Monthly Halloween

was a Japanese manga magazine published by Asahi Sonorama from 1985 to 1995. The magazine focused on horror ''shōjo'' manga (girls' comics), and was the first magazine of its kind in this category. In the 1990s, the magazine launched two sister publications: ''Nemuki'' and ''Honkowa'', both of which continued publication after ''Monthly Halloween'' folded in 1995.

History

The publishing company Asahi Sonorama began producing magazines publishing ''shōnen'' manga (boys' comics) in the early 1980s, such as ''Gekkan Manga Shōnen'' and ''DUO'', but found the ''shōnen'' market too competitive and pivoted to ''shōjo'' manga. During the 1980s, horror films were especially popular in Japan among teenaged girls, while Halloween had recently been introduced in the country as a holiday. In response to these trends, Asahi Sonorama decided to create a ''shōjo'' manga magazine dedicated to horror manga, using the holiday as the name for the publication.

Editors at the company contacted Kazuo Umezu, a popular horror manga artist who had previously published works with the company, to participate in the launch of the magazine. The first issue of ''Monthly Halloween'' was published on Friday, December 13, 1985 (cover dated as January 1986) as a reference to the '' Friday the 13th'' franchise.

''Monthly Halloween'' was the first ''shōjo'' magazine dedicated to the horror genre. Its success led to a wave of ''shōjo'' horror imitators at other publishing companies, such as ''Suspiria'' and ''Mystery Bonita'' at Akita Shoten, which were oriented towards suspense manga; and '' Horror M'' at , which was oriented towards gory and violent stories. Buoyed by this success, Asahi Sonorama launched two special issues of ''Monthly Halloween'' in the early 1990s, ''Nekumi'' and ''Honkowa'', which were later spun off into independent publications.

Following its launch, the magazine established the Kazuo Umezu Prize, chaired by Umezu himself, in order to identify and recruit new talent. Junji Ito won the prize in 1986 with the first chapter of his manga series ''Tomie''; the magazine began publishing the series in 1987, and Itō quickly became the magazine's star artist.

The horror genre declined in popularity by the mid-1990s, and the macabre and horrifying elements of the magazine were increasingly diluted into other genres, such as comedy. Asahi Sonorama eventually discontinued ''Monthly Halloween'' and replaced it with ''Nemuki'', with the last issue of ''Monthly Halloween'' published in December 1995.

Sister publications

''Nemuki''

, most commonly known by its abbreviation , is a bimonthly magazine that began as a special issue of ''Monthly Halloween'' in 1990. It publishes fantasy manga in addition to horror, with stories that aim to be "more ambitious, sensitive and mature" than those of ''Monthly Halloween''. Artists Ichiko Ima, Daijiro Morohoshi and Akiko Hatsu are some of the most important contributors to the magazine. In 2013, following a restructuring at Asahi, the magazine changed its name to '.

''Honkowa''

, most commonly known by its abbreviation , is a bimonthly magazine that began as a special issue of ''Monthly Halloween'' in 1991. It publishes horror stories that purport to be based on true events.

The magazine was founded after a manga published in ''Monthly Halloween'' by artist Takakazu Nagakubo about a "true" encounter with a ghost resulted in a large number of readers writing in to the magazine about their own supernatural experiences. This prompted Asahi Sonorama to publish a special issue of the magazine dedicated to stories inspired by true events, which was successful enough to be spun off into its own publication. ', a television program adapting stories from the magazine, has aired on Fuji Television since 1999.

References

Bibliography

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Further reading

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*{{cite web , last1=Kracker , first1=Dave , last2=Szpara , first2=Dan , title=Trick or Treat , url=http://www.ceiling-gallery.com/blog/2015/10/6/halloween , website=Ceiling Gallery , date=October 7, 2015

External links

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Monthly Halloween
' at the National Diet Library

1985 establishments in Japan
Magazines established in 1985
Magazines disestablished in 1995
Shōjo manga magazines
Monthly magazines
Horror anime and manga
Horror fiction magazines