Junji Ito is brilliant, and we love his works, but we also love horror manga in all its forms. Let us take a look at some other horror manga artists.
Kazuo Umezz
Starting out strong with the man who influenced Junji Ito the most, Kazuo Umezz. Now in his late 80s, Kazuo Umezz is considered the god of horror manga, one who was inspired by Japanese folktales. One of his masterpieces, The Drifting Classroom, is a series in which a quake results in time travel shenanigans, leaving the main character, who is a sixth-grader, to survive in a hopeless, post-apocalyptic scenario, where even adults lose their sanity.
Kentaro Miura
Kentaro Miura is no longer with us; he died in 2021. However, by the time of his death, he was already a very popular manga artist, who had written Berserk. It is about a famous wandering mercenary, who had had a rather traumatic childhood. Whether it is horror or just dark fantasy can be argued, but it is a great, critically acclaimed work worth your time.
Kaori Yuki
Kaori Yuki is a very prolific mangaka, who started her career in 1987. She seems to enjoy gothic tales, and her most famous manga is Earl Cain. In it, earl Cain manages to get rid of his abusive father by poisoning him, but not before the father curses him to live miserably and die alone. A more recent manga is Alice in Murderland, in which the parents of the main character decide that their children should fight each other to death until only one is left to become the heir. Overall, both horror and gore can be found in the works of Kaori Yuki (which, by the way, is a pen-name).
Shuzo Oshimi
Shuzo Oshimi, as a mangaka, has a preference for psychological horror. One of his most famous works is Happiness, which features supernatural creatures, such as vampires. Another example is Blood on the Tracks, in which a mother is extremely overprotective and clearly dangerous, but her son has to live with her, even as more and more of her disturbing personality is revealed.
Usamaru Furuya
Usamaru Furuya writes a lot of manga. His horror titles include Lychee Light Club, which is actually based on a play. In it, a club of young boys tries to create AI with questionable methods and for questionable reasons (kidnapping girls). As their methods get out of control, the former leader of the club tries to reclaim his position so that the situation can be resolved peacefully.
As you can see, there are a lot of horror manga that are not written by Junji Ito for you to enjoy. Each of these manga artists has a unique style, so feel free to experiment and find what you like.
Junji Ito is brilliant, and we love his works, but we also love horror manga in all its forms. Let us take a look at some other horror manga artists.
Kazuo Umezz
Starting out strong with the man who influenced Junji Ito the most, Kazuo Umezz. Now in his late 80s, Kazuo Umezz is considered the god of horror manga, one who was inspired by Japanese folktales. One of his masterpieces, The Drifting Classroom, is a series in which a quake results in time travel shenanigans, leaving the main character, who is a sixth-grader, to survive in a hopeless, post-apocalyptic scenario, where even adults lose their sanity.
Kentaro Miura
Kentaro Miura is no longer with us; he died in 2021. However, by the time of his death, he was already a very popular manga artist, who had written Berserk. It is about a famous wandering mercenary, who had had a rather traumatic childhood. Whether it is horror or just dark fantasy can be argued, but it is a great, critically acclaimed work worth your time.
Kaori Yuki
Kaori Yuki is a very prolific mangaka, who started her career in 1987. She seems to enjoy gothic tales, and her most famous manga is Earl Cain. In it, earl Cain manages to get rid of his abusive father by poisoning him, but not before the father curses him to live miserably and die alone. A more recent manga is Alice in Murderland, in which the parents of the main character decide that their children should fight each other to death until only one is left to become the heir. Overall, both horror and gore can be found in the works of Kaori Yuki (which, by the way, is a pen-name).
Shuzo Oshimi
Shuzo Oshimi, as a mangaka, has a preference for psychological horror. One of his most famous works is Happiness, which features supernatural creatures, such as vampires. Another example is Blood on the Tracks, in which a mother is extremely overprotective and clearly dangerous, but her son has to live with her, even as more and more of her disturbing personality is revealed.
Usamaru Furuya
Usamaru Furuya writes a lot of manga. His horror titles include Lychee Light Club, which is actually based on a play. In it, a club of young boys tries to create AI with questionable methods and for questionable reasons (kidnapping girls). As their methods get out of control, the former leader of the club tries to reclaim his position so that the situation can be resolved peacefully.
As you can see, there are a lot of horror manga that are not written by Junji Ito for you to enjoy. Each of these manga artists has a unique style, so feel free to experiment and find what you like.
