was a Japanese

manga magazine Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is used ...

published by

Asahi Sonorama is the publishing arm of The Asahi Shimbun Company, publishing books, magazines, and manga. It replaced on 1 April 2008 just after it went bankrupt. History Asahi Sonorama was created as a division of Asahi Shimbunsha on September 9, 1959 ...

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

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 film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

s were especially popular in Japan among teenaged girls, while

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...

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 is a Japanese manga artist, musician and actor. He is among the most famous authors of horror manga and has been vital for its development since the 1960s. Life Umezu was born in Kōya, Wakayama Prefecture, but raised in the mountainous Go ...

, 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 date The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unusu ...

d as January 1986) as a reference to the ''

Friday the 13th Friday the 13th is considered an unlucky day in Western superstition. It occurs when the 13th day of the month in the Gregorian calendar falls on a Friday, which happens at least once every year but can occur up to three times in the same year. ...

'' 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 is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It was founded by Teio Akita on 10 August 1948. As of 2020, the company's president is Shigeru Higuchi. Magazines Male-oriented manga magazines ''Shōnen'' magazines * – Bimo ...

, which were oriented towards

suspense Suspense is a state of mental uncertainty, anxiety, being undecided, or being doubtful. In a dramatic work, suspense is the anticipation of the outcome of a plot or of the solution to an uncertainty, puzzle, or mystery, particularly as it aff ...

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 Itō is a Japanese horror manga artist. Some of his most notable works include ''Tomie'', a series chronicling an immortal girl who drives her stricken admirers to madness; ''Uzumaki'', a three-volume series about a town obsessed with spirals; and ...

won the prize in 1986 with the first chapter of his manga series ''

Tomie is a Japanese horror manga series written and illustrated by Junji Ito. ''Tomie'' was Ito's first published work he originally submitted to ''Monthly Halloween'', a ''shōjo'' magazine in 1987, which led to him winning the Kazuo Umezu aw ...

''; 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 Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

manga in addition to horror, with stories that aim to be "more ambitious, sensitive and mature" than those of ''Monthly Halloween''. 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 JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba today is a large artificial island in Tokyo Bay, Japan, across the Rainbow Bridge from central Tokyo. Odaiba was initially b ...

since 1999.

References

Bibliography

External links

*
Monthly Halloween
' at the

National Diet Library The is the national library of Japan and among the largest libraries in the world. It was established in 1948 for the purpose of assisting members of the in researching matters of public policy. The library is similar in purpose and scope to ...

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