 Cover ofMonthly Halloween issue 1 | |
| Categories | Horror,shōjo manga |
|---|---|
| Frequency | Monthly |
| First issue | December 13, 1985; 39 years ago (1985-12-13) |
| Final issue | December 1995 |
| Company | Asahi Sonorama |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
Monthly Halloween (Japanese:月刊ハロウィン,Hepburn:Gekkan Halloween) was a Japanesemanga magazine published byAsahi Sonorama from 1985 to 1995. The magazine focused onhorrorshōjo manga (girls' comics), and was the first magazine of its kind in this category. In the 1990s, the magazine launched two sister publications:Nemuki andHonkowa, both of which continued publication afterMonthly Halloween folded in 1995.
The publishing companyAsahi Sonorama began producing magazines publishingshōnen manga (boys' comics) in the early 1980s, such asGekkan Manga Shōnen andDUO, but found theshōnen market too competitive and pivoted toshōjo manga.[1] During the 1980s,horror films were especially popular in Japan among teenaged girls, whileHalloween had recently been introduced in the country as a holiday.[2] In response to these trends, Asahi Sonorama decided to create ashōjo manga magazine dedicated tohorror manga, using the holiday as the name for the publication.[2]
Editors at the company contactedKazuo 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 ofMonthly Halloween was published on Friday, December 13, 1985 (cover dated as January 1986) as a reference to theFriday the 13th franchise.[2]
Monthly Halloween was the firstshōjo magazine dedicated to the horror genre.[2] Its success led to a wave ofshōjo horror imitators at other publishing companies, such asSuspiria andMystery Bonita atAkita Shoten, which were oriented towardssuspense manga; andHorror M atBunkasha [ja], which was oriented towards gory and violent stories.[3] Buoyed by this success, Asahi Sonorama launched two special issues ofMonthly Halloween in the early 1990s,Nekumi andHonkowa, which were later spun off into independent publications.[4]
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 seriesTomie; the magazine began publishing the series in 1987, and Itō quickly became the magazine's star artist.[5]
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 discontinuedMonthly Halloween and replaced it withNemuki, with the last issue ofMonthly Halloween published in December 1995.[6]
Nemurenu Yoru no Kimyō Na Hanashi (眠れぬ夜の奇妙な話,lit. "Strange Stories of Sleepless Nights"), most commonly known by its abbreviationNemuki (ネムキ), is a bimonthly magazine that began as a special issue ofMonthly Halloween in 1990.[7] It publishesfantasy manga in addition to horror, with stories that aim to be "more ambitious, sensitive and mature" than those ofMonthly Halloween.[6] In 2013, following a restructuring at Asahi, the magazine changed its name toNemuki+ [ja].[8]
Honto Ni Atta Kowai Hanashi (ほんとにあった怖い話,lit. "Scary Stories That Really Happened"), most commonly known by its abbreviationHonkowa (ほん怖), is a bimonthly magazine that began as a special issue ofMonthly Halloween in 1991. It publishes horror stories that purport to be based on true events.[2][9]
The magazine was founded after a manga published inMonthly 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.[2]Honto Ni Atta Kowai Hanashi [ja], a television program adapting stories from the magazine, has aired onFuji Television since 1999.[9]