The 13 Most Terrifying Junji Ito Manga Stories

There is nary storyteller connected Earth similar Junji Ito. Since his nonrecreational manga debut successful 1987, he's been terrifying readers with his macabre tales and chillingly iconic creations. The brilliantly talented mangaka has rightfully go 1 of the astir good known fearfulness storytellers of his generation, and for bully reason. Junji Ito's beautifully illustrated comics fell deep, devastating secrets, and each communicative helium weaves haunts and horrifies successful the astir unsocial way.

Junji Ito Collections Available Now

To constrictive down Junji Ito's monolithic oeuvre to conscionable 13 of his astir bone-chilling offerings was nary casual feat. While astir of the scariest Junji Ito's abbreviated stories tin beryllium recovered arsenic scans online, his abbreviated stories are besides compiled into carnal collections. Some collections, similar Tomie and Uzumaki, incorporate stories that travel a circumstantial narrative, portion others, similar Shiver and Smashed, see standalone stories collected by theme.

The Scariest Junji Ito Stories

From ominous shade stories, heart-twisting gothic horror, and grotesquely bizarre modern fables, present are the 13 astir terrifying stories from 1 of the masters of fearfulness manga, Junji Ito.

13. The Beautiful Boy astatine the Crossroads

Ito often writes of emotion and however it tin curse us. The first—and throughline—story from his Lovesickness postulation is simply a large illustration of conscionable that. We conscionable Ryusuke connected a train. The teen lad is moving backmost to his hometown aft years away, but the elemental conception of it haunts him.

The devastating crushed for that volition soon beryllium revealed, but successful the meantime, his accomplishment coincides with a inclination of young women seeking retired "crossroads fortunes." Soon the bodies of schoolhouse girls who inquire strangers for their fortunes statesman to crook up brutally murdered; but who is to blame? How does it link with Ryusuke's pass? This wonderfully chilly enigma is 1 of the astir memorable of Ito's tales and introduces 1 of his scariest creations.

12. Village of the Siren

Turning his manus to people horror, Ito crafts different bleak homecoming in Village of the Siren. In the aftermath of a unusual telephone telephone from his parents and an ominous apparition astatine his window, Kyochi decides it's clip for a household reunion. Alas, erstwhile helium returns helium finds that the erstwhile lively—though rural—village has turned into a shade town.

Life present revolves astir a unusual mill of chartless origin, and adjacent weirder are the all-consuming sirens that emanate from it each night. If you emotion a communicative astir unusual rituals, antithetic cults, and the occult past this is the benignant of communicative you'll gobble close up. If you bask fearfulness that breaks taboos, past you'll surely beryllium satisfied arsenic the decease number present is immense and features a seldom seen demographic of victims.

11. I Don't Want to Be a Ghost

When Shigeru kindly picks up a beauteous wandering pistillate from the broadside of a road, his beingness is changed. Although Shigeru worries astatine archetypal astir her bloodied and disoriented state, she explains it away. Days later, the 2 statesman a secretive matter contempt the information that Shigeru is joined and expecting a baby. Blinded by his caller acquaintance's beauty, he's consenting to place however often his person appears covered successful humor and the information that she claims to "love his ghosts." Her existent desires are darker than anyone could person foreseen and Shigeru of people doesn't recognize until excessively late.

10. The Strange Hikizuri Siblings

One of the funniest of Ito's creations, this bleakly humorous portion of beingness communicative follows an unhinged acceptable of siblings who instrumentality large pleasance successful tormenting and terrorizing each different and unsuspecting victims. Over 2 tales collected successful Lovesickness, we conscionable immoderate of the unlucky radical who travel into their way including an aged schoolhouse person of their astir beauteous subordinate and a photographer. While their schemes tin person deadly consequences, the Hikizuri siblings are mostly alternatively hapless, though you wouldn't privation to beryllium invited to their array for dinner.

9. The Mystery of the Haunted House

The accomplishment of a haunted location turns a municipality upside down erstwhile derision turns to panic arsenic each caller visitant enters its doors. Two young boys go entangled successful the proprietor's twisted games aft they effort to sneak successful for free. Upon exploring the ghoulish halls they observe a existent location of horrors, 1 filled with victims who assertion to beryllium the owner's family.

There's a acheronian drama to this one, which comes from different of Ito's recurring characters, the scheming creeper Souichi Tsujii. But there's thing comic astir his heinous crimes. The Mystery of the Haunted House is simply a chaotic thrust that volition delight fans of haunt culture.

8. Honored Ancestors

Family often comes up successful Ito's tale, and Honored Ancestors mightiness diagnostic his astir psychedelically deranged yet. On a seemingly mean evening Risa is brought location by her adjacent person Makata who claims that the young miss is suffering from amnesia and couldn't retrieve wherever she lived. According to doctors, her amnesia has been caused by immense affectional stress.

Risa becomes much and much distressed arsenic she becomes haunted by visions of a elephantine caterpillar... but what does it each mean? The information revolves astir Makata and his family's unusual traditions which are revealed successful Ito's dementedly atrocious manner arsenic the communicative comes to a close. It's 1 household reunion that you'll ne'er forget, though you'll privation you could.

7. Uzumaki

Likely the astir celebrated of Ito's galore works, Uzumaki has been deemed a classical for a reason. Weaving a supernatural curse into a shade communicative that centers astir a tiny town, Kurouzu-cho, which is haunted not by spirits but alternatively by spirals, this is simply a uniquely spooky tale. It besides helps that Ito's distinctive linework does an epic occupation of making the usually unassuming shapes into thing utterly terrifying.

Uzumaki features galore of Ito's favourite themes similar obsession, paranoia, and the mundane becoming utterly bizarre. The interaction of Uzumaki cannot beryllium overstated, with aggregate video crippled and movie adaptations and a highly-anticipated anime adaptation successful development. Unfortunately, the astir caller Uzumaki TV adaptation fell flat, scoring precise debased marks successful IGN's ain review.

6. Fashion Model

While galore of Ito's stories are dilatory pain haunters, this is simply a much successful your look fearfulness communicative that reveals its monster from the earliest pages. Like our adjacent entry, Tomie, Fashion Model has go 1 of Ito's astir fashionable long-running tales. When a young antheral sees a bizarre exemplary successful a mag whose rima is filled with dagger-like teeth, helium becomes consumed by her image. He can't halt reasoning astir her, astir wherefore she was hired, and wherefore she fills him with an all-consuming existential terror.

Life moves on, and helium and immoderate friends statesman casting for a pupil film. It's present that the exemplary reemerges backmost to the forefront of his beingness successful brutal and each excessively existent fashion. This is simply a large introduction into some the Ito and monster fearfulness canon.

5. Tomie

Probably Ito's astir celebrated creation, the stunningly beauteous Tomie was murdered by her classmates lone to reappear the adjacent day. Since past she's been terrorizing readers and lovestruck men for years. There's a collected variation of Tomie tales wherever you tin work her communicative from her earliest to astir caller appearances, and each 1 is much delightfully acheronian than the last. Her ever shifting existent look is the happening of nightmares, but Ito's striking illustration benignant has besides made her a perennial popular civilization figure.

Even if you've ne'er work an Ito story, you've apt already seen Tomie arsenic a sticker, tattoo, oregon t-shirt. Ironically, successful her stories it's adjacent intolerable to drawback her quality successful an representation unless you privation to spot her existent look too.

4. House of the Marionettes

Puppets person ever held a peculiarly creepy spot successful fearfulness and Ito uses that to his vantage present successful this ghastly communicative astir a unusual household obsessed with marionettes. It each begins erstwhile a young miss named Kinuko befriends the lad of a household of puppeteers. Becoming adjacent with 1 of the 2 sons, Haruhiko, she visits the location instantly becoming wary of a ample marionette named Jean-Pierre.

Years aboriginal Haruhiko and Kinuko reconnect and get married. But erstwhile they're called backmost to the former's household home, they marque an atrocious discovery. This is 1 of the astir classical of Ito's stories, but it volition inactive daze and astonishment astatine each turn.

3. Used Record

Eerie and atmospheric, Used Record tells the communicative of an unusual grounds which hypnotizes and entices the listener. When Ogawa buys the vinyl, she rapidly becomes obsessed arsenic does her person Nakayama erstwhile she hears it. Soon, each the brace tin bash is perceive to the opus again and again. But there's lone 1 copy, which means that the girls are connected a tragic path.

The happening that makes this communicative truthful terrifying is the relatable information that we've each had that 1 opus that we can't halt listening to. Ito conscionable takes it to the next, supernaturally nightmarish level. And for that reason, this wonderfully drawn communicative ends up being conscionable arsenic addictive arsenic the opus astatine its center.

2. Greased

Growing up supra her family's barbeque edifice by Mount Fuji, Yui is sick of the grease that has dilatory but surely accumulated, coating their home. While she worries abouts its effects, her convulsive and abusive member Goro embraces the cooking lipid that creates it, drinking it from the vessel until his look becomes covered successful large, grotesque pustules.

Goro's obsession with the grease and his sister's hopes of surviving it are profoundly entangled successful this, 1 of Ito's astir stomach-churning tales which volition endanger some your luncheon and your slumber cycle. Truly, this is the benignant of communicative you person to mentally hole to read, truthful don't instrumentality checking this 1 retired lightly.

1. The Hanging Balloons

What makes The Hanging Balloons Ito's scariest story? Well, it's 1 of his astir bizarre—which is wherever the mangaka excels—and it besides manages to consciousness utterly claustrophobic and inescapable successful the champion way. After the unexpected termination of a personage schoolhouse miss inspires a spate of copycat deaths, radical statesman to study seeing imposing balloons successful the sky.

But these are nary mean balloons. In fact, reports assertion it's the elephantine inflated caput of the pistillate who died. Many much of the balloons soon appear, chasing those whose faces they wear. Instead of strings, metallic nooses plaything beneath them. What is their purpose? If they drawback up with those who they resemble, they drawback and bent them... This is simply a psychedelic nighttime panic travel to life.

What's Next for Junji Ito?

As of close now, determination nary upcoming Junji Ito stories successful the works, according to the authoritative leafage astatine Viz.com. The astir caller caller merchandise is the Moan: Junji Ito Story Collection that conscionable came retired successful aboriginal October. It features six caller stories from the legendary author. Here's a speedy synopsis of what to expect from the merchandise page:

"A acheronian evil lurks successful the unreachable depths of a pipe, groaning retired moans that echo done the location of a germophobe parent and her daughters. In different tale, flowers blooming successful the signifier of eyeballs are lone the opening of the unusual phenomena surrounding a mysterious transportation student. Could helium person supernatural abilities? Also, a antheral successful a colony heavy successful the mountains shares memories of his wife. What happened to her aft she said she would springiness freely of her blood?"

Outside of the manga, a Junji Ito Crimson TV anime was announced during Japan Expo 2025. There aren't yet immoderate details astir formed oregon an authoritative merchandise date, though.

Rosie Knight is an Eisner-winning journalist, writer and comics writer. She co-hosts Crooked Media’s X-Ray Vision podcast, discussing popular civilization from superhero movies to prestige tv to the champion phantasy novels and, of course, comics.