Thirty Days to Halloween, Day 18: Japanese Horror

       In Japanese literature, anime, manga, theatre, and film, video games, and artwork, one can discover how popular horror is in Japanese culture. Japanese classics of horror date back several centuries.  In these tales, which the Japanese call Kaidan (strange stories), one can find ghost stories, giant monsters, demons, possessions, vengeful spirits, zombies, psychological horror, Shinto gods who morph into vengeful states, and women.  (There is an interesting website entitled, Femme Fatale: The Women of Japanese Horror.) And HERE, you can read a Beginner’s Guide to Japanese Horror.l For more extensive study, I would recommend the Encyclopedia of Japanese Horror. 

America was introduced to Japanese horror in films like The Ring, The Grudge, Dark Water, and One Missed Call.  The Forest is an American horror film that is set in Japan. On Facebook, one can find pages and groups devoted to Japanese horror and horror films.

Here’s a great little video about Japanese Horror. also known as J-Horror. This contains some history.

Here’s a video where Executive Producer of Crow’s Blood, Darren Lynn Bousman, tells us his Top 5 films from Japanese Horror.