If you love Japanese horror, there is a new book coming later this year that looks like it could be worth making some room for on the shelf.
The FrightFest Guide to Japanese Horror Movies is the latest book from FrightFest and FAB Press, and it is being written by Japanese cinema expert Tom Mes, and the book will cover more than 100 years of Japanese horror, with more than 200 films and horror franchises included.
And from the sounds of it, this isn’t going to be one of those books that just runs through the obvious titles everyone already knows.
From Kwaidan to Modern Japanese Horror
Japanese horror has given us some pretty memorable films over the years – there are the long-haired ghosts that became a familiar sight during the J-horror boom, the strange yokai, giant kaiju such as Godzilla, and plenty of completely bizarre creatures that could probably only have come from Japanese cinema.
Mes will take readers through a century of Japanese horror, covering everything from ghost stories and haunted houses to zombies, vampires and werewolves, and there will also be plenty of stranger stuff along the way, including cat demons, snake girls, mushroom people and snow maidens.
The book also covers Japanese 1980s splatter, films about hell and the more extreme work of filmmakers such as Takashi Miike and Shinya Tsukamoto, so if you’re expecting a book that concentrates entirely on Ringu, Ju-On and other familiar J-horror titles, it sounds like you’re going to get considerably more than that.
Most horror fans who have spent years watching Japanese movies will have their favourite well-known titles, but Japan has produced an enormous amount of horror over the decades, but there are always films that slip through the cracks, particularly older movies that never received an English release.
Hopefully, this book will be useful for finding some of those.
It also means the book should cover a lot more than the Japanese ghost stories that became popular internationally around the turn of the century.
Movies such as Ringu helped create a huge worldwide interest in Japanese horror, leading to films like The Grudge being remade in Hollywood and audiences becoming much more familiar with Japanese horror – but this book goes back to the films that came before that explosion.
Kiyoshi Kurosawa Writes the Foreword
The foreword in the book comes from Kiyoshi Kurosawa, which is a pretty good choice considering his own history with Japanese horror – Kurosawa directed Cure and Pulse, two films that have become hugely respected among horror fans, and his involvement gives the book a nice connection to one of the filmmakers who helped shape modern Japanese horror – and I’m particularly interested in seeing what the book has to say about the period before the international J-horror boom.
Launching at FrightFest
The book will get its official launch at Tubi FrightFest 2026, which runs from August 27 to August 31 in London, where Tom Mes will be at the festival to introduce selected Japanese horror screenings and will also be signing copies of the book.
If you aren’t going to FrightFest though, the book can be pre-ordered from FAB Press, with those copies expected to ship during the first week of September, and the paperback edition will then be officially published on October 27, 2026.
More Asian horror movie news.
- Crazy Lips and Gore From Outer Space Get a Limited Blu-ray Release
- Assam Director Bhargav Saikia Makes Feature Debut With Supernatural Horror Film Bokshi
- Colony (2026) Reveals New Character Posters Ahead of International Release
- Fantasia 2026โs Asian Horror Lineup Is Packed With Must-See New Films
- 2 Girls 1 Gut Gets a VHS Release From Luciferian Pictures
Leave a Reply