Junji Ito: Horror Manga Can Help Us Make Peace With Our Fears

This essay is part of a series called The Big Ideas, in which writers respond to a single question: What do we fear? You can read more by visiting The Big Ideas series page.

I have to say, I’m not particularly confident in my own understanding of the true nature of fear, even though I make my living drawing horror manga. While there are many different types of horror — the abnormal mental states of psychological horror, the disturbing phenomena of occult horror, slasher horror, Gothic horror, science fiction horror, endless horrors — my efforts are mainly focused on the terror stirred up by the supernatural.

I can give free rein to my creativity when I set out in pursuit of the abnormal and unusual, of things that only come into being when I put pen to paper and draw bizarre worlds full of ghosts, monsters, curses and supernatural abilities.

My stories start from idle musings like “I’d hate it if this happened” or “it would be so scary if someone like this existed,” and from half-imagined images that provoke unease. I approach terror from the viewpoint of the senses, not from an academic perspective (I don’t have any expertise in the fields of psychology or pathology).

The question “what do we fear?” is one we could ask not only of humans, but of living creatures in general. While I don’t know whether more primitive creatures experience anything we would call “emotion,” they nevertheless have an instinct for fear, which is key to staying alive. Thanks to fear, a creature steers clear of danger to live another day.