What do you want in a HORROR comic/manga?

[Miokka]

oh ! you'd check out my comic ? how lovely of you ! it's here btw http://tapastic.com/episode/211072)

as for the character design... check this out !

other silhouette tutorials should be easy to find and just as helpful !

[monotone_ink]

Well, the typical jump scares are pretty difficult to do in comics and manga, but the one thing I love about horror manga are when the authors really try to creep out the viewer.
With horror, comics and manga have great potential in creating a creepy and unsettling atmosphere.
When it comes to monsters, one thing that I find really effective is adding a 'human' factor to them.
For example, I was playing Dark Souls and came across these monsters:

At first, I thought they were normal monsters that were extremely annoying. But after taking a closer look at one of the bodies, I realised that the top portion of the monster was actually a human body mutated beyond recognition, their head slumped over. That made me stop and think, questioning myself and the world I was playing around in.

Ooh, I also really like it when the characters eventually fall into insanity and paranoia, something they'll never come out of the same ever again.

If you want a really disturbing and unsettling manga, try reading Junji Ito's 'Uzumaki'
It is truly the most unsettling thing I've read.

[CelestialNavigator]

Mind screw for everyone!
Also it would be nice to see something else then pure gore. the best horrors are subtle.
And if the comics is in colour I'd like to see author utilizing them to the max.

[CelestialNavigator]

If you want a really disturbing and unsettling manga, try reading Junji Ito's 'Uzumaki'

Oh yes, his stories are terribly awesome.

[papachan]

@wierdmonkeycat

I have read most of Junji Ito's translated works. I have a copy of Uzumaki and all three volumes Gyo laying on my desk. It was when I read Junji Ito and enjoyed every page that I realized that I had an obsession with horror and needed to do something in that genre.
Have you read The Drifting Classroom by Kazuo Umezu? I really enjoy that work a lot.

@CelestialNavigator
I agree. I just don't find gore very scary. For me, gore is just goop on the floor that nobody has any business touching. Sometimes I think it can be done really well, but there is always a big chance of overkill like it Battle Royal. Do you have an example of colored comics that you really enjoy that you would be willing to share here for me to see?

[Dingbat1991]

There was a game I played in the past called "Neverending Nightmares" which has a vibe you're talking about presented in a woodblock style. Being an admirer of designs by Albrecht Dürer, I totally dig. It had an uneasy, creepy atmosphere which didn't totally rely on sudden/jumpscares. Which leads me to say that a horror comic's first priority should focus on an atmosphere. Perhaps the creator should base it off on what gives him/her the heevy jeevies.

[papachan]

I would love to write a comic about what gives me the heevy jeevies. However, the thing that I am most afraid of in this whole world are mascots. I am the most scared of an ugly guy named Big Red. Seriously the most terrifying thing on the planet to date. I am pretty sure that it is called masklophobia. I've even went to therapy over it. Still, no progress. Because every time I go to a football game I see this:

What freaks you out?

[Dingbat1991]

Not a lot really. Dismemberment gives me the chills but I don't think I have any true phobia.

[CelestialNavigator]

Well...From ones in colour I certainly can recall only Beautiful Darkness. But I must confess that it's one of the most disturbing things I've ever read. I mean, the art itself doesn't look scary, it's cutesy. But imho it only makes things worse.

It starts very cute:

But theeeeen things happened:
http://nerdist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/BEAUTIFUL_pg38.jpg

And one more:

[CelestialNavigator]

This sort of things like in Beautiful Darkness work even better than old fashioned horror with guts and all. It's not like BD doesn't have blood and guts everywhere at times but it has no emphasis on them, oddly enough.

[papachan]

@CelestialNavigator
Um. Ew. That will haunt my nightmares for a long long time. Which is a great thing! Thank you for including this wonderful example. The artwork is quite cute and lovely, and you are totally right with how it is colored. I will have to go and read this now. Gosh, my heart is still kinda racing a little bit. Where ever did you find this?

[zoonland]

A creepy, dark story, with a great black and white contrast to create a disturbing atmosphere.
No blood needed.

[papachan]

@zoonland
You don't like any blood in your story? What freaks you out?

[zoonland]

I think that the story and the atmosphere are much more important than rivers of blood.
I mean, I don't mind blood. I've seen and read a lot of movies and comics full of blood, but, my ideal horror story would have more disturbing atmosphere than blood.
Nowadays most of movies and comics (but mostly movies) that are labeled as "horror" have only tons of murders and very poor stories. I'd like to see something different.

[PocketFloral]

Personally I'm big on atmospheric horror like Faun No Tane where the scare is from the feeling of imminent danger and uneasiness. I also LOVE all the strange mutated monster designs, they're all very different from one another while being continuously disturbing. It's a cool contrast from the traditional manga style the humans have.

I'm also huge on body horror in stories!!!!
I do enjoy gore in stories too, though it really has to be secondary to the characters. Lychee Light Club did this surprisingly well regardless of how short it is. I love most of Junji Ito's work but I can honestly say none of the characters besides Tomie ever stuck with me.
It doesn't freak me out but I really don't like horrifyingly explicit rape/torture porn, or stories that over dramatize mental illness. I find that kind of writing lazy, hurtful to lots of real life people and just plain uncomfortable. The only exception is Saw 1.

[papachan]

@PocketFloral
EW. xD
That manga scared the ever loving Jesus out of me when I first read it a year or so ago. Just the atmosphere that it creates sends shivers up my spine. The one where there is something outside that guys window gets me every time. I think it is just how this guy reveals the "monster" that really hits my soul.
I am going to have to read Lychee Light Club, that is one that I have not heard of. Junji Ito and Kazuo Umezu are two of my inspirations for getting so into horror and studying what in a manga/comic makes it scary. To be honest, those things do not freak me out either. They are disgusting. Saw is a little different because they are in that place for a reason, you know? Jigsaw puts them in those puzzles to...well...I'd say teach them a lesson but people could argue against that.

Anyways, thank you for reminding me of that wonderfully creepy manga.

[Bluejay]

JSSSF, why am I on this thread this late. hahaha.
For me, a good horror is one with a nifty story that your mind will love to remind you at times when you're alone in the dark. It doesn't even have to be gory or blood dripping everywhere. With just trippy faces/places like the lovely duo @wierdmonkeycat and @PocketFloral demonstrated, ah... my trauma, bless your souls, it works well on its own combined with the story. I don't know if it's because I'm used reading mangas, but black and white usually leaves better impact on me. It just fits well with the whole mood going on.

But those pictures, tho. why

[Swoon]

All of the methods listed are fabulous. Skimming through the chat I agree with a lot of what everyone is saying, and was pleasantly surprised to see someone mention keeping over sexualization out of horror. Anything that distracts from the mood and atmosphere are detrimental. Not to say sex doesn't have a place, and stories are less for having a character now and then that's nicer too look at, but there is so much you can do with your characters and places then have scantily clad sex object laid across mantles for sacrifice or distracting in the background.

While writing my own thrillers I like making sure the actions the characters take are believable. And part of that is having them be regular people (at least at first), with as much knowledge as the reader, and limited resources. Getting in peoples heads, and honing in that hopelessness.. seems rather sadistic when I type it out, but it really makes or breaks the readers suspension of disbelief depending how it's handled.

And with my two cents said, check out Madder Affairs (=

[Choosybeggar]

The original thing you said about using splashes of color sounds like a great idea! I've seen a few black and white webcomics that used the occasional theme-color, and it works. It really cuts down on that dry feeling that makes some b-and-w comics do poorly on Tapastic.

[R.n.P]

Lots of blood n mind blowing scenes n disturbing characters