Monthly Halloween

The publishing company Asahi Sonorama 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 films were especially popular in Japan among teenaged girls, while Halloween 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, 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 dated as January 1986) as a reference to the Friday the 13th 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, which were oriented towards suspense manga; and Horror M at , which was oriented towards gory and violent stories. 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 manga in addition to horror, with stories that aim to be "more ambitious, sensitive and mature" than those of Monthly Halloween. Artists Ichiko Ima, Daijiro Morohoshi and Akiko Hatsu are some of the most important contributors to the magazine. 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 since 1999. ==Serializations==

The following is a partial list of titles published in Monthly Halloween, Nemuki, and Honkowa. • Flesh-Colored Horror by Junji Ito • Fragments of Horror by Junji Ito • '''' by Ichiko Ima • Karura Mau by Takakazu Nagakubo • '''' by • '''' by • Tomie by Junji Ito • Zangekikan by Ochazukenori ==Notes==