I absolutely loved this! It was creepy and atmospheric. The art work was phenomenal. Such a fun read!

A quick read, but the end leaves me wanting more. Great choice if you're looking for something a little spooky and unsettling.

Oh wow! This was THE BEST! So creepy, soooo good! and the art was fantastic, absolutely perfect for this book!

Very creepy! Maybe it's the illustrations, maybe it's the plot of an in-the-works urban legend...either way, this makes for a fun read that will certainly tingle your spine. Hopefully she doesn't knock on your door next!

I can easily say this was enjoyable! I was blown away by how good the illustrations were and I honestly sat there forever just staring at them to take them all in. But along with that the story we uncovered was just as good and creepy. Not frightening but definitely on the creepy side. This was a fun one!

I received an Arc copy provided by NetGalley. Enjoyed the art/artstyle and premise. Though it wasn't that scary, it had more of thriller feel than horror. I would recommend this to anyone who was new to the horror manga genre.

Hauntress was a fast-paced ride of terror! I don't often feel like Manga or graphic novels can cover scary stories well but Hauntress really showed me differently. I will say it's important to check the content warnings on this one but overall it was a very interesting and nail-biting story. I think it could be helpful for the publishers to have a note on the order in which the reader should read the cells.

Excellently drawn and plotted manga that is a great introduction to illustrated horror without being too gory. Although it's slightly dated as it was created thirty years ago, the book is still very relatable to current young people, especially in today's privacy-concerned climate. It's also nice to have an alternative to Japanese horror that isn't Junji Ito - much beloved, but he tends to dominate the genre. Not too long, it's a good book for classroom analysis.

This was a really interesting title that left me with so many questions. I enjoyed the buildup but the ending felt lacking to me. Or maybe I just wanted too many answers?

While this is technically a horror title, so many points had me giggling. Like when they were running from her and when she made herself a copy of his key. This man never heard of stranger danger before.

While the ending left me wanting more, the story overall had me captivated and I read it in one sitting.

It felt like this manga is lacking something significant in the narrative itself. At the beginning there was not enough explanation or background to it. I thought, maybe I’m reading it wrong, like the pages are disordered or something. But then through the story it kept happening - some phases were like taken out of context and therefore dialogs were sometimes difficult to follow and understand. Story itself is okay-ish, but the gaps in the narrative made it broken and clattered.
I cannot say I enjoyed reading it or could recommend.

This was so tense and quite haunting, and I was happy to finally read the source that definitely inspired a lot of the Japanese horror games I've seen. The artwork was creepy, and it laid a heavy atmosphere, I simply could not put it down!

I wasn't certain about this when I started but by the end I was thoroughly unnerved. This is a combo of stranger danger and urban legend, where the motives are as incomprehensible as the outcome. The lack of certainty about any part of this- who is she? What is she? Why did she choose him?- keeps you constantly off kilter and only adds to the stress and creeping horror of her presence. She cannot be understood or escaped.

While the open ending might frustrate some, it's common for these type of stories, and frankly a full explanation would lessen the impact of this story. The moment she becomes real she loses the supernatural horror of her relentless pursuit. The moment she's revealed as supernatural, the very real dread of a stalker dissipates. Leaving this story in the liminal space between the two is what makes it so effective, and what lets the horror linger after you finish reading.

*Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.*

3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

First, thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this edition!

The art style is what truly shines. The drawings seriously stayed with me for awhile. I was very impressed and it upped the creep factor tremendously.

The story itself was just eh to me. I think dropping right into the MMC encountering the woman was a bit confusing and I wanted a little more of a backstory. I also was mad cause why in the absolute world would this man let this random lady into his apartment?!? Just dumb lol.

Not my favorite but not terrible! If you like horror manga, pick it up and give it a go! The art style really is nice!

This one left me wanting to sleep with the lights on. The story itself is spooky and will make the back of your neck prickle, but the art adds a whole other layer of creepy.

Originally printed in 1993, Hauntress is a graphic novel that will make you feel uneasy and unsafe as we follow university student Hiroshi encounter an unsettling person at their door one fateful night. From then on things escalate. This horror genre graphic novel will make you realize that just like Hiroshi you cannot tell if the person stalking him is real or paranormal. The 90s vibes are very present in this graphic novel, which I really enjoyed.

I think avid horror readers may not be as spooked by this work as other horror genre mangas, but the illustrations are sure to make you feel uncomfortable, tense, and carries a consistent ongoing suspense. I am a big fan of urban legends and I think anyone who shares that love will find this to be a great read.

Thank you to NetGalley, Kodansa Comics, and Vertical Comics for providing a copy of this work for review.

What I love about Hauntress is how it doesn’t just rely on jump scares or typical horror tropes. Instead, it dives deep into the emotional and psychological toll that Mori's abilities take on her. It’s more about the slow burn of discomfort and the constant sense of unease that lingers throughout the story. The pacing can be a bit slow at times, but it builds the tension really well.

I've heard this manga get brought up a range of times before, and was happy to read it, which I did in one sitting. That said... This felt like a let down. The art style is creepy. Reading it at night certainly added to the level of unease. The ending was disappointing though and the idea didn't feel that fleshed out. Didn't work for me, personally.

yessssss love a translated book like this! Just gorgeous. If you like urban legends, pick this up, because it's a classic, creepy read that kept me hooked.

A young college student hears a commotion next door late at night. Curious, he peeks outside and finds a tall, strange woman standing outside his neighbor’s door, incessantly knocking and ringing the doorbell. Straight from the first few pages, Hauntress presents a situation that sent chills up my spine, as the main character finds himself the new focus of this late night visitor.

Hauntress had me questioning what was going on, if the woman, Sachiko, was a real person or a supernatural entity. Sachiko was reminiscent of Kuchisake-onna, an onryō, in almost every aspect, and the callbacks to the famous urban legend were cool to see. There were many points where the manga was genuinely intense and creepy.

I’m glad to see this classic in print in English and getting the appreciation that it deserves. Fans of manga featuring Japanese urban legends like Ibitsu will gobble this one up.

I was really intrigued by the premise of this, especially as it's a manga that's taken over 30 years to finally see an English translation, and that it's credited with introducing the concept of stalking to Japan.

Sadly I didn't find this an overly frightening read, but it was tense in places. I otherwise found it a little boring, though. The main characters weren't particularly interesting; I found myself mostly wanting to know about the mysterious woman.

I will say that the artwork for the creepy stalker woman was appropriately unsettling!

This has that definite 90s feel to it, in both the artwork and the setting. Unfortunately that also comes with one use of the f-slur as well, which really could have been left out of something being re-published in 2025...

The final part of the manga was perhaps the most effective, barrelling through a selection of urban legends and presenting us with the idea that we as humans are doomed to be forever fascinated by - and potentially susceptible to - them.

Thank you to Kodansha Comics and Netgalley for sending me an eARC of this manga.