Paper short abstract:

How is it possible for an unmoving cartoon image to convincingly convey the affects of fear, shock, surprise and terror that are essential to the horror genre? This paper explores the extent to which theories of cinematic horror are translatable to the caricatured worlds of Japanese manga.

Paper long abstract:

Theories of how the horror film effectively works to frighten audiences frequently hinge upon what cognitive film theorist Carl Plantinga has termed the 'direct affect' of the cinematic image (2009). In the case of the horror genre, direct affect concerns the ability to startle viewers with immediate, photorealistic moving imagery of monstrous and dangerous phenomena. As studies by Adam Kern (2006) and others have shown, the comic book and manga formats are largely translations of cinematic grammar to the page. This suggests that theories of how cinema operates on an affective level should be largely compatible with the medium of manga. However, horror manga faces two immense hurdles according to the 'direct affect' theory of cinema. The lack of the image's ability to move within time, and its caricatured, 'cartoonish' visual style, means that manga should, in fact, be incapable of eliciting a sense of genuine fear from its audience. And yet horror manga by authors such as Umezu Kazuo, Hino Hideshi, and Itō Junji enjoy over half-a-century's worth of popularity and praise from fans of horror.

How do these unmoving cartoon images convincingly convey the affects of fear, shock, surprise and terror that are essential to the genre? Close readings of passages from the works of Umezu, Hino, and Itō will demonstrate how Japanese horror manga overcomes the 'direct affect' problem via character design, an emphasis on the grotesque, and a strategic layout of panels and pages to maximize dread and suspense. Horror manga thereby closes the gap of the uncanny valley while simultaneously compensating for the still image's inability to move within time, translating the terror inherent in the direct affect of horror film to the drawn page. Thus will I demonstrate that the formal structures and apparatuses of the film medium and the manga medium are even more closely related than has been previously considered.