Secret of the Haunted House by Junji Ito

This is the first horror manga I've ever read, so I suppose it makes sense for it to be the first one I review!

Our story begins with two buddies, Koichi and Satoshi, seeing a small parade go through town advertising the new haunted house that just came into town.

When they go over to check it out, they find that the haunted house is just a crappy shack with a sign on it. You can see the prices are really high for what looks to be a really boring time. Admission can go up to $125! Jeez!

And then a few minutes later he books it out of there.

I have no idea why that man in the background has a hoe. Was he going to smash the owner's head in? 

Apparently, this place really is scary as hell! Enough people have come out of the haunted house screaming and extremely disturbed that the police have been called in to investigate.

Oh yeah, and apparently there's a child chained up somewhere in there. That's, uh... Some business.

Also, the cop was never seen or heard from again.  WHOOOOOOOO!

After hearing about the police coming in, Koichi and Satoshi decide to check out the haunted house at night when the workers and the owner are gone. Probably to see the house when the specal effects aren't on, also probably because TICKETS ARE $10,000 YEN.

That plan doesn't work, because the owner has no life and just hangs out at his haunted house all night.

He then decides to give them free admission because he just thinks these 12-year-olds are really cool. What a nice man!

Wait...

This reminds me of something...

Turns out the severed head lady is the owner's sister. Lame. They then move onto the next exhibit, and even though they got in for free they still feel ripped off. I would be a lot more scared than they are. They go into this place hours after closing and all the effects and workers are still in place! What kind of business is this?Next they meet the guy's mom.

Literally all she does is stand in a well like Okiku from the Bancho Sarayashiki legend or Sadako from Ringu. I want you to imagine the entire Ringu series with an old lady in Sadako's place. I can't get it out of my mind.

BUT I DIGRESS! They move on to the hell exhibit, where the owner's father is just hanging out chin-deep in water. You might notice that the hair at the top of his head has been cut off. Here's an interesting tidbit: It's an old samurai-era tradition to cut one's hair as a sign of defeat and shame. I wish I could tell you guys what's up with Dad soaking in water in a hell exhibit, but I have no idea what's up with that.

Next they really do meet up with his brother. He's crucified in the Japanese style, spears thrust into his chest and all. Like his dad, he had his hair cut to signify defeat. He's also dressed like a ghost. You can see hitodama (eerie whisps of flame that are parts of a ghost) floating around him. He's also wearing a hitaikakushi (the triangle-shaped cloth around his head).

An illustration of how ghosts are traditionally represented in Japanese media

The brother strays from what the boys have seen so far, and tells them that the owner is a horrible person with magical powers.

Beyond this point is the exhibit with the owner's son. Apparently this kid's supposed to be bad news, but before he can go on, he's rudely interrupted. By some nails being shot at his cross. It's the owner!

Hey! Magic, chewing on nails, generally being creepy... The owner of the haunted house is actually Souichi! Souichi is a character that appears in several Junji Ito stories. This is one of the few stories where we see him as an adult.

Well, his kid's just a child, so the next exhibit can't be all that bad, right? I mean, how scary can you make it

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH OH MY GOD HELP IT'S EATING THE COP THAT CAME IN EARLIER OH LORD

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO

HE'S EATING HIM

AND THEN HE'S GOING TO EAT ME!

So before he becomes the third course, Koichi makes a run for it. Too bad Souichi's also after him.

Hahahaha, BULLSEYE!

Souichi has Mr. Butthurt down and cornered, BUT THEN...

... When Souichi's... Uh... "Baby mama" comes in.

It's the creepy as hell supermodel from another one of Junji Ito's stories, The Fashion Model!

THE END

This was the story that introduced me to the horror manga genre, so it's very near and dear to me. The art is, as usual from Junji Ito, a treat. The paneling is dynamic, the backgrounds add a lot of atmosphere, and the character design is pretty great. I remember shrieking and having to get out of the room for a while when I saw the first splash page showing Souichi's son!

This story shows us a lot of visual elements from old-fashioned Japanese ghost stories. All of the exhibits have the family members dressed in traditionally recognized ghost garb. Their surroundings are inspired by ghost legends, as well.

Most of Junji Ito's stories are stand-alone, so it's rather odd to see his stories cross over like this.

I think this story is very funny, too. This maybe comes from repeat readings though. I unfortunately will never be able to experience reading this story for the first time, and I will never be as scared by this story as I was for the first time. 

Overall, I give Secret of the Haunted House two thumbs up.