A horror story obsessed girl kidnaps a man so that she can have an audience when she tells scary stories. This is an anthology series, with all of the scary stories being tied together by the fact that they all actually happened…
Before we start the review…
What’s the Japanese level?
I rate this as an advanced series. To see my reasonings for my rankings, please click here!
Who wrote this manga?
This was written by Yamayuu and Kensei Hokamoto.
Info about the series
- There are currently eight volumes out in Japanese.
- Seven Seas picked up this licence! Volume one will be coming out February 17th, 2026.
You can check out this series for yourself below.
What happens in chapter one?
We’re introduced to this manga through our mysterious storyteller, Rei. She claims to love everything scary, and wants to tell someone a scary story. She insists that all of the stories she’s going to tell them are real stories that actually happened—how exciting. And she gets into the first story…
The first story follows a man who is looking for scary materials to help inspire him. He gets a tip from one of his coworkers, and makes his way to a rather quiet apartment complex. The man who lives here insists that there’s a female ghost living in his house with him and his daughter. He claims to be so used to the ghost that he can guess every move she makes before she even makes them. While he can’t actually see the ghost, he can see the effect she has on the house: broken dishes, slammed doors, moved objects, etc.
Our protagonist is excited to get finally some good materials, so he enters the house… and instantly feels like something is wrong. He insists that he needs to leave, but the haunted man insists that he stay. Why is he so freaked out? It may be due to the fact that he can see the “ghost” clear as day—she’s just a normal woman. For some reason, the man who lives here seems to think that she’s a ghost, and genuinely can’t see her… but she’s indeed a living, breathing person.
While our protagonist is sufficiently freaked out, the other man still insists he stay. As he’s made the trip all the way out here, why not check on his sleeping daughter while he’s here? So, our protagonist makes his way to the daughters room… But… There’s no one there. Before he can say anything, the very much alive woman silently threatens him into silence, and he is able to finally, safely, leave the house.
Just what was going on with that family!?
My thoughts on this chapter
I really enjoyed the setup of this volume! I loved the storyteller, Rei, as one of the constraints that binds the whole story together—something I think is appropriate in anthology stories. It kind of reminded me of Yami Shibai, another horror series that I really enjoy.
While the first story did take a minute for me to be able to enjoy, I did end up really liking it. I think the pacing was very good, and the secrets were slowly discovered and revealed at appropriate times in the story. I really didn’t understand the full picture until the very end, but once everything came together, it was a very satisfying feeling.
There wasn’t any hand holding, rather readers are trusted to make inferences by themselves. I appreciate such horror stories, as I enjoy reading stories that trust I will be able to follow them.
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