throw off some readers, the payoff is worth it. This is a standout in Ito’s catalogue, especially for fans who enjoy when his horror veers into the cosmic and existential.

9. Fragments of Horror

Fragments of Horror holds a special place among Junji Ito books. Not for its length, however, but for its history. It was the very first short story collection of his to be officially released in English, following only the multi-volume horrors of Uzumaki and Gyo.

At just eight stories, it’s also Ito’s shortest anthology. The content swings heavily from forgettable to unforgettable. Lesser entries like Magami Nanakuse and Wooden Spirit feel slight compared to his best work, yet the highlights more than make up for it. Lingering Farewell (Gentle Goodbye in the VIZ translation) stands as one of the most emotional pieces Ito has ever written, a haunting meditation on letting go, centered around an eerie family ritual. Dissection Girl (Dissection-Chan in the VIZ translation) introduces one of Ito’s most fascinating characters, whose bizarre obsession leads to some of the most unsettling body horror in his entire career.

While Fragments of Horror is not his most consistent collection, its best stories rank among Ito’s finest works. For fans, it’s worth picking up for the peaks alone.

8. Gyo

Gyo, the Japanese word for fish, sounds harmless enough, but in the hands of Junji Ito, it becomes one of his strangest and most unsettling creations. Equal parts grotesque and absurd, this is a story that starts with a bad smell and spirals into full-blown apocalyptic chaos.

The manga follows Tadashi and his girlfriend Kaori during a seaside vacation. Kaori, sensitive to smells, is suddenly overwhelmed by a foul, rotten stench. The source? A dead fish that is found walking on bizarre, insect-like metal legs. This is only the beginning, because soon more sea creatures emerge from the ocean, each propelled by the same unnatural contraptions.

When the couple returns to Tokyo, they find the city overrun. Sharks, squids, and countless other marine horrors flood the streets, bringing with them the so-called death stench. The visuals grow increasingly surreal, with some of the later chapters venturing into truly nightmarish territory.

While Gyo is one of the most creative Junji Ito books, I also found it divisive. The central concept is brilliant, but the attempt to explain the origin of the mechanical legs undercuts the horror, pushing the story deep into the ridiculous. Still, that eccentricity is part of its appeal, and the sheer imagination on display is undeniable.

Supported by some of Ito’s most striking art, Gyo remains a must-read for fans who appreciate his weirder, more experimental side. The imagery will stick with you long after you’ve finished reading.

7. Tombs

Tombs is one of the most accessible Junji Ito books, offering a balanced mix of fan-favorite classics and underappreciated deep cuts. For newcomers, it feels almost like a greatest hits anthology, with widely recognized tales like Slug Girl and The Woman Next Door serving as instant hooks.

The title story, Tombs, is a quintessential example of Ito’s knack for eerie worldbuilding. It centers on a quiet town with a macabre burial custom, and the terrifying consequences for breaking it. The Thing That Drifted Ashore (Washed Away in the VIZ translation) dives into some of his strangest oceanic imagery, while Bronze Statue, an underrated gem, delivers one of the most nightmarish sequences in his short story repertoire.

Even the smaller entries, like Clubhouse, while not as impactful, add variety to the volume’s pacing and tone. That variety is the book’s greatest strength. It never lingers too long in one type of horror, shifting from grotesque body horror to creeping supernatural dread.

While not the most flawless Junji Ito book, Tombs succeeds in being both a welcome starting point and a rewarding visit for seasoned fans, making it one of the more re-readable entries in his ever-growing library.

6. Frankenstein

Among all Junji Ito books, Frankenstein stands out as a rare fusion of classic literature and the artist’s uniquely unsettling vision. Ito’s adaptation of Mary Shelley’s novel is nothing short of masterful. His fine artwork amplifies the tragedy, grotesqueness, and existential dread at the heart of the original, pushing the gothic horror into far more nightmarish territory.

The volume doesn’t stop with the title story. It also includes ten additional shorts, most revolving around Oshikiri, one of Ito’s lesser-known but fascinating recurring characters. These tales dive deep into paranoia, hallucinations, warped realities, and grotesque medical horrors, resulting in some of the strangest and most disturbing works in Ito’s short-form storytelling.

Oshikiri may lack the mainstream recognition of Tomie or Soichi, but his unsettling misadventures leave a strong impression, combining psychological horror with bursts of vivid, surreal imagery.

With its perfect mix of a brilliantly reimagined classic and some of Ito’s most bizarre companion pieces, Frankenstein is both a standout adaptation and an essential addition to any Junji Ito collection.

5. Tomie

Tomie is Junji Ito’s debut work, yet remains one of his most enduring creations. Spanning multiple volumes, it cemented itself as a cornerstone of his career. While Ito’s art in these early chapters isn’t as refined as in his later Junji Ito books, the seeds of his trademark style and morbid imagination are already clear.

The premise is deceptively simple. Tomie, a stunningly beautiful high school girl, is secretly dating a classmate while also having an affair with her teacher. During a school trip, an accident leads to her death. In a panic, her classmates conspire to cover it up, dismembering her body and hiding the pieces. But the very next day, Tomie walks back into class, alive and unscathed.

This is the first hint of the nightmare to come. Tomie is not human. Even the smallest fragment of her can regenerate into a complete body. Worse still, she possesses an almost supernatural allure. Every man who meets her becomes hopelessly obsessed, driven to madness and violence.

Interestingly, Tomie is less a protagonist than a catalyst. Each chapter focuses on those who encounter her, charting their inevitable descent into obsession and ruin. The stories vary in quality, with some leaning more into psychological tension while others dive headfirst into some of Ito’s most grotesque body horror.

Despite occasional unevenness, Tomie remains one of the best Junji Ito books and a must-read for anyone exploring his work. Equal parts alluring and horrifying, she’s an icon of horror manga.

4. Lovesickness

Among Junji Ito books, Lovesickness is one of the most memorable, opening with the haunting urban legend of the Intersection Pretty Boy. The story follows a quiet town gripped by superstition, where chance encounters at street corners spiral into obsession, madness and an unrelenting wave of violence. It’s an atmospheric blend of eerie folklore and bursts of graphic violence, making it one of Ito’s most unsettling long-form pieces.

Beyond the title story, the collection delivers five additional tales, including two darkly comedic yet deeply disturbing episodes featuring the infamous Hikizuri Siblings. These grotesque, bickering miscreants remain some of Ito’s most chaotic and unpredictable creations. Another standout is The Ribs Woman, a surreal exploration of vanity, beauty, and body horror so vivid it’s impossible to forget, and even inspired one of my short stories, Real Art Always Has a Price.

The combination of an atmospheric, gore-laced urban legend and a mix of inventive, twisted shorts makes Lovesickness a standout choice for both new readers and seasoned fans. If you’re seeking Junji Ito books that blend urban legend, madness, and masterful horror art, this one is a must-read.

3. Venus in the Blind Spot

Venus in the Blind Spot stands out for containing some of Junji Ito’s most celebrated works alongside a few lesser entries. While not every story hits with equal force, the highlights are so strong they cement the volume as a must-read for horror fans.

The undisputed centerpiece is The Enigma of Amigara Fault, a modern classic that has transcended manga culture. Its surreal imagery, claustrophobic tension, and disturbing depiction of compulsion make it one of Ito’s most quoted and shared creations. Army of One (titled Billions Alone in the VIZ translation) offers a similar chilling mystery. It’s part urban horror, part biting commentary on loneliness and isolation in modern society.

The collection also showcases Ito’s skill with adaptation in The Human Chair, a masterful retelling of Edogawa Ranpo’s unsettling tale of obsession and invasion of privacy. On the more grotesque side, The Licking Woman takes a premise that’s already skin-crawling and transforms it into a visual nightmare, proving Ito’s unmatched ability to turn disgust into terror.

Though the weaker stories don’t linger long in the memory, the best stories in Venus in the Blind Spot rank among the finest in any Junji Ito book, blending the surreal, the psychological, and the viscerally horrifying in ways only he can.

2. Uzumaki

Uzumaki is widely regarded as Junji Ito’s magnum opus, a surreal, unsettling masterpiece that stands at the very peak of horror manga. Even among the strangest Junji Ito books, this one is in a league of its own.

Spread across three volumes, Uzumaki takes place in the foggy coastal town of Kurouzu-cho, a community slowly consumed by an unnatural obsession with spirals. The story follows high school students Kirie Goshima and Shouichi Saito as they witness increasingly disturbing spiral-related phenomena: grotesque body distortions, unnatural weather patterns, and even architecture twisting in strange shapes.

What makes Uzumaki so unforgettable isn’t just its plot, but the sheer creative audacity behind it. There are no traditional monsters or killers. The villain is an abstract concept, an omnipresent spiral curse that defies explanation. This makes the manga feel uniquely oppressive, as though the entire town is caught in an inescapable, cosmic trap.

The early chapters unfold in an episodic, almost anthology-like format, each presenting a new spiral horror while building an overarching sense of doom. The final volume ties these threads together in a more overtly Lovecraftian climax, which, at least to me, makes it the weakest segment narratively, but still visually and atmospherically overwhelming.

From intricate linework to some of the most grotesque body horror in his career, Ito’s art here is at its absolute best. Uzumaki is as beautiful as it’s horrifying, pulling you into a world you can’t look away from.

In short, Uzumaki isn’t just one of the best Junji Ito books; it’s one of the greatest horror manga ever made, and an essential addition to any horror fan’s collection.

1. Shiver

Of all the Junji Ito books available in English, Shiver stands as the definitive collection, packed with some of his most imaginative, disturbing, and thematically rich short stories. Every entry here feels like a fully realized nightmare, each with its own unforgettable hook.

The volume opens with Fashion Model, introducing us to Miss Fuji, whose grotesque appearance and predatory nature have made her one of Ito’s most iconic creations. The Long Dream delivers a surreal meditation on mortality and dreams. My Dear Ancestors (Honored Ancestors in the VIZ edition) and Glyceride (Greased) push body horror to its extremes, one through a bizarre tradition, the other through utterly revolting body imagery.

The title story, Shiver, takes trypophobia and turns it into a nightmare of paranoia and greed. But the best story of the collection is Hanging Balloons (Hanging Blimps), where giant floating heads hunt their human counterparts in a surreal apocalypse. Equal parts absurd and terrifying, it works as a critique of celebrity culture, an allegory for Freud’s death drive, or simply one of the most original doomsday scenarios ever put to paper.

Relentlessly creative, visually stunning, and thematically layered, Shiver is the Junji Ito book that best captures everything the master of horror does well. If you’re going to read just one collection, it should be this one.

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Junji Ito is one of my favorite horror creators, and Uzumaki easily ranks among my favorite horror manga of all time. It’s not only disturbing; it’s also entirely unique. Most other horror manga feature killers, monsters, or supernatural entities, but not so with Uzumaki. Instead, its twenty eerie Uzumaki chapters present a premise that’s almost nonsensical, even silly at first glance, yet Junji Ito brings it forth in all its twisted, nightmarish glory.

Uzumaki follows Kirie Goshima and Shuuichi Saitou as they witness the strange and terrifying fate of Kurouzu-cho, a small coastal town consumed by spirals. There are no monsters or killers here, no psychopaths or ghosts, just a single concept manifesting as an omnipresent curse.

Across its twenty chapters, Uzumaki delivers some of the most disturbing moments in horror manga. Each chapter stands as its own grotesque short story, adding to the slow spiral into madness. In this article, I’ll be highlighting the most disturbing Uzumaki chapters and discussing why they stand out as the best Uzumaki moments in Junji Ito’s work.

While the entire three-volume saga is a masterpiece, some chapters, like the grotesque Umbilical Cord, the surreal events in The Snail, and the eerie isolation of The Black Lighthouse, rise above the rest. These highlight chapters from Uzumaki showcase Junji Ito’s full range of unsettling imagination and intricate horror art.

As always, here’s a spoiler warning: if you haven’t read the manga yet, I recommend doing so first, because I’ll be discussing each chapter and its plot in detail.

5. Escape

I regard the third volume of Junji Ito’s Uzumaki as its weakest. At the outset of the final volume, multiple storms have transformed the town of Kurouzu-cho into an apocalyptic mess of rubble.

While volume three brings the manga to its Lovecraftian conclusion, it also features elements I didn’t enjoy. What I appreciated, however, was the depressing and eerie atmosphere as Kirie and Shuichi traveled through the ruined town. There’s a feeling of despair and futility that hangs heavily over these final Uzumaki chapters.

This is most prevalent in chapter seventeen, Escape. In the Escape Uzumaki chapter, Kirie and Shuuichi make one last attempt to flee the twisted hell that Kurouzu-cho has become. As we follow them into the mountains, we see that by now everything has fallen to the curse of the spiral. Nature itself has become warped, twisted, and reshaped into spirals. Soon enough, even those who try to flee the town succumb to madness and are transformed into the shape of the spiral.

It’s here that we realize how ironic the chapter’s title truly is. The Escape Uzumaki chapter shows that there is no way out: escape from Kurouzu-cho and the curse of the spiral is utterly impossible. It stands as one of the most haunting moments in the final act and a highlight of Uzumaki’s creeping, hopeless horror.

4. The Spiral Obsession Part 1

If there’s one thing to be said about Junji Ito’s Uzumaki, is that it wastes no time in presenting the horrific curse of the spiral right from the start.

After a brief introduction to our main characters, we learn that Shuuichi’s father has recently become obsessed with spirals. At first, this obsession manifests in him collecting every spiral-shaped object he can find. After his wife gets rid of the collection, his fixation takes a far more disturbing turn, one that will ultimately lead to his demise. He discovers he can use his own body to create spirals.

This Spiral Obsession Uzumaki chapter is a fantastic early entry that sets the tone for the most disturbing Uzumaki chapters to come. It’s rich in body horror as we witness Shuuichi’s father twist and contort parts of his body into spiral shapes. The chapter also contains one of the most famous and unsettling panels in the entire manga, making it one of the best Uzumaki moments.

Overall, it’s a disturbing and unforgettable introduction to Kurouzu-cho and the curse of the spiral, perfectly showcasing Junji Ito’s talent for fusing bizarre concepts with visceral horror.

3. The Black Lighthouse

I believe that Junji Ito’s Uzumaki is at its best in its second volume. It’s here that Ito’s creativity is at its peak, and the curse of the spiral takes on even stranger and more disturbing forms than in the first volume.

The Black Lighthouse Uzumaki chapter is one of the standouts. Lighthouses naturally give off an eerie atmosphere and seem to be a perfect setting for horror, and Uzumaki is no exception.

The chapter begins with Kurouzu-cho’s abandoned lighthouse mysteriously working again. Everyone is puzzled by this, but soon enough the light begins to influence people, making it impossible for them to walk in a straight line.

This is only the beginning. Before long, Kirie’s brother Mitsuo and his friends enter the lighthouse, prompting Kirie to follow them. As she climbs the seemingly endless stairs, she notices spiral patterns all over the walls. These patterns, rendered in Junji Ito’s exquisite detail, give the entire staircase a disorienting, hypnotic feeling.

Eventually, Kirie stumbles upon horribly burned bodies and discovers that the lighthouse lens has melted into the shape of a spiral. She realizes it must be the light itself that melted the lens, and also the bodies she found earlier.

Of course, Junji Ito doesn’t stop at suggestion. As Kirie, her brother, and his friends flee down the stairs, one of the boys is consumed almost instantly by the burning light.

The Black Lighthouse is one of the most visually striking Uzumaki chapters, showcasing Ito’s mastery of atmosphere, spiral imagery, and sudden, shocking horror.

2. The Snail

While The Snail is lower on gore than many other chapters, it stands as one of, if not the most, unsettling and unnerving chapters in Junji Ito’s Uzumaki.

This Snail Uzumaki chapter is the first in which we witness people transforming into snails. Junji Ito isn’t content to stop at showing a disturbing and grotesque transformation. No, he goes even further. After Katayama, a bullied boy, transforms into a snail, his bully Tsumura soon undergoes the same fate. Not knowing what to do with the snails, the school keeps them in an enclosure.

And here we reach the most disturbing part of the chapter. Snails are hermaphrodites, and soon we witness Katayama and Tsumura mating. This moment elevates The Snail into one of the most disturbing Uzumaki chapters, precisely because it blends body horror with a deeply uncomfortable psychological element.

People turning into snails is already horrific enough, and Junji Ito renders the transformation in all its grotesque details. But the sight of a bully and his former victim mating is beyond unsettling, making this one of the best Uzumaki moments for sheer shock value.

It’s a fantastic chapter that may be lighter on gore, but delivers concepts that are unnerving in a completely different, and unforgettable, way.

1. The Umbilical Cord

Junji Ito’s Uzumaki features many strange and disturbing ideas, but The Umbilical Cord Uzumaki chapter might be the manga’s most unsettling of all. It’s the second chapter set at Kurouzu-cho’s hospital and follows directly after Mosquitoes.

After the events of The Black Lighthouse, Kirie is hospitalized. In Mosquitoes, she witnesses pregnant women, including her cousin Keiko, sucking the blood of other patients. While Mosquitoes is a great chapter, it serves only as the prelude to The Umbilical Cord.

This chapter begins with the birth of the babies of these blood-sucking women. Kirie quickly notices that something is wrong with the newborns. Soon afterward, strange mushrooms become a regular ingredient in the hospital’s meals. While Kirie refuses to eat them, other patients grow obsessed with the dish.

Wandering the hospital, Kirie overhears the babies speaking of wishing to return to the womb they came from. When she hears her cousin’s screams, she rushes into the operating room and stumbles upon heaps of the strange mushrooms.

Here, the truth is revealed: the mushrooms are actually placentas, regrown from the babies’ umbilical cords. As if that weren’t disturbing enough, we also learn the horrifying fate of Keiko.

The Umbilical Cord is one of the most disturbing Uzumaki chapters, blending multiple grotesque ideas: placenta mushrooms that drive people mad, unnerving newborns, and the imagery of a woman whose baby has been forced back into her womb. Each element on its own is unsettling, but together, they create a masterpiece of body horror.

In my view, The Umbilical Cord is the best chapter in Junji Ito’s Uzumaki, both for its unforgettable imagery and for the sheer number of disturbing concepts it contains. It’s a standout moment in a masterpiece of horror manga and even served as inspiration for my own story, Special Diet.

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If you’re planning to read Uzumaki, I highly recommend getting the 3-in-1 Deluxe Edition.

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I first discovered Junji Ito almost two decades ago, and I’ve been hooked ever since. His unsettling worlds, grotesque imagery, and sheer strangeness set him apart as not just Japan’s greatest horror manga artist, but one of the greatest horror creators of all time.

Ito’s works span the full spectrum of terror: body horror, phobias, psychological dread, and even cosmic horror. They’re as imaginative as they are disturbing, often blending surreal beauty with nightmarish imagery.

In this article, I’m ranking every Junji Ito collection currently available in English, from the unforgettable to the more uneven releases. Longer works like Uzumaki, Tomie, Gyo, and Hellstar Remina aren’t included here, as they deserve a dedicated list of their own.

If you want more Junji Ito recommendations, you can also read my complete list of the best Junji Ito stories and my in-depth essay on his style and recurring themes.

Here’s my personal ranking of every Junji Ito collection currently available in English (updated August 2025).

15. Dissolving Classroom

Dissolving Classroom might be one of Junji Ito’s strangest works, and, in my opinion, not in a good way.

It follows Yuuma, a mysterious young man who compulsively apologizes to everyone he meets, and his younger sister Chizumi, an unnervingly creepy child with a sadistic streak. It soon becomes clear that Yuuma’s endless apologies hide a sinister, supernatural effect.

This Junji Ito collection is packed with grotesque imagery: melting flesh, liquified brains, bodies dissolving into unrecognizable sludge. It’s horrific on a visual level, but the storytelling quickly becomes repetitive. By the first chapter, we already understand exactly what will happen to most characters. The final chapter attempts to shake up the formula, but it feels like too little, too late.

Yuuma’s apologizing grows more absurd than unsettling, while Chizumi’s over-the-top psychosis borders on comical. The volume also includes two bonus shorts, but they’re brief, forgettable additions.

While Dissolving Classroom has some memorable, stomach-churning moments, it remains one of the weakest Junji Ito collections. Recommended only for completists who want to experience all of Ito’s work.

14. Soichi

Soichi is one of Junji Ito’s most recurring characters. He’s a devilish boy with a love for curses, pranks, and general mischief. His tales are always strangely humorous, often walking the fine line between horror and comedy.

The stories follow Soichi as he torments family members, friends and strangers, often with elaborate schemes involving curses and creepy rituals. No matter how much chaos he causes though, there’s a strange cosmic justice at play, and Soichi always gets his comeuppance in one way or another.

The stories are by no means bad. In fact, Mannequin Teacher (Teacher of Cloth in the VIZ translation) is a standout for its sheer creativity, they’ve never worked for me personally. Soichi’s brand of horror leans heavily into absurdity and slapstick, and while I can see its appeal, it’s just too different from Ito’s more disturbing, atmospheric or existential works.

Yet if you enjoy dark humor mixed with grotesque visual gags, this collection might hit all the right notes.

For me, though, Soichi will always remain a curiosity. A memorable one, sure, but never a personal favorite.

13. The Liminal Zone Vol. 1

The Liminal Zone Vol. 1 is one of the most recently published Junji Ito collections, and while it boasts some truly stunning artwork, the storytelling is a mixed bag. The four stories here feel longer and more elaborate than his usual short works, but the extra page count doesn’t always work in his favor.

From the ever-crying women in Weeping Woman Way to the disturbing events at a Christian boarding school in Madonna, or the weird culmination of The Spirit Flow of Aokigahara, one can see Ito’s usual creativity at work. The problem is that all of these stories are full of narrative decisions that just don’t work, making them more baffling than memorable.

Even Slumber, my personal favorite, in which a man believes he’s a serial killer due to having memories of the brutal deeds he supposedly committed, veers more into absurdity than full resolution.

As a whole, The Liminal Zone Vol. 1 is worth reading for Ito’s art alone. It features some of his best and most intricate panels in recent years. Yet Ito’s always been stronger with visuals than narratives, and here, because of the stories’ page count, the imbalance shows.

There are flashes of brilliance in this Junji Ito collection, but they are weighed down by uneven storytelling.

12. The Liminal Zone Vol. 2

The Liminal Zone Vol. 2 is a step up from the first collection, but is still bogged down by some of the same problems. The visuals are again top-notch, and every story is dripping with Ito’s trademark blend of grotesque details and eerie atmosphere.

Monster King of Dust and The Shells of Manjunuma are the standouts here, offering both compelling imagery and a memorable storytelling. Village of Ether starts strong with one of Ito’s most outlandish and ambiguous ideas, but spirals into something overly chaotic near the end. Across the board, the stories share a willingness to experiment, yet the writing often stumbles, similar to the first volume of The Liminal Zone.

There’s a sense that Ito’s deliberately trying to branch out, tackling longer and more intricate storylines, but the execution doesn’t always land. Still, for fans of his art and unsettling imagination, The Liminal Zone Vol. 2 remains an interesting and visually satisfying Junji Ito collection.

11. Sensor

Sensor is one of Junji Ito’s more recent works, and visually, it might be his most beautiful yet. Rendered in his signature fine-lined detail, the art alone makes this Junji Ito collection worth flipping through.

The story is an ambitious blend of cosmic horror and philosophical musing, centering on a mysterious woman named Byakuya Kyouko. Themes of light versus darkness, the nature of the universe, and humanity’s place within give the narrative an almost mystical quality.

Sensor contains Ito’s usual trademark horror: melting flesh, grotesque insect innards, moments of body horror that unsettle on a visceral level. However, they are scattered throughout the broader, more abstract plot. The emphasis on contemplation rather than pure terror is intriguing, but it leaves the collection feeling less cohesive and horrifying than Ito’s strongest work.

Ultimately, Sensor is visually stunning but uneven. It’s worth reading for its art and ambition, though fans looking for consistent scares will find more satisfying options elsewhere in Ito’s bibliography.

10. Smashed

Smashed is one of the largest Junji Ito collections available in English, packing thirteen stories into a single volume. This should make it one of the most exciting releases for fans, but while there are some gems, the overall quality is uneven.

Standout tales like Bloodsucking Darkness, The Mystery of the Haunted House, and Earthbound showcase Ito’s ability to blend eerie premise with unsettling visuals. Unfortunately, most of the collection falls into more forgettable territory, with stories that never quite land the impact they promise.

As always, Ito’s artwork is consistently strong, with detailed linework and grotesque imagery that elevate even the weaker plots. But great art can only do so much when the narrative side is hit-or-miss, and in Smashed, there are simply too many misses.

In the end, Smashed is a decent collection, but it doesn’t reach the same heights as his best anthologies.

9. Mimi’s Tales of Terror

Mimi’s Tales of Terror isn’t the most famous Junji Ito collection, but it’s the one most rooted in Japanese urban legend. Across six eerie episodes, all linked by a soft-spoken yet oddly unlucky Mimi, readers are drawn into a quiet world where supernatural horror brushes up against the everyday.

Each tale works independently but shares the same lingering tone of unease: mysterious stalkers, a basement hiding sinister crimson stains, the vengeful ghost of a burned mother.

Among all these tales, The Seashore is my clear favorite as it delivers some of the most haunting, surreal visuals in the entire volume.

The stories here weren’t penned by Ito himself, but adapted from existing ghost stories, which means the plotting can feel uneven compared to the originals. Even so, his unmistakable art helps them shine, shifting seamlessly from subtle dread to full-on nightmare.

It may not reach the iconic heights of other Junji Ito collections, but it remains a chilling, folklore-infused read that shows how well Ito can channel traditional ghost lore through his singular visual style.

8. Deserter

Deserter is the newest Junji Ito collection by VIZ and contains twelve of his stories. While it contains its fair share of forgettable tales, it also contains some of his best ones.

Den of the Sleep Demon is a short, surreal, but incredible effective horror story. The Long Hair in the Attic is similarly creepy and brings forth some great body horror.

The two best stories in this collection, however, are Unbearable Maze and The Bully. Unbearable Maze tells the story of two young girls who end up at a strange meditation resort in the mountains. It features one of Junji Ito’s creepiest and greatest endings. The Bully, on the other hand, is one of the few Junji Ito stories that’s entirely grounded in reality. And yet, it proves to be one of his scariest, most twisted stories.

Overall, Deserter is a good collection, featuring some great stories.

7. Alley

One of the two most recent Junji Ito collections, Alley presents us with a varied mix from grotesque body horror to surreal social commentary. It’s an uneven set of Ito’s older works, but several stories rank among his most memorable.

Falling (Decent in the VIZ translation) is a chilling piece of cosmic horror. The Ward delivers one of Ito’s strangest hospital horror pieces, while Mold is revolting in the best way possible, and its visuals will linger with you for a long while. Town Without Streets (Town of No Roads in the VIZ translation) offers a brilliant and surreal nightmare of privacy stripped away. The Alley, the title story, is also one of the stronger entries. Similar to Ice Cream Bus, its simple setup rewards us with a surprisingly creepy execution.

The rest are more mixed, never quite landing or are not especially memorable.

As with much of Ito’s other work, Alley is carried by his impeccable art, turning even weaker entries into something worth staring at. While not all stories hit, the highlights make it a must-read for completionists and proof that even his older work still holds up today.

6. Fragments of Horror

Fragments of Horror was the first Junji Ito collection released in English. Before, only his longer, multi-volume works Uzumaki and Gyo had been released.

With only eight stories, it’s the shortest Junji Ito collection out there. While it features some weaker stories, like Magami Nankuse and Wooden Spirit, it also features some of Junji Ito’s best work.

Gentle Goodbye is one of the greatest stories he ever penned. It’s a sad, emotional work, a study of holding on and features a very special family ritual. Dissection-Chan, on the other hand, showcases one of Junji Ito’s most interesting characters with one of the most bizarre mental disorders ever. It also features one of his best body horror work of all times.

While Fragments of Horror is not an outstanding Junji Ito collection, it contains some fantastic stories and is well worth buying.

5. Tombs

A solid new Junji Ito collection, Tombs gathers several of the artist’s most iconic short works alongside a few underrated gems. For many readers, this volume will feel like a greatest-hits set, featuring Slug Girl and The Woman Next Door, two stories almost every Ito fan has heard of.

The title story, Tombs, centers on a town’s strange funeral practices, and what happens if they aren’t followed, while The Thing That Drifted Ashore (Washed Away in the VIZ translation) delivers some of his strangest deep-sea imagery. Bronze Statue might be one of Ito’s least-known stories, but features one of his most nightmarish sequences.

While smaller pieces like Clubhouse might not resonate strongly, they still add variety to the collection.

What makes Tombs stand out is its balance between well-known classics and lesser-discussed works, giving it appeal for both newcomers and longtime readers. It’s not his most consistent book, but with its mix of iconic scares and hidden treasures, Tombs earns its place as one of the more respectable and re-readable volumes in Ito’s library.

4. Frankenstein

Frankenstein is Junji Ito’s masterful retelling of Mary Shelley’s classic, and easily the best adaptation I’ve encountered. His art style and nightmarish imagery push the story far deeper into the horror genre, heightening the dread and tragedy in ways the original only hinted at.

Beyond the title story, this Junji Ito collection includes ten additional tales, most of them centered on one of his lesser-known recurring characters, Oshikiri. These stories are among his strangest, even by his own standards, weaving together hallucination, psychosis, alternate dimensions, and grotesque medical experiments. They also show some of Ito’s most disturbing and imaginative body horror.

Oshikiri might not be as popular as Tomie or Soichi, but his tales are as fantastic as they are bizarre, and it’s a thrill to have them finally available in English. Frankenstein stands out not only for its brilliant adaptation of a literary classic, but for its surreal and unsettling companion stories, making it a must-read for fans of Junji Ito’s work.

3. Lovesickness

Lovesickness centers on the eerie tale of the Intersection Pretty Boy, one of the first Junji Ito works I ever read, and one I still love to this day. While nostalgia might play a part, it remains a fantastic piece of horror, blending copious amounts of gore with a strange urban legend and a descent into insanity.

This Junji Ito collection also includes five additional stories, most notably featuring the twisted Hikizuri Siblings. These two tales are among Ito’s most warped creations, delivering pitch-black comedy and deeply unsettling scenarios. Another standout is The Rib Woman, a bizarre and outlandish concept that contains some of Ito’s most memorable body horror. In fact, The Rib Woman inspired one of my own short stories, Real Art Always Has a Price.

With one of Ito’s longer, more atmospheric works leading the way and several disturbingly inventive shorter pieces, Lovesickness stands as a highly recommended Junji Ito collection, especially for those who enjoy urban legends.

2. Venus in the Blind Spot

Venus in the Blind Spot is a more recent Junji Ito collection, and while a few shorter entries feel forgettable, its best stories rank among Ito’s all-time greats.

Anyone even passingly familiar with Ito has likely heard of The Enigma at Amigara Fault, a modern horror classic about our compulsive urge to uncover the unexplainable. Its surreal imagery and disturbing premise have cemented it as one of his most iconic works. In a similar vein, Army of One (Billions Alone in the VIZ translation) delivers another chilling, inexplicable phenomenon while also serving as a sharp critique of urban alienation and isolation.

The collection also includes The Human Chair, Ito’s superb adaptation of Edogawa Ranpo’s unsettling tale. Grounded in reality yet deeply unnerving, it showcases one of the most outlandish scenarios in fiction. On the more grotesque side, The Licking Woman takes a premise already disgusting and transforms it into something utterly horrifying through Ito’s art, culminating in a warped piece of body horror.

Though uneven in places, Venus in the Blind Spot shines for its masterful highlights, making it an essential Junji Ito collection for fans of both surreal and reality-based horror.

1. Shiver

Shiver is my all-time favorite Junji Ito collection, packed with some of his most unforgettable and disturbing stories.

It opens with Fashion Model, introducing Miss Fuji, one of Ito’s most iconic and unnerving creations. The Long Dream is another standout, a surreal and haunting meditation on the nature of dreams and morality, and easily one of Ito’s most original concepts.

My Dear Ancestors (Honored Ancestors in the VIZ translation) and Glyceride (Greased in the VIZ translation) rank among his most unsettling works. The former delivers a grotesque and bizarre scenario that lingers in the mind, while the latter may be the single most disgusting story he’s ever written. Both are brilliant examples of his mystery over horror. The title story Shiver blends greed, paranoia, and intense trypophobia into an unshakable piece of body horror.

For me, the collection’s best story is Hanging Balloons (Hanging Blimps in the VIZ translation), my favorite Junji Ito story of all time. Its premise is as bizarre as it is terrifying: mysterious floating balloons, each bearing a person’s face, hunt their human doubles to hang them.

Beneath the absurdity lies a chilling allegory for Freud’s death drive, and a sharp critique of Japan’s idol culture, though it’s just as effective when taken purely as apocalyptic nightmare fuel.

Shiver is the definitive Junji Ito collection, showcasing the best of his creativity, horror, and thematic depth. If you read only one, let it be this one.

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There’s a kind of horror that doesn’t rely on monsters lurking in the dark, but on the mind itself, how it can fracture, twist, and collapse under pressure. That’s the heart of psychological horror manga: stories where the terror lies in the human psyche.

While many horror manga focus on supernatural curses, grotesque creatures, or violent spectacle, psychological horror dives inward. These are tales of paranoia, moral decay, and the slow unraveling of identity. Here, fear comes not from what’s chasing you, but from what’s inside you.

Japanese creators have long excelled in this subgenre, blending crime, mystery and surrealism with unsettling explorations of human behaviour. Whether it’s a claustrophobic breakdown in the wake of disaster, a descent into obsession, or a community turning on itself, mind-bending horror manga thrives on tension, ambiguity, and the chilling realization that the mind can be the most dangerous place of all.

This list collects some of the most striking works in the genre, from cult classics to modern masterpieces. Some are grounded in reality; others blur the line between sanity and nightmare. But all of them will leave you unsettled for the same reason: they show how fragile the mind truly is.

If you’re looking for broader scares, check out my complete list of the best horror manga. But if you’re here for paranoia, obsession, and the dark corridors of the human mind, you’re in the right place.

Mild spoiler warning: I’ll avoid major plot reveals, but some details may be mentioned to explain a manga’s inclusion.

Here’s my curated list of the best psychological horror manga (last updated: August 2025).

17. Misumisou

Misumisou is infamous as one of the most brutal psychological horror manga ever published. It’s a work where cruelty and violence feed into each other until there’s nothing left but ruin. While it’s often remembered for its shocking gore, what really lingers is the way it captures the spiral into madness, and how an entire community can fail its children.

The story begins when Haruka Nozaki transfers from Tokyo to a small, decaying rural town. Instead of a fresh start, she finds herself singled out by her new classmates, subjected to escalating acts of bullying that go far beyond childish cruelty. Every humiliation pushes the boundaries further until one horrific incident snaps the last thread of restraint. From that moment, the line between victim and perpetrator blurs, and the manga descends into a relentless cycle of killing.

Oshikiri Rensuke doesn’t shy away from showing how fragile morality becomes under extreme pressure. The adults are as disturbing as the children: apathetic, self-absorbed, or outright unstable.

As the body count rises, some characters fall apart, while others embrace their own capacities for violence.

The art style is polarizing, with grotesque, exaggerated expressions that sometimes border on caricature. Yet this distortion amplifies the atmosphere, making moments of sudden, realistic violence all the more jarring.

There’s no subtlety here, no comforting gray morality. Misumisou is blunt, bleak, and psychologically punishing. It’s about what happens when empathy rots away, when the will to hurt eclipses everything else, and revenge becomes the only option left.

Genres: Horror, School Life, Tragedy, Revenge (Josei)

Status: Finished (Josei)

16. Scary Book 2: Insects

Scary Book Vol. 2: Insects shows Kazuo Umezu in a far more restrained mode than usual, trading his trademark bizarre spectacle for a slow-burn psychological horror manga that’s closer to a suspense thriller. Containing only a single story, Butterfly Grave, it follows Megumi, a young girl who has lived with an overwhelming fear of butterflies ever since her mother’s mysterious death when she was an infant.

When Megumi visits her mother’s grave years later, she sees a black butterfly that no one else can perceive, a silent omen that seems to bring disaster to anyone near her. The tension sharpens when Megumi’s father announces he is remarrying, and she suspects her stepmother may be connected to it all.

What makes this volume stand out in Umezu’s body of work is its focus on atmosphere and mystery over shock value. Instead of the surreal or grotesque turns in The Drifting Classroom or Orochi, the horror here comes from paranoia, family tension, and the fear that no one will believe you until it’s too late. The pacing keeps you guessing, and the final reveal delivers a more than satisfying twist.

The art is classic Umezu. While the paneling is simple and clean, its stiff body language and old-fashioned look might feel dated to modern readers. Yet the style also gives the story a timeless, eerie quality that only older works possess.

Subtle for Umezu but no less effective, Scary Book Vol. 2: Insects proves he can create lasting unease without resorting to the wild extremes he’s famous for.

Genres: Horror, Psychological

Status: Finished (Seinen)

15. Shikabane Kaigo

Shikabane Kaigo is a recent standout in the world of psychological horror manga, blending slow-burn tension with the razor-sharp detail of modern artwork. Even in its early chapters, it has already cemented itself as one of the most unsettling ongoing horror series.

The story follows Akane Kuritani, a young live-in caregiver, who accepts an unusual job deep in the remote mountains. Her patient, Hiwako Miyazono, is a wealthy elderly woman bedridden in a sprawling Western-style mansion. But when Akana meets her, she’s struck by an impossible sight: Hiwako looks like a corpse. Her skin is mottled and lifeless, her fingers are twisted claws, and a rough burlap sack hides her face.

From her first day on the job, everything feels profoundly wrong. The mansion is enormous yet suffocatingly empty, the house rules are arbitrary, and the other staff seems to keep secrets. Every interaction feels loaded with unspoken knowledge, as if Akane is the only one unaware of a dangerous truth.

The horror here isn’t loud or frantic. It’s patient, creeping in through the atmosphere. Every page carries a subtle weight, building the read until you feel as trapped in the mansion as Akane does. The art plays a huge role in this effect, particularly the grotesque rendering of Hiwako’s body, which is so disturbingly lifelike it borders on unbearable to look at.

With only ten chapters currently available, Shikabane Kaigo is still in its early stages, but it’s already a masterclass in quiet, suffocating terror. It’s a must-read for anyone who enjoys psychological horror.

Genres: Horror, Mystery, Psychological

Status: Ongoing (Seinen)

14. Nare no Hate no Bokura

Nare no Hate no Bokura begins innocently enough with Nezu attending his long-awaited elementary school reunion. The cheerful atmosphere quickly collapses when his former classmate Mikio reveals the event is far more than a nostalgic get-together. It’s a carefully staged game of survival. What follows is a tense, escalating series of experiments and manipulations that pushes every attendee to their breaking point.

At its core, this is a psychological horror manga about human behaviour under crushing pressure. The story thrives on showing how ordinary people fracture when they are cornered, paranoia spreads, morality warps, and friends turn into threats. Watching the characters unravel is both disturbing and fascinating.

The pacing is fast and addictive, with cliffhangers and twists making it easy to binge. The school setting, a place of childhood nostalgia, turns into a claustrophobic prison where betrayal seems to hide everywhere. The plot is packed with reveals, most of which land well, though a few feel overly engineered. Likewise, certain characters’ descent into madness over the course of a single night can feel abrupt compared to the slower, more believable breakdowns in other works.

Despite its flaws, Nare no Hate no Bokura delivers a gripping, high-stakes experience. It may not dig as deep thematically as some other entries on this list, but it more than makes up for it with its sheer entertainment value. If you’re looking for a tense, binge-worthy read, this one will keep you hooked until the end.

Genres: Psychological, Mystery, Drama, School Life, Tragedy

Status: Finished (Shonen)

13. Shiki

Shiki begins quietly, almost deceptively so, in a remote mountain village where life moves slowly. Based on Fuyumi Ono’s novel, this is far more than just a vampire story. It’s a grim study of fear, denial, and the choices people make for survival.

The first half is deliberate to the point of frustration. The art, highly stylized and often eccentric, clashes with the grim premise. The opening chapters set up an almost predictable mystery: a strange family moves into a Western-style mansion, and soon afterward residents start dying of unexplained anemia. Yet beneath the familiar setup, tension simmers. We see not just one perspective, but dozens. Villagers cling to routine, families watch loved ones waste away, and suspicion spreads through the village.

At the heart of the narrative is Ozaki, the village doctor. Practical, skeptical, and methodical, he tries to rationalize every death. But as the body count rises, even he can’t ignore the truth: something supernatural is at work. When the reality of vampires becomes undeniable, the story shifts from slow-burn mystery to a harrowing moral freefall.

This is where Shiki transforms into a true psychological horror manga. The second half is unflinching. We watch as the villagers’ morality erodes, witness ordinary people justify cruelty when they no longer see the victims as human. It’s a portrait of how easily compassion can be abandoned when fear and anger take over.

Shiki is uneven and demands patience. But for those willing to endure its slow build-up, it delivers one of the most thought-provoking and devastating horror experiences in manga.

Genres: Horror, Mystery, Drama, Tragedy, Vampire

Status: Finished (Shonen)

12. Hideout

Hideout is one of the bleakest psychological horror manga ever made. It’s a compact, vicious descent into grief, guilt, and madness. Written and illustrated by Masasumi Kakizaki, this nine-chapter tale blends survival horror with a deeply unraveling, told through breathtakingly dark artwork.

The story follows Seiichi Kirishima, a failed writer who travels to a remote island with his wife under the guise of repairing their relationship after losing their son. Beneath the surface, however, his true purpose is far more sinister: he plans to kill her. When the attempt fails and she flees into the island’s dense jungle, the pursuit leads them into a hidden cave. But the darkness holds more than just them.

Through a mix of present-day terror and grim flashbacks, we witness Seiichi’s complete mental breakdown. His grief and resentment fester until every trace of compassion is stripped away. The flashbacks in particular show the full extent of his fall from humanity, making the present even more chilling.

Kakizaki’s art is nothing short of stunning. It’s full of heavy shadows, oppressive blacks, and intricate details, which create a suffocating atmosphere that matches the story’s unrelenting despair.

Short but unforgettable, Hideout delivers pure psychological horror. It’s a lean, merciless story that lingers long after you’ve finished, and a perfect pick for readers who want their horror dark, brutal, and entirely without redemption.

Genres: Horror, Psychological

Status: Finished (Seinen)

11. Goth

Goth is a short but striking psychological horror manga that has a special place in my heart. It was one of the first true horror manga I ever read, and even now, I consider it among the best. Based on the novel by Otsuichi and illustrated by Kenji Ooiwa, it’s a deeply unsettling exploration of obsession, death, and the minds drawn to both.

The story follows two high school students, Itsuki Kamiyama and Yoru Morino, who share a morbid fascination with death and murder. They aren’t innocent victims or noble investigators. Instead, they are just as twisted and detached as the killers they encounter. Kamiyama might solve a murder he stumbles upon, but not out of any sense of justice. His true interest lies in understanding the killer’s methods and mindset.

Told as a series of loosely connected murder cases, Goth shifts from one gruesome crime to the next. Each chapter presents a new killer and a fresh psychological puzzle, building a disturbing mosaic of human depravity. The manga’s art, while not exceptional in style, excels at depicting graphic violence and grotesque imagery, giving each crime scene a raw, unsettling impact.

The characters’ psychology is the real horror here. Kamiyama’s cold, intelligent curiosity and Morino’s quiet, almost passive acceptance of darkness create a chilling dynamic. Their obsession with death feels dangerous, unnatural, and far removed from conventional morality, making Goth disturbing in a way that lingers.

While the short length leaves some character depth unexplored, the impact is undeniable. Goth is a compact, morbid gem, and a psychological horror manga that peers deeply into the minds of the broken.

Genres: Horror, Psychological, Mystery

Status: Finished (Shonen)

10. Dragon Head

Dragon Head is a rare apocalyptic survival story, one that doesn’t center on monsters or supernatural threats, but the terrifying fragility of the human mind. Written by Minetarō Mochizuki, it begins inside the wreckage after a train disaster. Only three high school students survive: Teru, Ako and Nobuo. With no light, limited supplies, and no way out, the darkness begins to eat away at them.

The first chapters are pure claustrophobic dread, but once they finally emerge from the tunnel, the scope of the nightmare expands. Outside is an unrecognizable, devastated world. Cities lie in ruins, the air feels poisoned, and the few people they encounter are unpredictable, unstable, and desperate. In this bleak setting, survival means more than finding food and shelter; it means holding onto your sanity.

That’s where Dragon Head excels as a psychological horror manga. It’s not about the catastrophe itself so much as about how people crumble in the face of it. Nobuo’s descent into paranoia and madness is one of the most chilling moments in any horror manga, and it’s far from the only time where Mochizuki shows humanity at its breaking point.

The artwork perfectly matches the tone: gritty, heavy with shadows, and packed with detail. The ruined landscapes feel suffocatingly real. The story’s refusal to hand the reader any clear explanation for the disaster only makes it more unsettling.

The pacing might falter toward the end, and not every thread is neatly tied up, but in a story about the end of the world, ambiguity feels almost necessary. Dragon Head lingers in your mind because, as both an apocalyptic survival manga and a work of psychological horror, it’s less about what happened and more about how quickly we lose ourselves when everything collapses.

Genres: Horror, Adventure, Tragedy, Psychological, Post-Apocalyptic

Status: Finished (Seinen)

9. 6000

6000 plunges readers into a suffocating nightmare at the bottom of the ocean. This deep-sea horror manga blends cosmic dread with unrelenting psychological tension, following a crew sent to investigate a submerged research facility after a string of mysterious accidents. What begins as a simple recovery mission quickly spirals into a hallucinatory descent, where shadows twist into shapes that shouldn’t exist and the line between reality and madness dissolves.

The first thing that strikes you is the atmosphere. The artwork is heavy with inky blacks, rough textures, and an oppressive visual weight that makes every panel feel dangerous. Even the hallways and machinery seem hostile, warped into something unnatural. When the real horror surfaces, from bloated corpses to occult rituals, the payoff is chilling.

What sets 6000 apart from other psychological horror manga is how it weaponizes disorientation. The sprawling station layout becomes impossible to map, scenes flow into each other without warning, and shifts in perspective leave both characters and readers doubting their senses. The crew’s slow mental collapse is as terrifying as the monstrous presence lurking in the abyss.

While the story can be confusing and the characters underdeveloped, those flaws contribute to its surreal, drowning sensation. 6000 is not a straightforward survival tale. It’s a plunge into the unknown, where the fear of being crushed under miles of water is matched only by the fear of losing your mind. Fans of deep-sea terror and Lovecraftian horror will find a hidden gem.

Genres: Horror, Psychological, Survival, Cosmic Horror

Status: Finished (Seinen)

8. My Dearest Self With Malice Aforethought

My Dearest Self With Malice Aforethought may not be a traditional horror story, but its premise and execution easily place it among the most unsettling psychological horror manga in recent memory. The series follows Eiji Urashima, an ordinary college student whose life takes a bizarre turn when he wakes up beside a beautiful woman he’s never seen before, claiming to be his girlfriend. Even stranger, several days have passed without his knowledge.

What begins as a mild case of amnesia soon spirals into an ever-shifting nightmare. The early chapters are relentless in their delivery. Massive revelations arrive every few chapters, constantly upending anything you thought you knew. This breakneck pacing makes the first half almost impossible to put down, though for some readers the sheer number of twists might feel overwhelming or contrived.

While the story’s internal logic generally holds together, its later developments push into the realm of outrageous. The second half reins in the chaos, slowing down as it works toward a resolution. It’s still engaging, but it can’t quite match the electrifying unpredictability of the earlier chapters.

Even with its flaws, this is an addictive, paranoia-fueled ride that thrives on manipulating your expectations. There’s no need for excessive gore or shock value. Instead, the horror lies in the uncertainty of identity, the fragility of memory, and the creeping suspicion that you can’t even trust yourself.

Genres: Psychological, Thriller, Mystery, Drama

Status: Finished (Seinen)

7. MPD Psycho

MPD Psycho is easily one of the most disturbing and visceral works I’ve ever read, and not for the faint of heart. I first encountered it years ago when it had just begun serializing, and only a few chapters were available, but those burned themselves into my memory. Coming back to it years later and reading it in full, I can say that this is one of the greatest psychological horror manga out there.

The series follows Kazuhiko Amamiya, a detective with multiple personality disorder. At first, it reads like a gritty, episodic crime story about solving grotesque and unnerving murder cases. But it doesn’t take long for the tone to shift. The seemingly straightforward detective noir story transforms into an elaborate, interconnected conspiracy, combining mystery, thriller, and psychological horror in equal measure.

Shou Tajima’s art is breathtaking in its precision. It’s clean, highly detailed, and disturbingly exact. Crime scenes are rendered with almost clinical care, featuring distorted corpses, dismembered bodies, and horrifying acts of torture. The gore is shocking, but there’s also a strange, hypnotic quality to how it’s presented.

What elevates MPD Psycho beyond mere shock value is its thematic weight. It explores identity, morality, and the fragility of memory through the fractured mind of its protagonist. The fractured perspective is both the manga’s strength and its most challenging element. Keeping track of shifting personalities and the increasingly complex plot can be daunting.

Relentlessly bleak, narratively dense, and filled with disturbing imagery, MPD Psycho pushes boundaries in both storytelling and visual intensity. For anyone seeking a psychological horror manga that’s as brutal as it is brilliant, this one is unforgettable.

Genres: Horror, Mystery, Psychological, Crime, Thriller

Status: Finished (Seinen)

6. Nijigahara Holograph

On its surface, Nijigahara Holograph is a dark, experimental and cryptic work, but underneath lies a labyrinth of deeply psychological themes. Inio Asano crafts a narrative where trauma, guilt, and generational pain loop endlessly, creating a story that feels more like an unsettling dream than a conventional manga.

The plot resists straightforward summarization. At its center are a boy named Suzuki, a girl named Arie who was thrown into a well by her classmates, and strange butterflies appearing across town. Yet these details are only fragments in a sprawling mosaic. Timelines shift without warning, events repeat, and characters are shown at different stages of their lives. This fractured structure turns reading into a puzzle that’s sometimes maddening, but always haunting.

Violence, abuse, suicide, and murder are depicted with an unsettling emotional detachment, making the horror feel cold and inescapable. It’s not a work that shocks with gore, but one that seeps under your skin. In that sense, it’s a psychological horror manga at its most abstract. It’s not about monsters, but about the quiet, corrosive damage people inflict on each other.

The recurring butterfly motif recalls Zhuangzi’s butterfly dream, reinforcing the story’s fluid sense of reality and its philosophical themes. Each reread reveals new connections and minor details that reshape how earlier scenes are understood.

Nijigahara Holograph is not an easy read. It demands patience, rereading, and a willingness to embrace ambiguity. For those willing to navigate its shifting timelines and cryptic symbolism, however, it offers one of the most disturbing and thought-provoking experiences in manga.

Genres: Drama, Mystery, Psychological, Tragedy

Status: Finished (Seinen)

5. A Suffocatingly Lonely Death

A Suffocating Lonely Death is a chilling blend of psychological horror manga and slow-burn thriller, making it one of the most compelling ongoing titles today. Created by Inoryuu Hajime and Itou Shouta, the duo behind My Dearest Self With Malice Aforethought, it delivers the same unsettling tone, but is more grounded in realism, and meticulous attention to character and psychology.

The story begins with a grotesque case of child mass murder, drawing detective Jin Saeki into a grim investigation. All evidence seems to point toward Juuzou Haikawa, an elusive, possibly unhinged man. As Saeki digs deeper, the narrative unravels into a web of buried trauma, shifting suspicions, and ominous connections that hint at a far darker truth.

While its horror is rooted in realism rather than the supernatural, A Suffocating Lonely Death is still deeply disturbing. The first chapter alone offers unsettling imagery and an atmosphere heavy with dread.

Compared with the creators’ earlier work, this series feels more methodical and restrained. The pacing allows tension to simmer, giving each new reveal more weight while preserving a noir-like sense of mystery. It’s a story where psychological tension matters as much as the crimes themselves, and every answer seems to lead to more questions.

If you’re looking for a mature, intelligently crafted psychological horror manga with crime noir sensibilities, A Suffocating Lonely Death is a must-read.

Genres: Mystery, Psychological, Horror

Status: Ongoing (Seinen)

4. Blood on the Tracks

Blood on the Tracks is one of the most unsettling psychological horror manga of the past decade, showcasing Shūzō Oshimi at the peak of his craft. The story follows Seiichi Osabe, a quiet middle schooler with a loving family and an overprotective mother whose smothering affection soon reveals itself as something far more disturbing.

A single horrific event shatters the illusion of normalcy, sending Seiichi into a slow, suffocating descent under his mother’s control. Oshimi masterfully draws out the tension with oppressive silence, lingering close-ups, and loaded glances that say more than words ever could. Entire chapters hinge on a smile that feels wrong or a single sentence, building dread with a precision few creators can match.

The pacing is deliberate, at times almost unbearably so, allowing the psychological manipulation to fully take hold. While this slow burn works brilliantly in the early and middle arcs, later chapters lose some of that intensity, with an ending that feels abrupt yet thematically fitting.

Visually, the series is stunning in its restraint. Oshimi’s ability to capture fear, hesitation, and anguish through subtle facial expressions and sparse paneling elevates the horror beyond gore or shock value. Watching a young boy’s identity gradually erased by a suffocating parental presence is as horrifying as any supernatural threat.

For readers seeking a slow, quiet, and deeply disturbing psychological horror manga, Blood on the Tracks is highly recommended.

Genres: Horror, Psychological, Tragedy, Philosophical, Slice of Life

Status: Finished (Seinen)

3. Homunculus

Homunculus stands as one of the most disturbing and unforgettable psychological horror manga ever created. Written by Hideo Yamamoto, it’s a surreal, cerebral masterpiece that plunges you into trauma, perception, and the fragility of identity.

The story centers on a homeless man living in his car named Susumu Nakoshi. He agrees to a medical student’s request to undergo trepanation, a procedure involving the drilling of a hole into the skull. Because of this, he develops the ability to see warped manifestations of people’s inner trauma through his left eye, called homunculi.

What begins as a strange scientific experiment soon unravels into a suffocating descent into madness. The manga blends body horror and surreal metaphor as it explores vanity, identity, and the nature of the human mind. The horror is as much psychological as it is visual, built from Nakoshi’s erratic behaviour, the disturbing truths he learns, and the increasingly warped reality he inhabits.

Yamamoto’s art is grounded yet nightmarish. The homunculi come in a variety of forms that are as shocking as they are abstract: unnatural fusions, distorted bodies, or sheer abstract metaphor. These visuals intensify the manga’s surreal atmosphere.

As the series progresses, the narrative drifts deeper into ambiguity and surreal character study, culminating in a divisive ending that’s open for interpretation. While not without controversy, the story’s bold vision and psychological depth have made Homunculus a lasting classic.

For readers drawn to psychological horror manga that trade supernatural monsters for the darkness within the human mind, Homunculus is a must-read.

Genres: Horror, Psychological, Philosophical, Drama

Status: Finished (Seinen)

2. Monster

Naoki Urasawa’s Monster is a masterclass in slow-burn psychological horror and suspense. Set in post-Cold War Germany, it follows Dr. Kenzou Tenma, a brilliant neurosurgeon whose decision to save the life of a young boy named Johan Liebert changes the course of his life forever.

Years later, Johan resurfaces as one of the most chilling antagonists in manga history, a manipulative psychopath capable of orchestrating unimaginable atrocities with nothing more than words. Tenma’s journey to stop him is a tense, methodical chase that spans cities and countries.

What makes Monster stand out among psychological horror manga is the way Urasawa uses atmosphere, pacing, and intricate character writing to build tension. Johan is not a loud or flamboyant villain. His evil lies in quiet, calculated control.

The series thrives on moral dilemmas, shifting alliances, and the constant question of how far people will go when pushed to their limits. The supporting cast is filled with flawed, deeply human characters, many of whom receive full, self-contained arcs that enrich the larger story.

Urasawa’s artwork complements the tone perfectly, with realistic character design, grounded settings, and a cinematic sense of panel composition. While the story occasionally relies on unlikely coincidences, the sheer emotional weight, layered plotting, and thematic depth make these moments easy to overlook.

Monster isn’t just about catching a killer; it’s about the nature of evil, the fragility of morality, and the psychological unraveling of everyone caught in Johan’s web. If you’re looking for a deeply engaging, intelligently written, and hauntingly human psychological horror manga, this is one of the finest ever created.

Genres: Psychological, Mystery, Drama

Status: Finished (Seinen)

1. Freesia

Freesia is one of the most unsettling works in the medium. It’s pure psychological madness from start to finish. Written and illustrated by Jiro Matsumoto, it takes place in a near-future Japan where vengeance has been legalized. Meaning, families of murder victims are granted the right to execute the killer themselves, or to hire a proxy to do it for them. It’s a premise that feels dystopian on the surface, but in execution becomes something far more disturbing.

At the center is Kano, a proxy killer who also happens to be profoundly unstable, suffering from schizophrenia, violent hallucinations, and severe memory lapses. The story locks us inside his fractured perception of reality, where truth and delusion bleed together until neither the reader nor the protagonist can tell them apart. Yet this is not simply one man’s descent into madness; nearly every major character is equally broken, consumed by trauma, paranoia and emotional rot.

Freesia’s most horrifying element isn’t the violence itself, though it’s unflinching in its depiction of brutal killings, but the emptiness behind it. Matsumoto focuses on confronting one central theme: if vengeance is legal, does that make it just? Who truly deserves to die? And what happens to a society where murder becomes a sanctioned transaction?

Matsumoto’s scratchy, chaotic artwork mirrors the mental instability of the characters, while the fragmented dialogue and disorienting action sequences create a sense of suffocation. The world of Freesia feels toxic and feverish, a place where the line between sanity and insanity no longer exists.

Though often labeled as a psychological drama rather than outright horror, Freesia earns its place among the best psychological horror manga for its raw brutality, moral decay, and unflinching portrayal of human mental collapse. It’s uncomfortable, uncompromising, and unforgettable.

 Genres: Psychological, Crime, Drama

Status: Finished (Seinen)

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More in Horror Manga

There’s a special dread that doesn’t come from ghosts or curses, but from the body itself and how it can be warped, twisted, and mutilated int something it never was meant to be. That’s the core of body horror manga: stories where the terror lives in the flesh.

While horror manga usually center on monsters, serial killers, or psychological torment, body horror manga explore a more visceral nightmare. These are tales of parasitism, medical experiments, and grotesque transformations. The body becomes alien. Identity collapses. And once the change begins, there’s no going back.

Japanese media has always excelled in this subgenre. Whether it’s a parasite living in your hand, a town spiraling into deformity, or a girl who can never truly die, body horror manga pushes the human form to its limits, and then beyond.

This list features the most unforgettable examples of the genre, from cult classics to surreal, artistic explorations of physical horror. Some are explosive and action-packed; others are quiet and haunting. But all of them will make you squirm for the same reason: they turn the body into a site of pure terror.

If you’re looking for general horror, check out my complete list of the best horror manga. But if you’re here for flesh, bone, and mutation, you’re in the right place.

Mild spoiler warning: I’ll avoid major plot reveals, but a few story details may be mentioned to explain why each manga earns its place.

Here’s my curated list of the best body horror manga (last update: August 2025).

18. Mushihime

Mushihime kicks off with an eerie premise, seductive horror, and some of the most unsettling body horror in manga. The story revolves around Kikuko, an ethereal new transfer student whose presence unnerves everyone she meets. But it’s not just her beauty; they are drawn to something deeper, something insectile, something wrong.

The art is easily the manga’s strongest point. Sketchy, expressive, and richly textured, it captures both beauty and decay. Kikuko’s parasitic allure is made horrifying through the visuals alone, and the earlier chapters build a tense, crawling sense of dread.

Unfortunately, the narrative unravels in the second half. What begins as a tightly focused psychological horror piece spirals into a melodrama and overreaching ambition. Twists come too fast, emotional beats fall flat, and world-ending threats are introduced with dramatic weight, only to be forgotten, never affecting the plot in any meaningful way. Worst of all is a bizarre, final twist that retroactively damages any emotional resonance the story had built.

Still, for fans of body horror manga, Mushihime remains worth reading. Its transformation scenes and creature horror are striking, and the atmosphere in the first half is genuinely chilling. It’s a flawed work: beautiful, unsettling, and frustrating in equal measure.

Genres: Horror, Drama, Psychological, Mystery, Romance

Status: Finished (Seinen)

17. Abara

If Blame! was cryptic, Abara is pure chaos. Tsutomu Nihei, known for his colossal structures, stark sci-fi dystopias, and minimal storytelling, delivers one of his most viscerally striking works here. The story follows a man named Denji, a Gauna who can shape bone into armor and weapon by transforming himself. These transformations are the heart of the manga’s body horror, rendered with dense, textured linework that turns every panel into a bio-mechanical nightmare.

There’s very little exposition in Abara. Nihei doesn’t hold your hand. Dialogue is minimal, characters are rarely named, and the plot must be pieced together from fragmented context and visual cues. While this might frustrate some readers, others consider it part of the manga’s allure. It’s an alienating, immersive plunge into a world where comprehension takes a backseat to atmosphere.

The art is the clear highlight of the series. Gauna transformations erupt from the spine and skull, forming into grotesque bone armor that tears through buildings and flesh alike. The environment is filled with towering, bleak megastructures that heighten the oppressive tone. This is grimdark body horror sci-fi at its purest.

Abara is undeniably flawed in pacing and clarity, but it’s also one of Nihei’s most intense aesthetic experiences. It’s a visual overdose of decaying cities, monstrous evolutions, and abstract violence. If you value visual storytelling and grotesque beauty over narrative cohesion, this is a must-read. For everyone else, it may feel like staring at something brilliant and terrifying without fully understanding what you see, but that might just be the point.

Genres: Action, Horror, Sci-Fi

Status: Finished (Seinen)

16. Made in Abyss

At first glance, Made in Abyss may seem out of place on a body horror manga list. Its characters are children, the art is whimsical, and the early chapters lean into fantasy adventure. Don’t be fooled. Akihito Tsukushi’s hauntingly beautiful series conceals a darkness that grows deeper with every layer of the Abyss.

The story follows Riko, a young girl determined to descend into the Abyss in search of her mother, a legendary cave raider. Alongside her robotic companion Reg, she enters a chasm filled with stunning alien landscapes, bizarre creatures, and ruins of unknown origin. The deeper they go, however, the more they are exposed to the Curse of the Abyss, a terrifying force that warps, mutilates, or outright destroys those who try to ascend again.

This is where Made in Abyss firmly earns its place as a body horror manga. The physical toll of the Abyss is brutal and vividly illustrated: gushing blood, swelling flesh, or irreversible mutations.

Later arcs escalate this further, with entire communities of once-humans twisted into nightmarish forms, and characters subjected to grotesque experimentation under the cruelty of Bondrewd. Tsukushi doesn’t flinch from depicting suffering, especially when it collides with innocence.

What makes the horror so effective is the contrast: soft, almost storybook-like visuals juxtaposed with extreme brutality. The art is stunning: lush, detailed, and imaginative. Yet it’s also used to depict truly horrifying things.

Despite some discomfort with the youthful cast, this is one of the most unique and visually captivating manga ever made. It’s a slow descent into a beautiful hell that’s equal parts wonder and horror. A must-read for fans of worldbuilding and twisted body horror.

Genres: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, Horror

Status: Ongoing (Seinen)

15. 6000

6000 is a claustrophobic nightmare of a manga, and one of the most underrated works of deep-sea horror. It’s set aboard an abandoned undersea research facility 6000 meters beneath the ocean surface. A new crew is sent down to investigate a string of tragic accidents. The deeper they go, however, the more reality unravels. Hallucinations twist the mind, shadows loom, and something else is waiting for them.

The atmosphere is oppressive from the first chapter onward. The art is dark, scratchy, and soaked in inky black, making every hallway feel suffocating and wrong. The horror here is utterly terrifying: bloated corpses, grotesque ritual sites involving human remains, and something ancient and inhumane lurking in the darkness.

As a body horror manga, 6000 thrives on disturbing visual detail. From the reanimated bodies to ritualized human remains and rotting flesh, it paints a terrifying portrait of human decay and unnatural transformation. It’s not just the visuals, either; even the mind isn’t safe down here.

It’s a challenging read at times. Much of the storytelling is visual and intentionally disorienting. The characters are thin, and the plot becomes increasingly convoluted. But that’s what makes it effective. The entire manga feels like a descent into madness, mirroring the psychological breakdown of the characters.

If you’re a fan of cosmic horror, claustrophobic settings, or body horror manga, 6000 is absolutely worth diving into.

Genres: Horror, Psychological, Survival, Cosmic Horror

Status: Finished (Seinen)

14. Biomega

Biomega is a high-speed, bio-mechanical fusion of cyberpunk madness, zombie apocalypse, and grotesque transformations. It begins like a high-octane action thriller: a lone rider, Zouichi Kanoe, tears through a dystopian cityscape on a talking motorcycle, searching for a human immune to the N5S virus, a pathogen that turns people into zombie-like drones.

Yet this is a manga by Tsutomu Nihei, so things don’t stay straightforward for long. The story spirals into surrealism and cosmic scale, blending high-tech dystopia with shifting timelines, massive structures, and bodies constantly in flux. The first half is cyberpunk zombie carnage. The second is full-blown biological horror set in a world full of biomechanical monstrosities.

As a body horror manga, Biomega delivers in full. Victims of the virus mutate into twisted corpses; enemies transform into grotesque fusions of flesh and steel. These transformations are as mesmerizing as they are horrific.

Nihei’s art is pure spectacle. His massive environments and monstrous designs feel alien and oppressive. Dialogue is minimal, but the visual storytelling is rich, layered, and immersive.

Biomega has flaws. The plot moves at breakneck speed; the characters are underdeveloped, and the second half takes a sharp tonal switch. Still, its ideas are massive, and its body horror imagery is unforgettable.

If you’re looking for atmospheric sci-fi that leans hard into body horror manga territory, Biomega is a unique and terrifying ride.

Genres: Horror, Sci-Fi, Cyberpunk, Zombie

Status: Finished (Seinen)

13. Jagaaan

Jagaaaaaan is body horror turned up to eleven. It’s an over-the-top, grotesquely stylish explosion of violence, mutation, and psychosexual madness. It’s one of the most visually intense manga in recent years, blending insane creature design with sharp black comedy and unhinged commentary on human desire.

The story centers on Shintarou Jagasaki, a disenchanted cop secretly fantasizing about shooting annoying people. One day, people begin transforming into monsters known as fractured humans, twisted by their repressed desires. When one attacks, Jagasaki discovers he can fire projectiles from his arm, kicking off a brutal journey of destruction, power, and increasingly horrifying battles.

As a body horror manga, Jagaaaaaan is relentless. Each fractured human is a disturbing manifestation of inner vices. Their designs are stomach-churning yet fascinating, amplified by Kensuke Nishida’s incredibly hyper-detailed art.

What sets this manga apart is its sheer excess. Gore, mutations, and transformations are constant. Heads pop, bodies rupture, and flesh turns into weapons. There’s a recurring edge of psychosexual discomfort that pushes it further into disturbing territory. It’s bold, loud, and gleefully grotesque.

The plot is chaotic; the tone swings wildly, and the cast is packed with utterly unhinged characters. But if you want a body horror manga with pure stylistic audacity and nonstop grotesque invention, Jagaaaaaan delivers in spades.

Genres: Action, Horror, Supernatural, Comedy

Status: Finished (Seinen)

12. Starving Anonymous

Starving Anonymous plunges readers into a grotesque industrial nightmare where humans are no longer individuals, but raw material. Created by Yuu Kuraishi and Kazu Inabe, this manga delivers some of the most harrowing body horror of the past decade. The true terror lies not just in the gore, but in the cold, mechanical efficiency with which suffering is systematized.

One day, the lives of high school boys Ie and Kazu change forever. They awake next to stacks of frozen corpses. Abducted and brought to a secret facility, they bear witness to something utterly terrifying. The captives are force-fed, bred, and processed like livestock. From that moment on, the manga becomes a brutal descent into institutionalized horror.

It’s soon revealed that at the center of it all are strange insectoid monsters that feed on humans. Their appearance marks an explosion of visceral terror: people are skinned alive, devoured in seconds, or torn to shreds. But the horror doesn’t lie in the gore; it’s how ordinary it becomes. This is a world where exploitation is streamlined, efficient, and accepted.

As a body horror manga, Starving Anonymous excels in depicting physical violation on an overwhelming scale. People are nothing; they are just sacks of meat, ready for harvest.

The art is clean, detailed, and unrelenting. Flesh tears, bones twist, and internal organs rupture with almost surgical clarity. Even as the plot shifts toward rebellion and higher concepts, the atmosphere of systematic exploitation never fades.

For readers who can endure relentless imagery and mass-scale body horror, Starving Anonymous is unforgettable. It’s an unflinching look at what happens when humanity is reduced to nothing but a product.

Genres: Horror, Alien, Survival, Gore

Status: Finished (Seinen)

11. Wakusei Closet

At first glance, Wakusei Closet feels like a dream: soft colors, whimsical character design, and surreal landscapes that shimmer with strange beauty. Yet beneath it all lies something darker, something festering.

Every time Aimi falls asleep, she wakes up in a different world. An alien planet. A place that obeys no logic. She’s not alone. Another girl, Flare, is also trapped there. Together, they explore the world’s broken rules, attempting to survive creatures that seem both mythical and deeply wrong.

When one of Aimi’s classmates is swallowed by a serpentine creature, he’s not only transported to the same alien world, but transformed into a warped, grotesque form. It’s here the manga drops its mask completely. This isn’t just dream-horror. It’s a body horror manga that cuts deep.

The impact comes from contrast. Cuteness and innocence collide with rotting limbs, tentacled aberrations, and parasitic distortions that twist the human form into pure nightmare. The art stays soft, which only makes the horror more jarring. It feels like a magical girl story that’s been twisted and reassembled. The moe aesthetics weaponized to heighten the dread.

And then there’s the manga’s final twist. You think it’s all over, all the cards are on the table, and you finally understand the plot, only to realize that nothing is what it seems. It’s one of the craziest, most well-constructed twists in all of manga.

Wakusei Closet is unlike anything else in horror manga. It’s quiet and strange, but its body horror sequences are brutal, surreal, and deeply affecting. It doesn’t just want to scare you; it wants to haunt you. It’s a masterclass in dream-like horror.

Genres: Horror, Fantasy, Supernatural, Shojo Ai

Status: Finished (Seinen)

10. Fire Punch

There are few manga as agonizing, unpredictable, and philosophically unhinged as Fire Punch. What begins as a tale of revenge through endless pain transforms into a genre-bending descent into madness. Part body horror, part black comedy, part existential crisis, this is suffering as spectacle.

The premise is simple in concept, but devastating in execution. Agni is a ‘Blessed’ orphan with powerful regeneration. When a man named Doma sets his village ablaze with an unquenchable flame, Agni survives, but the fire never goes out. His body burns forever, regenerating as fast as it’s destroyed. What follows are years of agony until he learns to move while constantly on fire. Still aflame, he sets off across a frozen wasteland in search of vergence.

His body becomes a symbol of unending torment. This is body horror not just in aesthetics, but in philosophy. He’s a man trapped in a self-consuming loop of pain, revenge, and identity collapse.

And then the manga changes.

Midway through, the story is hijacked by Togata, a chaotic, film-obsessed lunatic who decides Agni is the perfect movie protagonist. The narrative veers into absurdist parody, meta-commentary, and surreal detours that mock shonen tropes, cinematic heroism, and even the story itself. Yet beneath the laughter, the bleakness only deepens.

Fire Punch isn’t just a violent manga. It’s a moral void filled with cannibalism, sexual trauma, cult worship, mass death, and philosophical breakdowns. Fujimoto’s storytelling swings between sincerity and irony so heart it’s disorienting. Yet somehow it still works.

Part absurdist parody, part deep meditation on the meaning of suffering, Fire Punch stands apart. It’s disturbing, brilliant, unhinged, and one of the most unforgettable body horror manga of the modern era.

Genres: Horror, Gore, Post-Apocalyptic

Status: Finished (Shonen)

9. BIBLOMANIA

Few manga capture the raw elegance of decay like BIBLOMANIA. Gorgeously grotesque and rich with symbolic horror, it’s a short, hallucinatory dive into madness, equal parts fairytale and fever dream. What begins as a dark fantasy quickly mutates into a quiet, surreal apocalypse of the body.

Alice wakes up in Room 413 of a crumbling mansion. A serpent tells her that if she leaves the room, her body will rot. Of course, she leaves. What follows is a slow, dreamlike unraveling. Each of the mansion’s rooms seems more bizarre than the last, each one warping her form further. Her humanity dissolves, tendrils bloom, limbs deform, and flesh twists into strange new patterns.

Written by Oobaru and illustrated by Macchiro, BIBLIOMANIA is a visual showcase above all else. Macchiro’s art is dense, detailed, and disturbingly elegant, transforming even the most grotesque mutations into something mesmerizing. This isn’t horror that startles; it linters.

There’s something deeply unnerving about how quiet it all is. Alice’s wide-eyed, childlike design contrasts painfully with the rotting world around her. There are no screams, no desperate fights, just a steady descent into biological realism. It’s more atmosphere than action, more visual nightmare than plot.

While the story loosely echoes Alice in Wonderland, this isn’t just a twisted retelling. BIBLOMANIA feels metaphysical, less about wonder, more about decay, entropy and self-erasure. In its final chapters, the manga reveals more about the backstory of its world, but it’s as mind-bending as Alice’s journey, or even more so.

As a body horror manga, it achieves more in 100 pages than most do in their entire runs. For fans of symbolic horror, grotesque beauty, or the aesthetic of slow disintegration, BIBLOMANIA is a must-read.

Genres: Horror, Fantasy, Drama, Psychological

Status: Finished (Seinen)

8. MPD Psycho

Grotesque, dense, and unsettlingly cerebral, MPD Psycho isn’t your typical gore-soaked crime manga. Created by Eiji Otsuka and drawn with surgical precision by Shou Tajima, it explores horror not through chaos or rage, but through the dissection of bodies, minds and reality itself.

The series centers on Kazuhiko Amamiya, a detective with dissociative identity disorder. At first, it plays like a grim procedural: mutilated bodies, serial killers, grotesque crime scenes. As the narrative progresses, it soon shatters into something much stranger. Identity fractures. Memories blur. Conspiracies worm their way in. What begins as a murder investigation becomes a psychological study.

MPD Psycho is a body horror manga stripped of emotions. Victims aren’t killed in anger; they’re taken apart like puzzles. Heads become flowerpots, torsos are turned into abstract art, and limbs are removed with dispassionate precision. It’s horror by way of logic: cold, curated, and deeply wrong.

Tajima’s art makes it worse in the best way possible. His sterile linework, clinical paneling, and lack of exaggeration make every scene feel real. There’s no theatrical gore here. The wounds are quiet, detailed, and disturbingly plausible.

Beneath the physical horror lies an even deeper one: the disintegration of self. Amamiya’s shifting personality reflects the manga’s unstable reality. What does it mean to be a person when memory, identity, and agency can all be manipulated? As the plot spirals further into psychological madness, even the reader is forced to question what’s real.

MPD Psycho is a slow dive into hell, but one of flesh, control and fractured consciousness. It’s not for casual readers, but for those drawn to horror that thinks while it mutilates, it’s one of the most uniquely disturbing body horror manga ever created.

Genres: Horror, Mystery, Psychological, Crime, Thriller

Status: Finished (Seinen)

7. Tomie

Among Junji Ito’s many grotesque creations, Tomie might be his most disturbing. Where Uzumaki spirals into madness and Gyo drowns in biological terror, Tomie stands apart for its raw brutality. It’s an endless cycle of seduction, mutilation, and rebirth that turns body horror manga into ritual.

It begins with a death. Tomie, a stunning high school girl, is murdered by her classmates and dismembered after a scandal erupts during a school trip. The next day, she walks back into class. She’s alive, flawless as always, and completely unbothered. That single moment defines the rest of the series.

Tomie is no ordinary victim, but something far worse: a regenerating entity cloaked in perfection. She cannot die. She doesn’t just heal; she multiplies. From a severed limb, internal organs, and even minuscule parts like fingers, a new Tomie can grow. And often that growth is pure nightmare fuel.

Ito delights in the grotesque, and we bear witness to a multitude of half-formed Tomies. Some resemble bloated tumors with eyes, some twitching lumps of flesh, and others are nothing but disembodied heads with embryonic bodies dangling from them.

But Tomie’s horror isn’t just physical; it’s psychological. Men become obsessed with Tomie, enslaved by desire, and are driven to madness. They love her, but eventually kill her. Each chapter becomes a grim tale of lust and annihilation, with Tomie as the eternal object of beauty, corruption, and death.

The manga is episodic in format, and not every chapter lands. When it does, however, it delivers some of Junji Ito’s most iconic and revolting panels. Tomie is one of the cornerstones of body horror manga, and a must-read for any fan.

Genres: Horror, Supernatural, Psychological

Status: Finished (Seinen)

6. Franken Fran

Franken Fran is a medical horror manga like no other. It’s equal parts grotesque, absurd, and disturbingly heartfelt. Created by Katsuhisa Kigitsu, it follows Fran Madaraki, a surgically enhanced girl left in charge of her creator’s lab. She’s polite, sincere, and always eager to help. Her methods, however, are pure nightmare fuel.

Each chapter plays out as a standalone tale, with new patients and new procedures, almost always ending in disaster. Fran performs surgeries that revive the dead, swap out organs, overwrite personalities, or stretch human biology into monstrous absurdity. Sometimes the results are tragic, sometimes they are hilarious, and occasionally both.

What makes Franken Fran such a unique body horror manga is how gleefully it embraces anatomical extremes. Nothing is spared: intestines, eyes, brains, internal organs. The surgical details are vivid and relentless. Kigitsu doesn’t just want to shock you; he wants to make you squirm.

Fran herself is the core of it all: a paradox in a lab coat. She’s endlessly compassionate and always smiling, but completely amoral. Consent, psychological trauma and long-term consequences are an afterthought at best. Her patients usually leave breathing, but rarely better off.

Not every chapter hits the same note. Some lean hard into slapstick or throwaway satire. But when it works, it’s unforgettable. Franken Fran is a rare blend of surgical horror and absurdity, and one of the best body horror manga out there.

Genres: Horror, Science / Medical, Sci-Fi, Comedy (Shonen)

Status: Finished (Shonen)

5. Gyo

Gyo opens with a single fish crawling out of the ocean on mechanical legs, but from there, it only gets worse. Equal parts absurd, grotesque, and unforgettable, this might be Junji Ito’s most unhinged creation. It’s not subtle, pure nightmare fuel, and a landmark in body horror manga.

At first, it seems like a strange anomaly: a rotting fish skitters across the floor of a seaside vacation home. But soon, the invasion spreads. Schools of marine life emerge from the sea, all carried by biomechanical walkers powered by a foul-smelling gas. It’s the stench of death.

As the infection spreads, and the fish rot, human bodies become part of the machinery instead. Victims are inflated, disfigured, and reshaped into mobile husks. On some of the most unforgettable pages in Ito’s career, we see grotesque amalgamations: dozens of human torsos strapped to machines, their gas-spewing orifices powering them like a mad take on a perpetual mobile.

This is body horror at its most visceral: wet, mechanical, and diseased. It doesn’t linger on emotional trauma, and instead assaults the senses, one decomposing panel at a time. Just when you thought it couldn’t get stranger, Gyo hits you with the infamous circus chapter: a surreal interlude of weaponized visual horror.

There’s an attempt at explaining the phenomena later in the manga. Something about experimental gas, and replicating bacteria, but this attempt quickly spirals into nonsensical absurdity. Yet it barely matters. Gyo isn’t about coherence. It’s about how far horror can be stretched and how grotesque it can become.

Messy, absurd, and biologically revolting, Gyo isn’t Ito’s most polished work, but it might be his most audacious. For fans of body horror manga, this is a must-read.

Genres: Drama, Horror, Apocalypse, Mystery, Sci-Fi

Status: Finished (Seinen)

4. Homunculus

Homunculus isn’t traditional horror. There are no monsters lurking in the shadows. But few manga dive as deeply into the human psyche and render trauma with such grotesque beauty. Written by Hideo Yamamoto, this is one of the most surreal and psychologically devastating entries in body horror manga.

The story follows Susumu Nakoshi, a man living out of his car, who volunteers for a controversial experiment: trepanation. A hole is drilled into the skull under the premise that it unlocks hidden perception. It works, but what Nakoshi sees isn’t enlightenment, but madness.

After the procedure, he starts to perceive the people around him as warped, mutated beings. These are twisted reflections of people’s inner fears, traumas and desires: homunculi. Faces collapse, limbs extend, bodies melt and fuse in impossible ways.

What makes Homunculus unique as a body horror manga is its internal focus. The terror isn’t external. It’s psychological decay made visible. Each distorted human form is a metaphor wearing the skin of a monster, and the clean, grounded artwork only makes it more jarring. It’s a world where the real and unreal blend until nothing can be trusted.

As Nakoshi’s visions intensify, his own behaviour changes, and the narrative spirals into ambiguity, blending dream logic, sexual violence, identity breakdown, and philosophical dread. What begins as a plot becomes a character study.

Homunculus is not an easy read. It’s uncomfortable, challenging, and frequently disturbing, both in visuals and themes. But for those willing to explore how trauma can shape the body and the mind, it’s one of the most unforgettable entries in the genre.

Genres: Horror, Psychological, Philosophical, Drama

Status: Finished (Seinen)

3. Parasyte

Parasyte is a landmark in the horror genre. It’s grotesque, philosophical, and surprisingly tender beneath its alien carnage. First serialized in the late 1980s by Hiroshi Iwasaki, it remains one of the most iconic works of body horror manga, blending high-concept sci-fi with unforgettable imagery and relentless examination of what it means to be human.

The story begins with a failed invasion. Shinichi Izumi, a normal high school student, is attacked by a strange alien parasite. Yet the creature doesn’t reach his brain in time. Instead, it merges with his right hand. The creature, later named Migi, becomes a permanent part of Shinichi’s body. They don’t fuse minds and instead coexist.

Elsewhere, other parasites have fully assimilated their hosts. They wear human faces, but underneath, they’re monsters, organ-shifting predators who will kill without remorse. Their heads split open like blooming flowers, faces melt into eyes and teeth, limbs twist into weapons. These creatures are not only terrifying to look at; they embody a vision of the body as something fluid, alien, and dangerous.

Yet Parasyte isn’t just about transformation. It’s about erosion. As Shinichi fights to survive, something inside him begins to change. He becomes colder, harder, more detached, closer to the emotionless parasites he’s trying to stop. We can only wonder why. The manga offers no easy answers, only moral ambiguity.

Despite its age, Parasyte still feels timeless. It fuses brutal action with philosophical weight, never letting the reader forget that real horror may not be the monsters, but how close we already are to them. For fans of body horror manga that balances gore with meaning, Parasyte is a must-read.

Genres: Horror, Action, Alien, Sci-Fi

Status: Finished (Seinen)

2. Dorohedoro

Grotesque, hilarious, and unlike anything else in the medium, Dorohedoro is a genre-defying fever dream of gore and grit. Created by Q Hayashida, this body horror manga plunges readers into Hole, a chaotic, lawless city where magic users use humans as test subjects, leaving behind trails of mutilations, mutations and mayhem.

At the center is Kaiman, a man with no memories and a giant reptilian head. Immune to magic, he hunts sorcerers with one goal: to find out who transformed him.

From its earliest pages, Dorohedoro revels in dismemberment and deformity. Bodies explode. Faces melt. Victims of failed magic are warped into fleshy disasters. But the series never leans into despair; instead, it balances horror with deadpan comedy and surreal charm, giving the violence a strange levity that’s uniquely its own.

As the story unfolds, the body horror only escalates. We bear witness to human experiments, grotesque transformations, and outright mass-slaughter. In one of the manga’s later arcs, Kaiman’s own body begins sprouting human heads, bulbous tumor-like growths that burst from his neck on spindly spines. It’s disgusting, utterly absurd, and totally unforgettable.

Q Hayashida’s art is perfect. Her detailed linework drips with filth, texture, and personality. Every alley feels diseased, every corpse has character. This isn’t clean, surgical horror; it’s dirty, bloody, and wrapped in gleeful energy and black comedy.

Dorohedoro is violent, disgusting, and often nonsensical, but that’s what makes it great. It’s a body horror manga that refuses to be pinned down, mixing existential horror with absurdity, and gore with heart. A brutal masterpiece.

Genres: Horror, Fantasy, Supernatural, Mystery, Slice of Life

Status: Finished (Seinen)

1. Uzumaki

There’s no monster. No villain. Just a shape: the spiral. Yet Uzumaki manages to be one of the most terrifying works in manga history. Junji Ito’s masterpiece of surreal dread and grotesque transformation is a defining pillar of body horror manga, turning abstraction itself into an unstoppable force of physical and psychological ruin.

The story takes place in Kurouzu-cho, a quiet coastal town that slowly unravels as the spiral infiltrates every aspect of life. It begins with obsession. Shuuichi’s father grows fixated on spiral patterns, eventually contorting his body into one in a chilling act of self-mutilation. But that’s just the beginning. From here, each chapter adds another layer of creeping madness.

This is body horror in its purest, most imaginative form. Ito doesn’t rely on traditional violence. Instead, he breaks down the human form in increasingly inventive ways. Bodies stretch and contort, flesh tunnels inward, and the town’s very structure turns into a massive spiral.

The early chapters play out like a nightmare anthology, each one self-contained but bound by the spiral’s presence. As the series progresses, the narrative dives deeper, spiraling into the ground beneath the town, into cosmic horror and existential hopelessness. Yet the spiral wants nothing. It doesn’t think. It just is. And it consumes everything.

Ito’s artwork is surgical in detail, amplifying the surreal with unnerving realism. The body distortions are deeply unsettling because they feel almost plausible. He captures the moment reality breaks and then keeps pushing onward.

Uzumaki isn’t just one of the greatest body horror manga ever made; it’s one of horror fiction’s most enduring nightmares and stands at the pinnacle of the genre.

Genres: Horror, Supernatural, Mystery, Cosmic Horror

Status: Finished (Seinen)

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More in Horror Manga

There’s something special about Japanese horror, and it’s not just the grotesque monsters or nightmarish imagination. At its heart, J-horror has always drawn power from something deeper: ghost stories, yokai tales, and whispered urban legends. All these elements make supernatural horror manga what they are.

While Western horror often leans into slashers, demons, or psychological trauma, Japanese horror has a long tradition of quiet dread. It thrives on the unseen, the unspoken, and the deeply uncanny. A creaking floorboard, a shadow in the corner, or a girl staring at you with empty eyes from the end of the hallway.

This list is dedicated to manga titles that tap into that exact fear. Supernatural horror manga are stories built around restless spirits, haunted places, cursed objects, and otherworldly beings that defy explanation. They might be rooted in ancient folklore, modern urban legends, or brand-new terrors from the twisted minds of today’s best manga creators.

These stories don’t just disturb; they haunt. Whether it’s a slow-burn ghost mystery or a chaotic monster rampage, what connects them is their commitment to the unnatural. To the sense that something is wrong, and it’s not just in your head.

If you’re looking for more general horror recommendations, check out my list of the best horror manga overall. But if it’s tales of spirits and the supernatural you’re after, this is the list for you.

Mild spoiler warning: I’ll avoid major plot reveals, but a few story elements may be necessary to explain why each manga works so well.

Here’s my curated list of the best supernatural horror manga (last updated: August 2025).

24. Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service

At first glance, Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service might look like a morbid workplace comedy, but make no mistake, this is one of the most unique supernatural horror manga I’ve ever come across.

The series follows five Buddhist college students with strange abilities who form a business fulfilling the wishes of the dead. One can hear the voices of corpses; another is a medium. Together, they travel across Japan solving grisly mysteries, uncovering hidden murders, and getting caught in increasingly bizarre, sometimes tragic situations. It’s equal parts ghost story, black comedy, and social commentary.

What makes Kurosagi Corpse Deliver Service stand out is its sheer variety. Some chapters focus on tormented spirits and traditional hauntings, while others dive into twisted conspiracies, cults and even body horror. Yet through it all, there’s a consistent thread: death leaves behind more than just a body; it leaves questions, regrets, and supernatural echoes.

Yamazaki’s clean, expressive art style grounds the absurd premise, offering just enough creep factor to land the scares when it needs to. And Eiji Ōtsuka’s writing balances humor and horror with impressive tact, often blending satire into even darker arcs.

It’s a long series, and not every chapter hits the same emotional note, but the sheer creativity of its ghost-centric stories earns it a spot on this list. If you’re looking for an episodic, concept-driven supernatural horror manga, this is a one-of-a-kind gem.

Genres: Horror, Drama, Comedy, Mystery, Supernatural

Status: Ongoing (Seinen)

23. Shiro Ihon (White Book)

Best known for his grotesque titles like Freak Island and Pumpkin Night, Masaya Hokazono takes a surprisingly restrained approach in Shiro Ihon (White Book), and it results in one of the most quietly unsettling supernatural horror manga out there.

This eerie anthology compiles short, self-contained ghost stories, each focused on haunted spaces, malevolent spirits, cursed objects, or inexplicable supernatural phenomena. While the plots vary, they’re united by a creeping sense of dread and spiritual unease. There’s seldom a need for gore here; the horror lies in atmosphere, silence, and subtle visuals.

Unlike Hokazono’s more chaotic works, Shiro Ihon excels through minimalism. its black-and-white art might seem simple at first glance, but it comes alive in those moments of fear: a character’s mouth frozen in mid-scream, bodies twisted by invisible forces, a ghost standing just a little too still. The simplicity works in its favor, evoking classic J-horror aesthetics rather than trying to overwhelm the reader.

What sets Shiro Ihon apart is its ability to tap into traditional fears. It centers on restless spirits, forbidden spaces, and the unspoken rules of the spirit world. It doesn’t reinvent the genre, but it doesn’t need to. This manga is supernatural horror in its purest form.

If you enjoy quiet, atmospheric storytelling rooted in Japanese ghost lore, Shiro Ihon is a short, but effective collection that deserves a read.

Genres: Horror, Supernatural

Status: Finished (Seinen)

22. Pet Shop of Horrors

A cult classic from the late 90s, Pet Shop of Horrors is a stylish and strange supernatural horror manga that blends dark fairy tale vibes with urban legend structure. It’s an episodic series built around one core concept: be careful what you bring home.

At the heart of the story is Count D, the mysterious and androgynous caretaker of a pet shop in Los Angeles’s Chinatown. His pets, however, are far from ordinary. Each creature he sells comes with a strict contract, and if the owner violates the terms, the consequences are often fatal. Some pets are adorable, others are terrifying, and many aren’t even from this world.

While there is a loose overarching plot, many chapters work as standalone stories, following unlucky customers who succumb to temptation, obsession, or tragedy. These tales blur the line between horror and myth, drawing inspiration from global folklore, ancient curses, and emotional parables. In this way, the manga evokes a rich, spiritual kind of unease that’s less about jump scares and more about karmic retribution and the unknown forces lurking beneath everyday life.

The art style may seem dated to some readers, with its sharp character designs and ornate page layouts, but it carries a distinct gothic elegance that fits the tone perfectly. As a josei title, the manga also brings a slightly more literary and introspective edge, with themes that feel more adult than your average horror manga.

Pet Shop of Horrors isn’t for everyone, but for those who love mysterious stories, supernatural creatures, and philosophical horror, it’s a hidden gem. It may be a niche title, but its loyal fanbase continues to celebrate it.

Genres: Horror, Supernatural, Mystery, Fantasy, Comedy

Status: Finished (Josei)

21. Hinatsugimura

Deep in the mountains lies a village that doesn’t appear on any map. Those who stumble upon it are never seen again. That is, unless they become part of the village themselves.

Hinatsugimura is a short but grisly supernatural horror manga that blends ghost story, rural mystery, and grotesque body horror. It begins with a group of college students who seek the ruins of a forgotten village. Caught in a thunderstorm, they take shelter in a nearby mansion, only to discover a monstrous history hiding beneath the surface.

At first, the manga reads like an anthology, with different characters encountering the eerie village under different circumstances. But as the chapters progress, a larger story begins to unfold, one centering on Kiriko-sama, a mysterious woman linked to the village’s twisted traditions.

From grotesque hybrids to villages warped into inhuman shapes, Hinatsugimura doesn’t shy away from violent or disturbing imagery. While the artwork is generally serviceable, it shines most in its creature designs and sudden flashes of brutality. We bear witness to beheadings, dismemberments, and twisted transformations.

This is a compact series, and while its brevity limits its world-building, the tight pacing and surreal tone help it stand out. It may not be as polished or ambitious as some of the higher entries on this list, but it’s an underrated gem for fans of supernatural horror manga with a taste for rural curses and body horror.

If you enjoy creepy villages, buried secrets, and the kind of horror that feels both folkloric and visceral, Hinatsugimura is absolutely worth reading.

Genres: Horror, Supernatural

Status: Finished (Shojo)

20. Maga Maga Yama

Maga Maga Yama is a recent but highly promising supernatural horror manga that wastes no time plunging readers into its twisted mountain wilderness. Though only a few chapters have been released so far, each one delivers a compact, eerie story packed with dread, ghosts, and mysterious rituals.

The manga is structured as an anthology, with different stories all centered around the sinister Maga Maga Mountain range. Each tale features unlucky people who encounter supernatural forces they can’t comprehend. These include warped ghosts en route to the afterlife, a cursed swamp, shape-shifting beasts, and a family following a disturbing tradition. There’s never any real explanation, no real exposition, and we’re only left with raw supernatural terror.

What really makes this series work is its commitment to mystery. The author offers no answers, only glimpses of a larger spiritual world that feels cruel, uncanny, and indifferent. It’s a bold narrative style that might frustrate some readers, but it enhances the horror by keeping everything shadowed in ambiguity.

Visually, Maga Maga Yama excels when it counts. The creature design is genuinely disturbing: muddied, emaciated spirits that barely resemble humans, or black-eyed monkeys that leer from the dark. The horror scenes are drawn with tension and clarity, even if the series’ pacing can be uneven.

It’s still a very short series, but if you’re looking for a fresh, under-the-radar supernatural horror manga that embraces Japanese folklore and backwoods horror, Maga Maga Yama is one to keep an eye on.

Genres: Horror, Supernatural

Status: Ongoing (Seinen)

19. Kaii-san to Ore

Kaii-san to Ore is one of the most unusual entries on this list. It’s a supernatural horror manga that blends spooky atmosphere and unexpected warmth. Originally published as a web manga on the author’s Twitter and Pixiv accounts, it began serialization in print via Kadokawa in late 2024. Despite its humble origins, it has quietly become one of the most charming and creepy ghost manga out there.

The premise is deceptively simple: a lonely child is constantly surrounded by ghosts, yokai and other supernatural beings. While many of these spirits are friendly, others are dangerous or outright terrifying. Yet the boy treats them all the same. To him, they aren’t monsters, but friends.

Each chapter is extremely short, usually just two to four pages, and often drops the reader directly in the middle of a supernatural encounter. There’s little exposition, but over time, recurring spirits and side characters create a gentle through-line that hints at a larger story.

Some chapters lean into horror, showcasing grotesque monsters with stitched faces and hollow eyes, while others are more melancholic, cute, or even comedic.

Visually, the manga is striking. While the paneling is simple, the art is expressive and sharp. Every chapter also opens with a beautiful full-color page that instantly sets the tone. Whether depicting peaceful domestic scenes or eerie ghost intrusions, the artwork adds warmth and creepiness in equal measure.

It’s hard to categorize, but that’s exactly why it belongs on this list. A true supernatural horror manga with heart, Kaii-san to Ore is a hidden gem for readers looking for something offbeat and endearing.

Genres: Horror, Supernatural, Slice-of-Life

Status: Ongoing (Seinen)

18. Kanju Ten

Kanju Ten is a short, 12-chapter long supernatural horror manga that quietly sneaks up on you. At first, it presents itself as an anthology of unconnected stories about people who brush up against the uncanny. But as you progress, subtle connections emerge, revealing a deeper thread that ties everything together.

The stories themselves are built around that creeping sense of distortion, the unsettling feeling that something in the ordinary world has gone slightly wrong. A girl who can see ghosts. Another who hears death approaching. A serial killer who moves unnoticed among the living. The horror isn’t always loud or grotesque. Instead, it’s often psychological, quiet, and deeply eerie.

What really works in Kanju Ten’s favor is its slow-burn structure. It doesn’t bombard you with exposition or try to shock you from the outset. Instead, it plants small seeds of dread that grow with every chapter, pulling you further into its world of fractured reality and shadow encounters.

The art is solid throughout, but really shines during the pivotal horror scenes: distorted spirits with hollow eyes, monstrous apparitions in dark corners, and eerie visual metaphors. The image of a character looking up ‘how to go blind’ as faces swirl around her is one of several quietly terrifying moments that linger long after you turn the page.

Underrated and largely unknown, Kanju Ten is a hidden gem for fans of slow, atmospheric horror with an interconnected structure. If you enjoy manga that explore the overlap between daily life and the supernatural, this one is well worth your time.

Genres: Horror, Supernatural, Psychological, Drama

Status: Finished (Seinen)

17. Tonari no Jii-san

Some of the most effective supernatural horror manga don’t rely on violence or jump scares. Instead, they rely on the creeping realization that something in your world isn’t quite right. Tonari no Jii-san is a perfect example of that quiet, skin-prickling dread.

The story follows Yuki, a soft-spoken girl living in a rural town, who dreams of becoming a painter. Her life is quiet, even dull, until a simple goodbye to her sister on a train turns into a traumatic experience. She sees something horrifying, but no one else believes her. Not her parents. Not the townspeople. Did she imagine it? Is she going mad? Or is something truly wrong with the town itself?

As Yuki investigates, she discovers she may not be the only one seeing through the cracks in reality. What starts as a personal descent into paranoia slowly reveals something much larger, more sinister, and steeped in local folklore. The manga blends surreal body horror with slow-burning mystery to great effect, never over-explaining and always letting the reader feel that chill just under the surface.

The artwork is beautiful and haunting. Gritty textures, strong shadows, and disturbing designs explode off the page during key moments. The opening chapters alone are some of the most memorable in recent horror manga.

Still early in its run, Tonari no Jii-san already feels like a future classic. If you enjoy supernatural horror manga with a psychological edge and a creeping folkloric mystery, don’t miss this one.

Genres: Horror, Drama, Mystery, Psychological, Tragedy

Status: Ongoing (Seinen)

16. Another

A modern classic in the genre, Another stands as one of the most widely recognized supernatural horror manga of the 21st century. Adapted from Yukito Ayatsuji’s best-selling novel, this chilling mystery delivers a fatal blend of ghost story, school curse, and psychological dread.

Set in 1998, the story follows Kouichi Sakakibara, a transfer student who joins Class 3-3 at Yomiyama North Middle School. Almost immediately, he senses something is wrong. His classmates are cagey and evasive, especially when it comes to Mei Misaki, a girl with an eyepatch whom no one seems willing to acknowledge. As Kouichi pushes for answers, a string of shocking and often brutal deaths unfolds. The more he learns, the more he realizes this has happened before.

Visually, Hiro Kiyohara’s artwork enhances the mood with stark shadows, empty classrooms, and sudden, violent deaths that punctuate the stillness. Unlike its anime counterpart, the manga keeps things more grounded, skipping the exaggerated gore while maintaining a steady sense of unease.

Some plot developments may feel rushed or oddly timed, but the final twist reframes the entire story with surprising emotional weight.

If you’re new to horror manga, Another is a great starting point. For seasoned fans, it remains an iconic example of supernatural horror manga done right. It’s mysterious, tragic, and effectively creepy.

Genres: Horror, Supernatural, Mystery, Tragedy

Status: Finished (Seinen)

15. Boku ga Shinu dake no Hyakumonogatari

What if telling ghost stories could invite real spirits into your life? That’s the chilling premise behind Boku ga Shinu dake no Hyakumonogatari (100 Ghost Stories That Will Lead to My Death), a supernatural horror manga that combines anthology-style storytelling with an unsettling frame narrative.

The story follows Yuuma, a quiet elementary schooler on the brink of despair. One day, his classmate Hina distracts him with an eerie question: “Do you know the round of a hundred ghost stories?” Intrigued by the idea that recounting 100 tales might summon actual ghosts, Yuuma begins a nightly ritual, sharing one story at a time, in the dark, completely alone.

Each chapter introduces a new short horror tale, often rooted in urban legends or Japanese folklore. While some stories revisit classic ghost manga tropes, many feel strikingly original. They are tight little nightmares with a campfire vibe.

What makes the series stand out is the creeping, subtle horror of Yuuma’s own life. As the count rises, his home begins to change, and the line between storyteller and story blurs.

Though not overtly graphic, Boku ga Shinu dake no Hyakumonogatari still packs unsettling imagery and psychological tension. The art shines most during haunting scenes, even if it’s not top-tier overall. Yuuma’s eerie calmness adds another layer to the unease, making readers question what kind of boy would willingly invite spirits into his home.

It’s a clever and consistently engaging supernatural horror manga. The framing story gives the anthology structure, a powerful emotional hook, and the blend of folklore and subtle realism makes it feel timeless. Highly recommended for fans of ghost stories, cursed rituals, and creeping dread.

Genres: Horror, Supernatural

Status: Finished (Shonen)

14. Noah of the Blood Sea

Noah of the Blood Sea is a supernatural horror manga that traps you aboard a luxury cruise ship with a hidden nightmare steeped in blood, illusion, and the uncanny. What begins as a glamorous ocean vacation soon turns into a suffocating gothic thriller, where nothing is quite what it seems.

The story follows Kakeru, a teenage boy traveling with his family. During a bizarre onboard stage show, passengers are brutally murdered, only to reappear moments later as if nothing happened. From this surreal moment on, the line between the natural and supernatural dissolves. Are these really the same people?

As the tension escalates, Noah of the Blood Sea leans into classic vampire mythology: mind control, transformation, blood rites. But it filters them through a modern lens of psychological suspense and claustrophobic panic. Kakeru becomes our anchor as the cruise transforms into a floating prison, where human lives are little more than cattle.

The manga is fast-paced, arguably too much so at times, and many characters serve mostly as fodder. Still, the emotional weight lands when it needs to, with pivotal scenes delivered with care and strong writing.

While the final stretch dives into chaotic action, and not every plot thread gets closure, the supernatural horror atmosphere remains effective throughout.

Yuu Satomi’s art deserves praise: elegant, eerie, and filled with dramatic contrast, heightening both the cruise ship’s opulence and its lurking dangers. If you enjoy vampire horror manga that go beyond just fangs and blood, Noah of the Blood Sea is a compelling and disturbing work you won’t forget.

Genres: Horror, Mystery, Vampire, Psychological, Tragedy

Status: Finished (Seinen)

13. Mimi’s Tales of Terror

While Mimi’s Tales of Terror may not be Junji Ito’s most iconic work, it’s still one of the best supernatural horror manga rooted in Japanese folklore. This short collection adapts six ghost stories originally drawn from Japanese urban legends, all tied together by a single character: Mimi, a quiet young woman who keeps finding herself at the center of terrifying events.

Each story stands alone, but together they form a fascinating slice of everyday horror. One tale features a strange woman stalking Mimi. Another shows a man posing in a haunted cemetery, seemingly trying to impress the dead with his toned body. There’s also a basement haunted by a crimson mark, a burned mother’s ghost, and a seaside visit that ends with hauntingly surreal imagery. That last one, titled The Seahorse, is by far the strongest of the set, delivering one of the most unforgettable pages in the entire volume.

It’s worth noting that Ito didn’t write the stories himself, but merely adapted and illustrated them. As a result, some tales feel less cohesive or impactful than his original works. Still, his signature art style carries the collection, capturing both quiet unease and grotesque spectacle with uncanny precision.

Mimi’s Tales of Terror may not hit as hard as Uzumaki or Tomie, but it’s still a chilling, atmospheric ride. More importantly, it showcases Ito’s deep appreciation for traditional ghost lore, and his unique ability to breathe visual life into even the strangest of legends.

Genres: Horror, Supernatural

Status: Finished (Seinen)

12. Dark Gathering

Dark Gathering is one of the strongest supernatural horror manga currently in serialization, and also one of the best shonen manga. It seamlessly blends traditional ghost stories, grotesque occult horror, and spiritual battle mechanics with deeply human character work and a sense of long-term narrative.

The story centers on Keitarou Gentouga, a college student who’s terrified of ghosts but unwillingly attuned to them. After an incident that left a friend spiritually maimed, Keitarou has lived in fear and isolation. That changes when he begins tutoring Yayoi, a stoic young genius with powerful spiritual sensitivity, but also a deeply personal reason for hunting down ghosts. Alongside Eiko, Keitarou’s obsessive childhood friend, the three begin a dark journey into haunted places and cursed phenomena.

Dark Gathering thrives on its ghost story roots. Each chapter introduces new spiritual encounters drawn from folklore and urban legend while slowly building toward a much larger occult mystery. The monsters are terrifying, often uniquely designed and steeped in disturbing lore. Despite its shonen label, the manga doesn’t shy away from graphic violence or bleak outcomes.

What makes it stand out, though, is the emotional investment it builds. Characters feel alive, and the manga isn’t afraid to slow down for their arcs. At the same time, the action is stylish, the pacing brisk, and the horror consistent.

If you’re looking for a horror manga that embraces the supernatural with intensity and flair, Dark Gathering should be at the top of your list.

Genres: Horror, Supernatural

Status: Ongoing (Shonen)

11. Shiki

Shiki is a slow-burning, morally complex vampire manga that takes the supernatural and turns it inward, asking not what monsters do, but what makes someone one.

From the very beginning, it’s clear that Shiki is a supernatural horror story. A mysterious family moves into a remodeled mansion in a remote mountain village, and soon after, people begin dying of anemia. While the townsfolk cling to denial, readers know better: something is wrong, and it’s not natural.

Adapted from Fuyumi Ono’s novel, Shiki, follows a large ensemble cast, most notably the village doctor, Ozaki, as he investigates the strange deaths. What begins as a mystery unravels into terror as the dead rise, transformed into vampires called Shiki. But Shiki isn’t interested in just scares. It slowly shifts from horror to tragedy, focusing on moral ambiguity, revenge, and the desperation to survive.

The art style, with its exaggerated character designs, can feel jarring, and the first half moves slowly. If you stick with it, however, the second half delivers some of the most harrowing and philosophically dense material in horror manga. The line between humans and monsters blurs, and the question arises: who are the true monsters?

What makes Shiki stand out is how it uses the supernatural not just to frighten, but to reflect on human nature. It’s a rare vampire manga that dares to portray both sides of the struggle with empathy. At the same time, it will still horrify you.

It may not be the easiest read, but Shiki is one of the most emotionally and ethically powerful supernatural horror manga ever written.

Genres: Horror, Mystery, Drama, Tragedy, Vampire

Status: Finished (Shonen)

10. Dandadan

Dandadan is chaos in its purest, most delightful form. While it’s not a traditional horror manga, its consistent use of supernatural folklore and terrifying yokai absolutely earns it a place on this list.

Created by Yukinobu Tatsu, a former assistant to Chainsaw Man’s Tatsuki Fujimoto, Dandadan throws ghosts, aliens, psychics, kaiju, and high school hijinks into a blender. The story kicks off when Momo Ayase and Ken Takakura, two polar opposites, challenge each other to investigate haunted and alien-infested posts. Both turn out to be real. What follows is a genre-hopping thrill ride of spirits, monsters, and cosmic threats.

Where Dandadan shines as a supernatural horror manga is in its yokai and ghost encounters. Many of these moments are genuinely scary before erupting into high-energy battles. From the horrific grin of Turbo Granny to a haunting ballet dancer and beyond, Tatsu knowns how to evoke classic Japanese horror aesthetics before flipping into shonen spectacle.

The series thrives on unpredictability. One chapter might deliver school-life comedy, the next a brutal yokai showdown. And yet, it all works. The pacing is tight; the art is phenomenal, and the tone shifts never feel forced.

Yet, it leans heavily into action and absurdity, but Dandadan consistently returns to its supernatural core. The horror elements are always present, just wrapped in layers of genre fusion and momentum.

If you’re looking for a wild, stylish and genuinely creepy supernatural manga that refuses to sit still, Dandadan is one of the most exciting ongoing series out there.

Genres: Horror, Supernatural, Comedy, Action, Alien

Status: Ongoing (Shonen)

9. Mieruko-chan

Mieruko-chan stands out as one of the most original supernatural horror manga of the past decade and does so by doing almost nothing.

Miko Yotsuya is an ordinary high school girl with an extraordinary curse: she can see ghosts. Not just any ghosts, but twisted, screaming, grotesque abominations that cling to the living. But there’s a catch. She can’t let them know she sees them. If she reacts, they might strike.

That’s the brilliance of Mieruko-chan. It flips the usual ghost story formula on its head. Mike doesn’t fight back or run away; she simply endures. She goes about her daily life pretending not to see the horrors lurking all around her, trapped in a quiet nightmare only she can perceive.

The series blends deadpan slice-of-life comedy with moments of pure, visceral terror. One moment Miko’s chatting with one of her friends, the next she’s face-to-face with a skeletal phantom whispering in her ear. This tonal contrast gives the series its punch: you never know whether to laugh or shiver.

The ghost and yokai designs are phenomenal and among the best in modern horror manga. These spirits are imaginative and deeply unsettling: bloated, dripping, distorted, and rendered in extreme detail. Their grotesque presence is made even more jarring by the manga’s otherwise clean, cutesy aesthetic.

As the story progresses, Mieruko-chan gradually reveals a larger supernatural plot involving shrine spirits, curses, and ancient yokai. But it never loses sight of its core appeal: the quiet horror of pretending nothing’s wrong while surrounded by pure nightmare fuel.

Weird, funny, and utterly chilling, Mieruko-chan is a masterclass in supernatural horror with a psychological edge. One of the modern greats.

Genres: Horror, Comedy, Supernatural, Mystery, Slice of Life

Status: Ongoing (Seinen)

8. The Summer Hikaru Died

The Summer Hikaru Died is one of the most emotionally resonant and thematically rich supernatural horror manga in recent years. Set in a quiet rural village, the story begins with a chilling realization: Yoshiki knows his best friend Hikaru has died, and something else is now wearing his face.

The manga wastes no time in revealing this terrifying truth. The new Hikaru remembers everything, speaks the same, and smiles just like the real one. Yet beneath the surface lies an eldritch being, a cosmic entity whose true form is an unsettling mass of shifting patterns, colors, and unknowable intentions. It’s a deeply effective use of cosmic horror, evoking dread not just through monstrosity, but emotional familiarity.

Yet the horror in The Summer Hikaru Died doesn’t just lie in Hikaru. It’s in Yoshiki’s response, his refusal to let go, and his need to preserve what remains, even when it isn’t human. The story delicately explores grief, love, and identity, creating moments of intimacy that are both touching and deeply unsettling.

The supernatural horror extends beyond Hikaru. As the story unfolds, we encounter ghosts and the legend of a local deity known as Nounuki-sama. These folkloric elements ground the manga in a rich spiritual world, blending traditional Japanese ghost lore with cosmic terror and coming-of-age melancholy.

Mokumokuren’s art is beautiful and eerie. It’s crisp, emotional, and capable of both quiet stillness and surreal horror.

The Summer Hikaru Dies is more than a horror story. It’s a haunting tale of connection, memory, and things we choose to hold on to. A must-read for fans of supernatural horror with emotional weight.

Genres: Horror, Mystery, Supernatural, BL

Status: Ongoing (Seinen)

7. N

N is one of the most disturbing modern entries in the world of supernatural horror manga, offering a chilling blend of cryptic storytelling, urban legends, and surreal terror. Written by Kurumu Akumu and illustrated by Niko to Game, this manga thrives on atmosphere, and delivers fear through implication, distortion and quiet dread.

At first, N appears to be an anthology. Each chapter represents a different supernatural encounter: strange livestreams, mysterious disappearances, uncanny urban legends. But over time, a deeper narrative emerges, one centered on a secretive group known only as N. This hidden force appears to orchestrate the horrors behind the scenes, gradually tying together stories that initially feel disconnected.

The structure is intentionally fragmented but never aimless. Clues are dropped in small, eerie increments, rewarding attentive readers with subtle hints and overlapping details suggesting a larger mythology at play. The supernatural threats are varied but consistently terrifying.

The artwork is rough, even jagged at times, but this rawness becomes an asset. Sketchy lines and chaotic paneling create an unstable visual experience that amplifies tension. Faces twist unnaturally, environments feel strangely dreamlike or suffocating, and when the horror lands, it hits hard.

Though N is currently on hiatus, what’s available is more than enough to earn it a place among the best supernatural horror manga. It stands proudly beside Fuan no Tane and PTSD Radio, continuing Japan’s tradition of psychological, folklore-infused horror in a modern, digital age.

If you want a short but deeply unsettling read, N is a must-read.

Genres: Horror, Mystery, Supernatural, Psychological

Status: Ongoing (Seinen)

6. Nikubami Honegishimi

Nikubami Honegishimi is one of the most promising supernatural horror manga currently running. It’s a dark, layered tale that fuses urban legends, psychic phenomena and grotesque monsters across two timelines.

The story begins in 1999, when eccentric occult magazine editor Inubosaki and her photographer partner Asama investigate bizarre paranormal cases across Japan. Each incident, whether involving vengeful spirits, cursed objects, or local legends, feels like a self-contained horror story, yet there’s an eerie thread connecting them all. Flash forward to 2023, and Inubosaki’s nephew, haunted by her mysterious death, seeks out Asama, now a grizzled psychic, for answers. What unfolds is a dual narrative that steadily peels back a disturbing larger mystery.

At first glance, Nikubami Honegishimi feels episodic, but beneath the surface is a tightly coiled supernatural conspiracy. The pacing is deliberate, letting tension simmer. Rather than rely on gore or shock value, the horror emerges through mood, folklore, and the uncanny.

Visually, the art takes some getting used to. It’s sketchy and exaggerated, especially in its character expressions. Inubosaki’s cat-like features verge on the cartoonish. The true standout, however, is the creature design. When the monsters appear, they are nightmarish: abstract, warped, and crawling with menace. The unsettling textures and surreal distortions make for some of the most memorable horror visuals in recent manga.

It’s still early in its run, but Nikubami Honegishimi is already shaping up to be a standout in the genre. For fans of occult mysteries, slow-burning dread, and unconventional horror art, this is one supernatural horror manga you don’t want to miss.

Genres: Horror, Supernatural, Mystery

Status: Ongoing (Seinen)

5. 6000

6000 is a deep-sea nightmare that strays from typical ghost stories and yokai lore, but make no mistake: this is supernatural horror through and through. Set aboard a research facility, 6000 meters below the ocean’s surface, this claustrophobic manga delivers some of the most unsettling imagery and atmosphere in the genre.

The story begins with a new crew being sent down to investigate a series of unexplained deaths and malfunctions in the facility. Once they descend, reality begins to dissolve. Hallucinations plague the crew, grotesque corpses appear, and something ancient and incomprehensible is waiting. It’s a presence that feels straight out of cosmic horror.

Visually, 6000 is a standout. The rough, inky art style and scratchy linework contribute to a persistent sense of unease. Shadows loom large, environments feel suffocating, and the panel transitions are often disorienting, mirroring the psychological unraveling of the characters.

The storytelling leans heavily on visual atmosphere, requiring the reader to piece things together, adding to the surreal dread that permeates every chapter.

While it may not offer traditional ghosts or yokai, 6000 delves into the supernatural via hallucinations, and the suggestion of Lovecraftian forces far beyond human comprehension. It’s an eerie, disorienting read that prioritizes mood over exposition.

This is one of the most visually unique and psychologically disturbing horror manga. If you’re a fan of cosmic horror or horror rooted in paranoia and isolation, 6000 is an underrated gem.

Genres: Horror, Psychological, Survival, Cosmic Horror

Status: Finished (Seinen

4. Yuuan no Kanata

Yuuan no Kanata is one of the strongest supernatural horror manga in years, and easily one of my personal favorites. First serialized in 2023, it follows Kanata, a woman who, after surviving a traumatic event, loses her ability to feel fear. Now emotionally numb, she chases terrifying experiences in hopes of finally being scared again.

The series is structured episodically, presenting a wide array of ghostly encounters. Some chapters follow Kanata directly, while others shift to different characters: a live-streamer haunted by spirits, a skeptical journalist investigating a curse, a grieving father who is haunted by his dead family. All are gradually drawn into Kanata’s orbit, tying their stories into the larger mystery surrounding her.

Visually, Yuuan no Kanata is stunning. The supernatural entities are drenched in black ink and grotesque in detail, often emerging violently from the background with a palpable sense of menace. The contrast between the grounded, realistic world and these nightmarish beings creates some of the most memorable scares in recent horror manga.

Thematically, the series explores how people process fear, whether by denying it, confronting it, or being consumed by it. Kanata’s emotional detachment offers a fresh lens through which to view horror, and glimpses into her backstory suggest a deeper trauma at the heart of the narrative.

With its atmospheric tone, top-tier artwork, and terrifying encounters, Yuuan no Kanata is a standout. It’s a must-read for fans of slow-burning supernatural horror, and one of the most promising ongoing horror manga today. If you haven’t started it yet, you’re missing out.

Genres: Horror, Supernatural, Mystery

Status: Ongoing (Seinen)

3. Fuan no Tane

Fuan no Tane is arguably the definitive supernatural horror manga. Created by Masaaki Nakayama, this minimalist gem comprises dozens of micro-horror stories rooted in Japanese urban legends, ghost sightings, and local superstitions. There’s no plot, no recurring characters, and often no dialog, just distilled fear.

Each chapter is only a few pages long. The setup is deceptively mundane: a glance through a window, an off feeling in a hallway, or a lonely road at night. Then, without warning, something unsettling happens: a ghostly hand reaching out, a face contorting, a figure appearing where it shouldn’t. And that’s it. The story ends, usually at the peak of the scares, leaving your imagination to do the rest.

What makes Fuan no Tane so powerful is its mastery of atmosphere and timing. The horror never needs to be explained; it just is. This captures the essence of Japanese ghost stories better than perhaps any other manga. The scares are brief but jarring, and the lingering unease they leave behind is unforgettable.

Nakayama’s art balances grounded realism with sudden bursts of the grotesque. Distorted faces, empty eyes, and twisted apparitions haunt the page, made even more chilling by stark contrast and tight paneling.

While some stories verge on weird or darkly comic, most hit with pure supernatural horror. The original series was followed by two sequels, Fuan no Tane+ and Fuan no Tane*, both continuing the same eerie format.

If you’re looking for a manga that leans entirely into ghost horror and urban legend scares, this is a must-read. Fuan no Tane doesn’t just belong on a supernatural horror list; it defines the genre.

Genres: Horror, Supernatural, Psychological (Shonen)

Status: Finished (Shonen)

2. DRCL Midnight Children

DRCL Midnight Children is arguably the most visually stunning horror manga on this list, possibly even the most beautiful manga currently in publication. Created by Shinichi Sakamoto, this gothic reinterpretation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula is a surreal, poetic, and dreamlike descent into supernatural horror.

Set at Whitby School, where a girl named Mina becomes the first female student, the story begins grounded in themes of isolation and social tension. Things unravel into darkness with the arrival of Count Dracula, who brings with him corruption, obsession, and a monstrous evil that infects Mina’s closest friend, Lucy.

Sakamoto’s art is breathtaking. From shadow-drenched graveyards to grotesque vampire transformations, every panel is composed with painterly precision. His unconventional panel layouts, sweeping compositions, and fluid sequencing lend the manga an otherworldly rhythm. It’s like watching a gothic nightmare unfold in slow motion. Even its most horrifying moments feel hypnotic.

Narratively, DRCL Midnight Children leans heavily into metaphor, dream logic, and non-linear structure. Scenes blur between memory and hallucination, and the narrative often shifts into lyrical, almost theatrical inner monolog. It’s deliberately challenging, but that’s part of its immersive power. You don’t just read DRCL Midnight Children; you drift through it.

This isn’t a straightforward vampire manga. It’s gothic horror at its most sensual and symbolically rich, an eerie, elegant tribute to Dracula that trades traditional jump scares for existential dread and sublime terror.

If you’re looking for haunting supernatural horror elevated to high art, DRCL Midnight Children is a must-read. It’s a modern masterpiece in the making.

Genres: Horror, Supernatural, Vampire, Fantasy, Drama

Status: Ongoing (Seinen)

1. PTSD Radio

If Fuan no Tane is the definitive supernatural horror manga, then PTSD Radio is its evolution. It’s more ambitious, more grotesque, and arguably even more terrifying.

Also created by Masaaki Nakayama, PTSD Radio at first appears to be another anthology of unconnected urban ghost stories. Chapters are brief, some just a page or two, and drop readers straight into eerie, inexplicable encounters. The longer you read, though, a pattern emerges. Hair becomes the unlikely recurring motif. Whether it’s spectral strands reaching out for people, ghostly figures made of hair, or characters driven mad by it, the manga slowly introduces a chilling overarching presence: the God of Hair.

The entity is never fully explained, yet its influence creeps into nearly every chapter. This loose but persistent thread ties the manga together, building a slow-burning sense of dread that only deepens with each volume. Unlike Fuan no Tane, PTSD Radio doesn’t just scare; it haunts.

Visually, Nakayama has evolved significantly. His realistic art style is more polished here, and the horror sequences are far more detailed, grotesque, and disturbing. The use of contrasts, body distortion, and uncanny composition makes for some of the most nightmarish panels in modern horror manga.

PTSD Radio excels at bite-sized scares, but what makes it stand out is the lingering paranoia it cultivates. As the stories unfold, you feel like something is watching, something with long, black strands.

This is one of the best supernatural horror manga ever made. If you’re a fan of episodic ghost stories that gradually evolve into something mythic and unforgettable, PTSD Radio is a must-read.

Genres: Horror, Supernatural, Mystery

Status: On Hiatus (Seinen)

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More in Horror Manga

As a horror fan, I’ve always been drawn to the strange, the unsettling, and the unknown. Over the years, I’ve come to believe that few mediums capture horror as powerfully as manga, particularly horror manga. That’s why I set out to create a list of my favorite ongoing horror manga that deliver fear, tension and suspense week after week.

Horror manga is a thriving genre. It blends visual storytelling with psychological depth and grotesque imagination, and a uniquely eerie atmosphere. Whether it’s ghostly, tragic, cosmic, or just outright weird, horror manga offers a kind of fear that lingers.

There are a lot of horror manga currently being serialized, but as with every other medium, not all of them are worth your time. For this list, I’ve narrowed things down to the most promising and best ongoing horror manga.

These are series that are not only still being published, but are actually worth keeping up with. Whether you like your horror slow-burning and emotional or loud, chaotic, and bizarre, there’s something here for you.

You’ll find a wide variety of styles and subgenres: psychological thrillers, supernatural ghost stories, yokai mysteries, cosmic dread, dark fantasy, and a few twisted originals that defy easy categorization. Some are already gaining serious attention. Others are hidden gems. All of them are promising, however, and some are already phenomenal.

If you’re looking to follow new chapters, or just want to know what’s worth reading while it’s still fresh, these are the series I recommend.

Mild spoiler warning: I try to avoid giving away major plot points, but some details are unavoidable.

So here’s my ranked list of the currently best ongoing horror manga (last updated July 2025).

12. Tonari no Jii-san

If you’re looking for an ongoing horror manga that captures dread without relying on gore or violence, Tonari no Jii-san might be your perfect read. This eerie, slow-burn series thrives on the creeping sensation that something is deeply, fundamentally wrong, and no one else seems to notice.

Written by Koike Nokuta, it follows Yuki, a quiet girl in a rural town who dreams of becoming a painter. After accompanying her sister on a train ride out of town, Yuki witnesses something so strange it shatters her sense of reality. Yet no one else acknowledges it. No one even notices. Is she hallucinating? Losing her mind? Or did she glimpse a hidden truth?

As the story unfolds, Yuki searches for answers and discovers that she’s not the only one who sees the town’s distorted reality. What starts as paranoia slowly warps into a larger mystery, blending body horror with local folklore and dreamlike unease.

Visually, Tonari no Jii-san is outstanding. The artwork relies on fine textures, heavy shadows, and surreal designs that conjure an atmosphere of quiet terror. The opening chapters alone give you one of the strongest starts to any recent horror manga.

Though still early in its run, Tonari no Jii-san is already establishing itself as one of the quietest, most terrifying ongoing horror manga around. If you like stories where reality blends at the edges and horror seeps in slowly, don’t miss this one.

Genres: Horror, Drama, Mystery, Psychological, Tragedy

Status: Ongoing (Seinen)

11. Shikabane Kaigo

A chilling new entry in the world of ongoing horror manga, Shikabane Kagio delivers classic haunted house terror with a razor-sharp modern edge. Combining slow-burn dread with hyper-detailed visuals, this series is already shaping up to be one of the scariest manga in recent years.

The story follows Akane Kuritani, a young live-in caregiver who accepts a mysterious job deep in the mountains. Her patient is Hiwako Miyazono, an elderly woman confined to bed in a decaying Western-style mansion. When Akane finally meets her, she is horrified: Hiwako looks as if she’s already dead. Her body is emaciated, her skin discolored, and her face obscured by a burlap sack.

The atmosphere here is outstanding. From the moment Akane arrives, everything feels off. The house rules are unnerving. Her coworkers are courteous, yet disturbingly off-kilter. And the mansion itself radiates quiet malevolence. What begins as subtle discomfort spirals into a tense, suffocating nightmare.

The horror here is psychological and slow-burning, built on oppressive atmosphere and a growing sense of isolation. The mansion feels rotten and real. The interactions are uncanny. And Hiwako’s grotesque design, rendered in grotesquely realistic detail, is pure nightmare fuel.

Only ten chapters are out so far, but Shikabane Kagio has already made a strong impression. For fans of atmospheric, psychological horror, it’s one of the most promising ongoing horror manga to watch out for.

Genres: Horror, Mystery, Psychological

Status: Ongoing (Seinen)

10. Dai Dark

Of all the ongoing horror manga on this list, Dai Dark is easily the weirdest.

This cosmic splatter-comedy by Dorohedoro creator Q Hayashida throws conventional storytelling out of the airlock. Zaha Sanko is a man whose bones can grant any wish, turning him into a universal bounty. Rather than playing things straight, though, Hayashida leans fully into absurdity: space is a trash heap, murder is casual, and bone-harvesting is practically a hobby.

Sanko travels the galaxy with his misfit crew of friends, Avakian, Shimada Death, and Damemaru, leaving behind a train of carnage while delivering deadpan jokes. The violence is constant: people melt, explode, and get torn apart in almost every chapter, but the tone is so gleeful and unserious it becomes hilarious instead of horrifying.

That tonal dissonance is exactly what makes Dai Dark stand apart from other ongoing horror manga. It’s filled with grotesque imagery and cosmic monstrosities, but filtered through a lense of chaotic comedy.

Visually, it’s peak Hayashida. Every panel drips with grime, details, and surreal horror. The plot is loose and episodic, but that hardly matters. Each chapter piles on strange concepts and freakish designs with such manic energy that the chaos becomes the point.

If you’re looking for something that combines space horror, absurdist comedy, and relentless weirdness, Dai Dark is unlike anything else on this list and easily one of the best ongoing manga currently running.

Genres: Horror, Sci-Fi, Comedy, Action, Adventure

Status: Ongoing (Shonen)

9. Centuria

Centuria by Tooru Kuramori is one of the most visually stunning ongoing horror manga of today. It’s blending dark fantasy and Lovecraftian terror into a cinematic experience.

The story opens with a harrowing prologue: a slave ship caught in a violent storm, where 99 slaves are slaughtered before a mysterious sea god intervenes. In exchange for one final sacrifice, the god grants terrifying power to the lone survivor, a teenage boy named Julian, who now carries his curse into the wider world.

Julian eventually finds refuge in a quiet village, but his presence draws the attention of horrific, supernatural forces.

From tentacled sea deities to grotesque, multi-headed beasts, Centuria leans into creature horror with stunning precision. The designs are deeply unsettling and easily rival the best monsters in modern manga.

Artistically, Centuria is jaw-dropping. Its richly detailed world evokes comparisons to Berserk and Dorohedoro, balancing sweeping landscapes with nightmarish threats. Every panel feels handcrafted to immerse the reader in its otherworldly atmosphere.

While the manga’s tone begins in brutal, grimdark fashion, the story leans more toward dark shonen than seinen. Characters are often drawn with broad moral strokes, either heroic or villainous, without much nuance. However, Centuria is still in its early stages, and these elements may evolve.

Regardless, it’s already one of the most promising ongoing horror manga out there. With its cosmic overtones and incredible artwork, Centuria is a must-read for any dark fantasy fan.

Genres: Horror, Fantasy, Action, Supernatural (Shonen)

Status: Ongoing (Shonen)

8. Dark Gathering

Dark Gathering is one of the most compelling ongoing horror manga today, combining classic spirit-hunting, graphic horror, and occult shonen battles with surprisingly strong character writing.

The series follows Keitarou Gentouga, a college student who hates ghosts but attracts them. After a friend’s spiritual injury two years ago left him traumatized and isolated, Keitarou begins to rebuilds his life with the help of his childhood friend Eiko. He soon lands a tutoring job for Eiko’s cousin, Yayoi, an eerie, stoic child prodigy with a powerful spiritual constitution and a mission: to find the ghost that stole her mother.

What starts as rehabilitation turns into a full-blown descent into the occult. Keitarou, Yayoi and Eiko visit cursed sites and confront grotesque, monstrous spirits, each with disturbing backstories and unique abilities.

Despite being serialized in a shonen magazine, Dark Gathering pulls no punches. The ghost designs are horrific, many chapters feature unsettling moments, and the violence is genuinely graphic.

Each chapter offers satisfying narrative arcs, often running 40 pages, and the pacing balances episodic ghost encounters with long-form storytelling. The overarching plot centers around capturing powerful spirits to lift curses, and never feels like filler.

The art is excellent, providing the series with a strong, unsettling atmosphere, and making sure the creepy moments hit hard.

Dark Gathering isn’t just one of the best ongoing horror manga, it’s also one of the strongest shonen manga currently running. Highly recommended for fans of supernatural terror, occult intrigue, and disturbing-but-stylish battles.

Genres: Horror, Supernatural

Status: Ongoing (Shonen)

7. Mieruko-Chan

Mieruko-chan stands out as one of the most creative and emotionally resonant ongoing horror manga. Like Dark Gathering, it centers on ghosts and twisted spirits that torment the living. But while Dark Gathering features characters who fight back and capture spirits, Mieruko-chan flips that dynamic completely.

Miko Yotsuya is a high school girl who can see ghosts. They are often horrible, grotesque abominations that cling to people and leer from the shadows. Yet there’s a twist: she doesn’t confront them, doesn’t run, and doesn’t even acknowledge their presence. Instead, she endures them quietly, pretending she can’t see them, because the moment she reacts, they’ll know.

This simple premise makes Mieruko-chan such an effective slow-burn horror. Every ghost encounter becomes a psychological endurance test, where the smallest flinch might provoke something terrible. It’s about surviving through composure, not confrontation.

Yet despite its terrifying subject matter, Mieruko-chan blends in a surprising amount of slice-of-life comedy. There are genuinely funny moments as Miko tries to go about her daily life while surrounded by nightmare fuel.

The art elevates everything. The ghosts are among the most disturbing creatures in modern horror manga. They are dripping, misshapen, and frozen in expressions of silent agony. All the while, the rest of the manga is drawn in a cute, clean style that heightens the contrast.

As the story expands with new characters and lore, the emotional core remains the same: the quiet horror of pretending everything is okay when it definitely isn’t.

If you’re looking for an ongoing horror manga with top-tier creature design, subtle psychological tension, and a unique twist on the ghost genre, Mieruko-chan is a must-read.

Genres: Horror, Comedy, Supernatural, Mystery, Slice of Life

Status: Ongoing (Seinen)

6. The Summer Hikaru Died

The Summer Hikaru Died by Mokumokuren is one of the most emotionally powerful and philosophically rich ongoing horror manga today. Set in a remote mountain village, it begins with a premise that’s both unsettling and deeply tragic. Yoshiki, a quiet teenager, knows his best friend Hikaru has died. And yet, something wearing Hikaru’s face has returned.

This is no mystery box plot, however. Hikaru’s inhuman nature is revealed immediately. His true form, when glimpsed, is a writhing mass of pulsating, alien forms, suggesting something far beyond human comprehension. The story leans into cosmic horror early, but it’s not about jump scares or monsters. It’s about grief, longing, and the ache of holding onto someone who’s already gone.

Yoshiki stays close to the thing that replaced Hikaru, not out of ignorance, but because he can’t bring himself to let go. That quiet, emotional tension sets this manga apart. It’s a horror story where love and terror blur together, and where mourning becomes companionship, however twisted.

There are BL (boys’ love) undertones, expressed through aching intimacy and confusion rather than romance. A moment early on, when Yoshiki plunges his hand into Hikaru’s unnatural body, perfectly captures this: it’s horrifying, yes, but also strangely intimate.

Beyond its emotional and psychological depth, The Summer Hikaru Died builds a rich folkloric backdrop. The village’s unease, the silent woods, and the looming presence of a local deity known as Nounuki-sama add layers of mystery that continue to deepen with each chapter.

If you’re searching for an ongoing horror manga that fuses existential dread with emotional resonance and rural folklore, this is one of the most unforgettable series currently being published.

Genres: Horror, Mystery, Supernatural, BL

Status: Ongoing (Seinen)

5. Nikubami Honegishimi

Nikubami Honegishimi by Paregoric is one of the most promising and original ongoing horror manga currently being serialized. Told across two timelines, it merges urban legend, grotesque monster design, and an ever-deepening mystery with a creeping, slow-burn style of horror.

The story opens in 1999, following the eccentric occult magazine editor Inubosaki and her photographer companion Asama. Together, they investigate a series of strange paranormal cases. Thus, each chapter plays out like a standalone horror short. These include haunted furniture, surreal sightings, and twisted, almost dreamlike monsters. Fast forward to 2023, and Inubosaki’s nephew is searching for answers about her mysterious death. He seeks out Asama, now a full-fledged psychic, as the narrative shifts between past and present.

While the manga initially unfolds in an episodic format, a larger mystery tied to Inubosaki’s fate slowly comes into focus. The pacing is deliberate, allowing the horror to breathe. Rather than relying on shock value or gore, Nikubami Honegishimi excels at cultivating quiet dread and surreal discomfort.

Visually, the manga is unconventional. The art style is sketchy and exaggerated, especially in Inubosaki’s often comical, catlike expressions. Yet when it comes to the monsters and tone, the artwork shines. The creature design is haunting and original, delivering some of the most nightmarish visuals in recent horror manga.

It’s still in its early stages, but Nikubami Honegishimi has all the makings of a cult classic. If you’re looking for a unique ongoing horror manga that blends urban legends with eerie atmosphere and grotesque visuals, this one is well worth your time.

Genres: Horror, Supernatural, Mystery

Status: Ongoing (Seinen)

4. Dandadan

Dandadan might not be a traditional horror story, but make no mistake: this is one of the wildest, most entertaining series running today.

Written by Yukinobu Tatsu, a former assistant to Chainsaw Man’s Tatsuki Fujimoto, Dandadan blends horror, sci-fi, supernatural folklore and battle shonen into one chaotic genre-hopping ride. The result is pure, unfiltered insanity.

The story begins with a dare between Momo Ayase and the nerdy, bullied Ken Takakura. He believes in aliens. She believes only in ghosts. They each investigate a location tied to their respective beliefs, and both are proven right. The supernatural and extraterrestrial collide head-on, setting the stage for a nonstop, high-energy series where anything can happen.

Dandadan’s brilliance lies in its total disregard of sticking to one tone. One moment you’re watching a terrifying, grotesque showdown with Turbo Granny. The next, you’re watching a slice-of-life romcom scene at school. Then it shifts again, plunging into kaiju brawls, or alien invasions.

The horror element comes primarily from its yokai and ghost encounters, many of which are rendered with chilling, detailed intensity. These segments genuinely tap into classic horror energy before exploding into shonen-style action.

Tatsu’s storytelling is bold, unrestrained, and constantly escalating. Despite the tonal shifts, Dandadan somehow pulls all together. Every genre beat lands. Every twist raises the stakes.

While it leans more into action and comedy, Dandadan still deserves a spot among the best ongoing horror manga for its sheer unpredictability, high-stakes supernatural battles, and some truly creepy moments horror fans won’t forget.

Genres: Horror, Supernatural, Comedy, Action, Alien

Status: Ongoing (Shonen)

3. Yuuan no Kanata

Among all ongoing horror manga, Yuuan no Kanata stands out as one of the most metaphorical, and it might also be my personal favorite right now.

Serialized in 2023, this haunting new series follows Kanata, a woman who, after experiencing a traumatic event, loses the ability to feel fear. Now emotionally numb, she immerses herself in the supernatural, chasing anything that might finally make her feel again.

The manga’s structure is episodic, introducing a wide range of paranormal encounters. Some chapters focus entirely on other characters, like a ghost-seeing livestreamer, a grieving father, or a cynical journalist. Yet all of them eventually intersect with Kanata. Despite this shifting perspective, the narrative stays cohesive, tied together by Kanata’s presence and the recurring theme of how people respond to the unexplained.

What truly elevates Yuuan no Kanata is the stunning art. The spirits and supernatural creatures are drawn in heavy ink and layered textures that bleed into the panel from another world. These designs contrast sharply with the realistic backgrounds, creating a jarring and effective visual horror that hits hard.

There’s no reliance on gore or jump scares here. Instead, the horror emerges slowly, built on tension, dread, and the psychological unraveling of each character. Kanata herself is enigmatic but compelling. Her lack of fear is not just a quirk, but a wound, and a glimpse into her past suggests deeper emotional scars yet to be explored.

If you’re craving a beautiful, eerie, and quietly devastating experience, Yuuan no Kanata is one of the best ongoing horror manga to pick up right now. It’s thoughtful, visually striking, and absolutely chilling.

Genres: Horror, Supernatural, Mystery

Status: Ongoing (Seinen)

2. A Suffocatingly Lonely Death

While it leans more toward psychological thriller than pure horror, A Suffocating Lonely Death easily earns its place among the best ongoing horror manga right now.

This grim new series is written by Inoryuu Hajime and illustrated by Itou Shouta, the same creative duo behind My Dearest Self With Malice Aforethought. If you’ve read that title, you’ll find a similar mood here: an unsettling, slow-burn mystery laced with violence, trauma, and the shadowy workings of the human mind.

The manga opens with a gruesome case involving child mass murder, launching detective Jin Saeki into a tangled investigation. The prime suspect is Juuzou Haikawa, a cryptic and possibly unhinged figure whose ties to the equally enigmatic Kanon Hazumi raise more questions than answers. From there, the story unfolds with layers of suspicion, buried trauma, and eerie connections that suggest something much darker beneath the surface.

Though the horror here is psychological and grounded, it’s no less disturbing. The first chapter alone delivers unsettling imagery and themes, with a grotesque crime scene and a heavy sense of dread. The art is sharp and visceral, particularly in its depiction of anatomy and violence. Characters aw drawn with vivid individuality, and the expressions often veer into the uncomfortably intense.

Compared to their previous work, A Suffocating Lonely Death feels more restrained, at least so far. The plot twists might still come, but the pacing is more methodical, which makes the mystery feel weightier and more realistic.

If you’re a fan of adult psychological horror or complex, noir-style crime manga, this one is a must-read. With its mature tone, compelling mystery, and top-tier presentation, A Suffocating Lonely Death is one of the most gripping ongoing horror manga out there today.

Genres: Mystery, Psychological, Horror

Status: Ongoing (Seinen)

1. DRCL: Midnight Children

DRCL: Midnight Children isn’t just one of the best ongoing horror manga, it might be the most visually stunning manga currently in publication, period.

Created by Shinichi Sakamoto, this gothic reinterpretation of Dracula transforms Bram Stoker’s classic into a surreal, poetic nightmare of monstrous beauty and suffocating dread. Set in the atmospheric halls of Whitby School, the story follows Mina, the institution’s first female student, and her friendship with Lucy. Both of them are swept into a sinister spiral when Count Dracula arrives.

What begins as a grounded period piece quickly dissolves into a fever dream of cryptic visions, animalistic transformations, and occult horror. Sakamoto doesn’t just retell Dracula, he reimagines it entirely, blurring reality and dream in a way that makes even familiar plot beats feel alien and new.

The art is truly jaw-dropping. Each page is a meticulously crafted composition, often resembling fine art more than conventional manga. Sakamoto’s use of texture, light, and unconventional paneling creates a hypnotic rhythm. We see graveyards shimmer under moonlight, and demonic figures twisting into unholy forms, and entire sequences told through metaphor instead of direct action. It’s abstract at times, but never aimless.

Narratively, the manga leans into symbolism and nonlinear storytelling. Thoughts, dreams, and memories bleed into one another, making the experience deliberately complex but deeply rewarding for those willing to sink into its unique style.

DRCL: Midnight Children isn’t your standard vampire story. It’s a mesmerizing, richly layered descent into madness, sexuality, and bloodlust. If you’re looking for something hauntingly original from the world of ongoing horror manga, this is a masterpiece in the making.

Genres: Horror, Vampire, Fantasy, Drama

Status: Ongoing (Seinen)

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More in Horror Manga

Sometimes, it’s not ghosts or monsters that get you. It’s the overwhelming terror of simply trying to stay alive. That’s the essence of survival horror manga: stories where characters are thrust into nightmarish situations and must fight just to make it through another day.

Survival horror comes in many forms. Some series feature classic setups like zombie outbreaks or deadly viruses. Others throw you into high-stakes death games, apocalyptic wastelands, or isolated locations where escape seems impossible. And then there are even weirder ones: tales of alien invasions, mutated creatures, or bizarre scientific experiments gone horribly wrong.

Some series unfold in remote wilderness, on mountains or islands. Others take place in undersea stations, crumbling cities, or twisted alternate realities. They all have one thing in common: no one is ever truly safe.

Survival horror has exploded in popularity over the past decade, but not all series are worth your time. For this list, I’ve selected only the ones that truly stand out. It’s a mix of my personal favorites and hidden gems that offer something special, whether it’s tight pacing, terrific visuals, or just a relentlessly intense atmosphere.

So if you’re looking for survival horror manga that will keep your pulse racing, this is the list for you.

Mild spoiler warning: I’ve kept descriptions vague, but some light plot details might be mentioned.

Here are the best survival horror manga you should read (last updated: July 2025).

11. BioMeat Nectar

If you’re looking for a classic survival horror manga that leans into chaos, carnage, and insatiable monstrosities, Biomeat: Nectar is a solid pick. It’s far from perfect, but there’s a raw intensity to this series that fans of old-school horror will appreciate.

The premise is simple but memorable. In order to solve food shortages, Japan develops a genetically engineered organism called BioMeat (or B-M for short). These creatures can consume any organic matter, including humans, and reproduce rapidly. Initially contained and harvested as a food source, the inevitable happens: one escapes. And once a single B-M gets loose, they spread like a wildfire.

The story follows Kan Maaya and his friends as they battle wave after wave of outbreaks, from childhood into adulthood. The manga is split into several arcs, each depicting a new catastrophic B-M event. The survival element is front and center.

Visually, BioMeat: Nectar has a retro feel. The character art is dated, the creature design isn’t especially varied, but the backgrounds and environments are drawn with care.

The manga suffers from some repetition. Its formula of B-M outbreak, heroic sacrifices, and escape becomes predictable after a while. Side characters exist mainly to die or to deliver a dramatic farewell. And while the main cast grows older and more hardened, the emotional depth can be inconsistent.

Still, the series nails what survival horror should be about: a desperate fight to live in the face of an overwhelming threat. The pacing is brisk, the body count is high, and there’s a satisfying escalation of scale.

Biomeat: Nectar may not be a masterpiece, but it’s a grim and relentless cult favorite.

Genres: Survival Horror, Sci-Fi, Apocalypse

Status: Finished (Shonen)

10. Jinmen

If you’ve ever wondered what would happen if animals grew human faces and turned against their captors, Jinmen has the disturbingly specific answer. It’s grotesque, bizarre, occasionally dumb, but somehow unforgettable.

The story follows Masato, a high schooler revisiting the zoo where he once bonded with a young elephant named Hanayo. Yet his return is met with horror: the animals now wear human faces and have begun slaughtering the staff in gruesome fashion. What starts as a simple visit spirals into an apocalyptic nightmare, with Masato and his friends caught in the chaos.

At first glance, Jinman might seem like another survival horror romp, but its central concept is so bizarre it immediately sets itself apart. The mutated animals with uncanny human expressions are the real stars of this manga. They range from unsettlingly tragic to deeply grotesque, and the detailed artwork makes sure you’ll remember them. Even when the story stumbles, the visuals keep you turning pages just to see what fresh abomination appears next.

That said, Jinmen is far from polished. The pacing is frantic, the tone lurches between serious horror and emotional melodrama, and character logic occasionally goes out the window. The cast is mostly forgettable, and the narrative often feels unsure of what it’s trying to say.

But despite its messiness, Jinmen works on a primal level. It’s raw, chaotic, and constantly escalating. If you’re into horror manga that lean into the absurd and don’t mind a bit of ridiculousness, this one absolutely delivers.

Genres: Survival Horror, Animal Horror, Gore, Apocalypse

Status: Finished (Seinen)

9. Monkey Peak

Monkey Peak is survival horror in its purest, pulpiest form, a blood-soaked slasher flick stretched across snow-covered cliffs, with a giant murderous monkey at the center of it all.

The premise is simple: a group of pharmaceutical employees go on a corporate retreat deep in the mountains, only to be hunted by a mysterious creature that looks like a hulking demonic monkey. What follows is a brutal, high-body-count game of survival as the group tries to descend the mountain. All the while, they have to deal with starvation, dehydration, and each other’s collapsing morality.

The violence is graphic and frequent. Monkey Peak rarely shies away from showing guts, limbs and brain matter flying across snowy rock. Yet while the titular monkey is the most immediate threat, the real tension often comes from the infighting, betrayals, and the desperate survival choices of the human characters.

That said, the manga isn’t without flaws. Many characters are paper-thin and exist just to die gruesomely. The pacing sags in the middle, and the ending may leave you scratching your head over certain revelations.

In terms of raw entertainment, however, Monkey Peak more than delivers. It’s tense, gory, and packed with the kind of thrills you’d expect from a B-horror movie. The survival elements like freezing temperatures, lack of food, and dangerous terrain add genuine stakes beyond just the monster attacks.

It might be the conceptually weakest survival horror manga on this list, but there’s undeniable fun in watching the carnage unfold. If you’re in the mood for a guilty pleasure, Monkey Peak is a solid pick.

Genres: Survival Horror, Animal Horror, Slasher

Status: Finished (Seinen)

8. Fort of the Apocalypse

Imagine you’re falsely convicted, thrown into a brutal juvenile detention center, and then a zombie apocalypse breaks out. That’s the wild setup behind Fort of the Apocalypse. It’s a gripping, chaotic blend of prison drama and survival horror that delivers some of the most grotesque zombie design in manga.

Our protagonist, Maeda, is just trying to survive life in juvie when the infected breach the prison walls, turning everything into a desperate fight for survival. The series quickly becomes a high-stakes, violent ride as Maeda and his ragtag cellmates fight their way through monstrous threats, betrayal, and escalating horror.

While it starts off as a familiar zombie outbreak, Fort of the Apocalypse stands out thanks to its creativity. The zombies don’t stay human for long, but mutate into horrifying abominations. These disturbing transformations give the manga its edge, shifting from it standard undead fare to something more nightmarish and unpredictable.

The characters, especially the four leads, bring a lot of energy and personality to the story. They’re flawed, distinct, and often hilarious in their own morbid ways. The dynamic between them is one of the manga’s highlights, keeping things grounded even as the world falls apart.

That said, the series was unfortunately cut short. The final arc feels rushed, and several plot threads are left dangling. The pacing also stumbles later on, with tonal shifts and a few questionable writing choices.

Still, for fans of zombie horror, prison survival, or creature design that leans into full-blown body horror, Fort of the Apocalypse is a bloody, intense, and underrated gem, one that deserves a spot on any survival horror manga list.

Genres: Zombie, Action, Apocalypse

Status: Finished (Shonen)

7. Suicide Island

Suicide Island begins with a stark premise: repeat suicidal individuals are sent to a deserted island by the government instead of being treated. Alone, unarmed, and cut off from society, they must fend for themselves in an environment that doesn’t guarantee death; it just refuses to save them.

The manga tells the story of Sei, a teen who survives a suicide attempt and finds himself exiled on the island. Eventually, he and other survivors build shelters, grow food, and create rudimentary rules. But beneath the surface lies bleak complexity: some want to live, others still want to die. These divided motivations drive conflict, manipulation, and power struggles.

The strength of Suicide Island lies in its exploration of humanity’s gray areas. The survivors aren’t heroes; they’re deeply flawed individuals forced into morally ambiguous situations. Yet the cast shows how even the most broken people can cling to life in surprising ways.

The eerie realism is supported by gritty, unpolished art that fits the tone. Themes of despair, reluctant survival, and existential dread take center stage. The series can feel preachy at times, and character development swings toward convenient extremes, but the tension is real.

If you want a slow-burning survival horror manga packed with philosophical questions about life and death, Suicide Island offers a haunting, thought-provoking experience. It’s not slick, and not always coherent, but it dares to challenge its readers.

Genres: Survival Horror, Psychological, Drama

Status: Finished (Seinen)

6. Battle Royal

Battle Royale is one of my all-time favorite movies. When I found out about its manga adaptation, I had to check it out. It’s one of the most disturbing and memorable survival horror manga I’ve ever read.

Based on the original novel by Koushun Takami, the manga is illustrated by Masayuki Taguchi. It largely retells the same story: each year, a random class is selected to participate in a brutal death game where students are forced to kill one another until only one survivor remains.

What sets Battle Royale apart is its scope. While the film and novel keep things tight and efficient, the manga expands on nearly every character, offering flashbacks, inner thoughts, and additional scenes that flesh out their relationships and emotional stakes.

As a survival horror manga, Battle Royale doesn’t hold back. It’s incredibly violent and graphic, with plenty of disturbing imagery. Taguchi’s art style emphasizes gore and suffering in almost gleeful detail, and while it can feel excessive, it undeniably adds to the grim, oppressive tone of the story.

Battle Royal has its problems. The structure is formulaic: a character is introduced, we learn their backstory, and then they die. Some fights are dramatically extended, with characters surviving wounds that should be fatal. While this hurts realism, it adds a visceral, manga-specific intensity. The most glaring issue is the physical appearance of the characters. Some look like tiny children; others, like full-grown adults.

Still, despite its flaws, Battle Royal stands out as one of the defining survival horror manga of its era. If you’re a fan of the movie or the novel and want a deeper look into the characters and carnage, this is a must-read.

Genres: Horror, Action, Psychological, Drama

Status: Finished (Seinen)

5. 6000

While it’s not your typical survival horror manga, 6000 hits all the right pressure points: claustrophobia, isolation, psychological breakdown, and a creeping, unknowable threat.

The story follows a corporate crew sent to investigate a derelict deep-sea station 6000 meters below sea level after a string of mysterious deaths. What starts as a routine inspection quickly spirals into madness. Hallucinations take over, paranoia festers, and something ancient and inhuman seems to lurk in the staion’s depth.

What makes 6000 stand out is its sheer atmosphere. The artwork is dense and gritty, with heavy shadows and chaotic linework that amplify the sense of dread. The layout of the underwater base is intentionally disorienting, forcing readers to feel as lost and trapped as the characters. Locations bleed into one another, events distort, and death can come at any moment.

Unlike many other survival horror stories, 6000 doesn’t rely on jump scares. Instead, it builds slow, suffocating tension. The terror comes from within, from psychological decay, isolation, and the fear of what’s lurking just beyond the edge of sanity. When the horror finally strikes, it’s terrifying: bloated corpses, cryptic rituals, and eldritch abominations.

6000 isn’t perfect. The plot can be confusing, and the characters aren’t especially deep. But none of that undermines the sheer experience the manga offers. It’s one of the few survival horror manga that fully embraces cosmic horror, making it a must-read for fans of H. P. Lovecraft or anyone who loves dark, cerebral terror.

If you’re looking for something bleak, surreal, and utterly suffocating, 6000 belongs on your list. One of the most underrated and unforgettable horror manga out there.

Genres: Horror, Psychological, Survival, Cosmic Horror

Status: Finished (Seinen)

4. Dragon Head

If there’s one manga that defines survival horror, it’s Dragon Head.

Minetaro Mochizuki’s late 90s masterpiece is a grounded yet harrowing descent into fear and madness, and one of the most psychologically intense horror survival manga ever created.

The story opens with a catastrophic train derailment, trapping three high school students, Teru, Ako and Nobuo, inside a pitch-black tunnel. There’s no food, no light, no hope. What follows is a suffocating, nerve-fraying battle for survival against panic, claustrophobia, and the slow unraveling of the human mind.

But that’s only the beginning.

Once they escape the tunnel, the nightmare continues. The world outside is barely recognizable: destroyed cities, ash-covered skies, and the eerie silence of a civilization that may have already ended. Dragon Head shifts from claustrophobic horror to full-blown psychological apocalypse, where the scariest threats aren’t zombies or monsters, but people who’ve gone mad.

What sets Dragon Head apart from other survival horror manga is its realism. The fear here is primal and raw. There’s no heroism, no miracle, just instinct, fear, and desperation.

The art is gritty and bleak, with beautifully detailed landscapes and masterful use of shadow and expression. You can feel the dust, the heat from burning wreckage, and the isolation pressing in on the characters. Even when the plot slows down near the end, and refuses to give answers, that ambiguity works. It reinforces the manga’s core theme: in a world stripped of meaning, horror is what we create.

If you’re looking for pure psychological survival horror without gimmicks, monsters, and just the human mind breaking down, Dragon Head is a must-read. Terrifying, thought-provoking, and still unmatched in tone.

Genres: Horror, Adventure, Tragedy, Psychological, Post-Apocalyptic

Status: Finished (Seinen)

3. Alice in Borderland

Haro Aso’s Alice in Borderland is one of the absolute best survival horror manga and arguably the pinnacle of the death game subgenre.

Our protagonist, Ryohei Arisu, is a disaffected teenager who avoids thinking about the future. That changes during a late-night hangout with his friends Karube and Chota, when a sudden explosion transports them to the Borderland: a twisted alternate version of Japan where people are forced to participate in deadly games.

From its first chapter, Alice in Borderland sets itself apart with the variety and creativity of its survival scenarios. Each game is categorized by suit: spades, clubs, diamonds, or hearts. Each one tests a different aspect of the players, such as strength, teamwork, intellect, or emotional manipulation. This is a full spectrum of psychological, physical, and emotional warfare.

What truly makes Alice in Borderland stand out as survival horror is its emotional weight. Arisu isn’t a genius or a warrior; he’s just a lost, thoughtful young man who wants to survive without losing his humanity. That emotional core gives the story surprising depth. Many side characters, too, are fleshed out with rich backstories and meaningful development.

That said, the second half of the manga becomes more episodic and jumps between characters frequently. While many of these chapters are compelling, they dilute the central story’s momentum. The ending is divisive and more philosophical than explosive.

Still, these are small blemishes on what is otherwise one of the most well-crafted, imaginative, and emotionally resonant survival horror manga out there. If you’re a fan of psychological tension, death games, or stories that pit people against impossible odds, Alice in Borderland is a must-read.

Genres: Survival Horror, Death Game, Psychological

Status: Finished (Shonen)

2. Gantz

Gantz by Hiroya Oku is ultraviolent, unpredictable, and absolutely relentless in how it pushes boundaries. It’s a survival horror manga that fuses grotesque alien horror with adrenaline-pumping sci-fi action.

The story begins with Kei Kurono, a selfish teenager who dies after being hit by a train. Death isn’t the end, however. He wakes up in a Tokyo apartment alongside other recently deceased people, all gathered by a mysterious black sphere named Gantz. Their new reality is to participate in deadly missions where they must hunt and kill aliens disguised among humans.

What makes Gantz so compelling is its sheer unpredictability. The missions are brutal meat grinders filled with nightmarish, often grotesque alien designs. Death is constant. Limbs are severed, heads explode, and desperation is high.

Gantz doesn’t stop there, though. The horror blends into the real world between missions. We witness bullying, sexual assault, and even a mass shooting. It’s a deeply nihilistic take on humanity that makes the missions feel almost sane by comparison.

Visually, it’s a masterpiece. Oku’s digital art brings cinematic clarity to every panel. The action scenes are brutal and elegant, with choreography and paneling that rival blockbusters. When things go off the rails, the sheer spectacle of destruction is mesmerizing.

Character-wise, Gantz is fantastic. At the start, Kurono is despicable, but his growth into a hardened, battle-scarred leader is one of the series’ greatest strengths. There’s real emotional payoff during the carnage.

Gantz isn’t just a survival horror manga. It‘s survival horror dialed up to eleven. If you’re looking for something brutal, stylish, and totally unhinged, there’s nothing quite like Gantz.

Genres: Horror, Action, Psychological, Sci-Fi, Alien

Status: Finished (Seinen)

1. Kamisama no Iutoori and Kamisama no Iutoori Ni

If you’re searching for the most unhinged, absurd, and addictive survival horror manga in the death game genre, Kamisama no Iutoori and its sequel are as good as it gets. Written by Muneyuki Kaneshiro and drawn by Akeji Fujimura, this series is a masterclass in escalation.

The first part starts with high schooler Shun Takahata, whose ordinary school day turn into a bloodbath when his teacher’s head explodes, and a deadly game of Daruma-san ga Koronda begins. From there, the manga plunges headfirst into twisted childhood games with fatal stakes. The second part introduces a new protagonist and cast before ultimately reconnecting to the first part, raising the scope and chaos.

What makes this survival horror manga stand out isn’t just the sheer creativity of its games, but the characters. Where many death game series rely on bland archetypes, this one gives us unforgettable personalities.

Characters like Amaya, a grinning sociopath who steals every scene he’s in, and Ushimitsu, who starts off as a lunatic and evolves into one of the most layered characters in the series, elevate the tension and drama.

The art starts off serviceable in Part 1, but Part 2 is where it truly shines. Fujimura’s paneling becomes razor sharp, his visual designs wildly imaginative. Some climactic chapters are so beautifully rendered, you’ll reread them for the art alone.

Kamisama no Iutoori is absurd and campy, but that’s exactly the point. It’s my favorite death game manga, and a must-read for every fan of the genre. It’s a survival horror series that embraces the grotesque, the silly, and the sadistic, and dials it up to new heights.

Genres: Horror, Action, Survival, Psychological, Comedy

Status: Finished (Shonen)

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