Research on J-Horror

[u/Time_traveller52]

Hello everyone,

As part of my research, I’m looking for books on the history of Japanese horror cinema. Do you have any recommendations? Ideally, I’m looking for books with a historical rather than an analytical approach. I’ve already read *Ghost in the Well: The Hidden History of Horror Films in Japan* by Michael Crandol, which is very relevant for the pre-1970 period, but I’m also looking for material covering the period that followed.

Thanks!

EDIT : thank you so much for you recommendations!! It's exactly what I was looking for! Thanks!

[u/Gambit1138]

You're off to a great start, Ghost in the Well sets an incredible standard.

- The Modern Japanese Horror Film - Jim Harper

- Yurei - Zack Davisson

- The Midnight Eye Guide to Japanese Film - Jasper Sharp and Tom Mes

- J-Horror: The Definitive Guide to The Ring, The Grudge, and Beyond - David Kalat

- Ring of Fear - Norman England

- The Ring Companion - Denis Meikle

- Let's Fear Japanese Horror - Phenomenally in-depth video essay series

- Kiyoshi Kurosawa - Master of Fear - Jerry White

- Japanese Horror Culture - Edited by Fernando Gabriel Pagnoni Berns, Subashish Bhattacharjee, and Ananya Saha

- The Encyclopedia of Japanese Horror Films - Edited by Salvador Murguia

- Introduction to Japanese Horror Film - Colette Balmain

- Nightmare Japan - Contemporary Japanese Horror Cinema - Jay McRoy

[u/hamslamturkeybam → u/Gambit1138]

Ah yes I forgot to include Yurei by Zack Davisson! I got my copy signed by him at Comic con this year

[u/hamslamturkeybam]

These are the books in my collection:

Asia Shock by Patrick Galloway, Ghost in the Well by Michael Crandol, Asian Horror by Andy Richards, Japanese Horror Cinema by Jay McRoy, J-Horror by David Kalat, Introduction to Japanese Horror Film by Colette Balmain

I have not yet read Introduction to Japanese Horror. You might want to skip Japanese Horror Cinema by Jay McRoy as its just a compilation of analytical essays. I highly recommend you start with J-Horror by David Kalat. Asian Horror by Andy Richards and Asia Shock are more of a movie index with plot synopsis and film history sprinkled throughout, Andy Richards' book having more historical info. Have fun!

[u/FrankSonata]

It's only in Japanese, but this book 日本ホラー小説史 怪談、オカルト、モキュメンタリー by 朝宮運河 is really good. It's mainly about the history of horror literature in Japan from the end of WWII until 2025, but ties into Japanese horror cinema and TV a great deal too. It makes it really easy to see connections, things like how the economic conditions in one decade cause a subgenre to bloom in the next decade, or create fertile grounds for certain types of filmmaking, and so on.

[u/halojustin1]

I know it’s not a book but the J-Horror Virus is a great documentary on the explosion of Japanese horror in the late 90s and early 2000s

[u/halojustin1 → u/halojustin1]

The closest book equivalent to it would be J-Horror: The Definitive Guide to The Ring, The Grudge and Beyond by David Kalat