Japanese and American Horror: A Comparative Study of Film, Fiction, Graphic Novels and Video Games

Horror fiction is an important part of the popular culture in many modern societies. This book compares and contrasts horror narratives from two distinct cultures--American and Japanese--with a focus on the characteristic mechanisms that make them successful, and on their culturally-specific aspects.

Including a number of narratives belonging to film, literature, comics and video games, this book provides a comprehensive perspective of the genre. It sheds light on the differences and similarities in the depiction of fear and horror in America and Japan, while emphasizing narrative patterns in the context of their respective cultures.

Katarzyna Marak is a lecturer at Department of Cultural Studies at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Poland, where she teaches courses on American and Japanese horror and popular culture. She lives in Torun.