Though light in name, there are many light novels that tell spine-chilling or harrowing tales of terror. These stories don’t shy away from difficult subjects such as torture, death, child abuse, blood, and violence. For horror fans, there are a plethora to choose from. Anime fans will see light novel series released within famous franchises, continuing the story, acting as a prequel, or telling yet untold stories.
Certain horror light novels stand out among the rest, and are must-reads for horror fans. These light novels are sure to shiver spines and horrify minds, and best of all, they are all complete. Anyone can binge-read without having to wait for the next installment to release.
8Goth: A Novel of Horror
Goth: A Novel of Horroris not just one story. It is an anthology telling six different spine-chilling stories revolving around the two main characters, Boku and Yoru Morino. It was vastly successful, leading to a manga series andlive-action movie adaptation.
RELATED:Greatest Horror Anime Of All Time
The over-arching story centers around the two protagonists, who are drawn to dark occurrences and people. The two of them soon find themselves involved in bizarre and gruesome cases. In “Goth,” the first tale, Yoru finds the diary of a serial killer that describes a victim that has not reported as dead yet. “Wristcut” details a horrifying series of murders of people and animals in which the killer removes their hands.
7Kai, Sasu
Another anthology of short horror stories,Kai, Sasucombines the horror writing skills of writer Kihara Hirokatsu with the unique stylized artsyle offamed mangaka Junji Itoto bring the horror light novel to life, with its final chapter released in manga form. Being the work of two authors, it remains one of the rarest light novels,mwith only a few websites offering used copies for sale.
Readers that do manage to snag a copy will be rewarded with tales that will terrify. The titular story (whose title translates to “Last Stab, Lips”) tells a curious tale of a high schooler N-Ko, whose wooden wardrobe seems to grow Shoji paper on its surface that soon seems to grow a 3D image of lips. Though the story sounds like it wouldn’t offer many scares on paper, reading the light novel with Junji Ito’s signature art style spins true horror on this simple story.
6Dark Wars: The Tale of Meiji Dracula
With Dracula being public domain, many writers, filmmakers, and game makers have summoned the legendary vampire count into their work, even in Japan.The Tale Of Meiji Draculais another twist on Bram Stoker’sclassic gothic novel, which combines the story of Dracula and Japan in the late 1800s. The light novel even includes of glossary to explain phrases used throughout the novel.
RELATED:Best Dracula Movies, Ranked
Dark Warsnarrates the story of Dracula as he journeys to Tokyo to challenge Japan’s greatest swordsman at the time, a seventeen-year-old boy named Daigo, to a duel to the death. It’s an original spin on an old vampire story that is sure to thrill even those who have never read the original, while offering something exciting and new to those who have.
5Attack on Titan: Before the Fall
For fans of theAttack on Titananime and/or manga, this light novel series is a must-read. As the title suggests,it is set before the events describedin the manga, giving fans more knowledge and lore. It describes what happened before humanity had developed the gear and had an organized militia to fight back against the tyranny of the titans.
The light novel series is split into two tales. One centers around Aaltonen Angel and his work developing the Omni-Directional Mobility Gear and other weapons to provide humanity with weapons to level the playing field against their enemy. The other dives inside a titan, where Kuklo survived being eaten by a titan, found alive inside the mouth of one of them.
4Sugar Dark: The Buried Darkness & The Girl
One of the few light novels to win an award,Sugar Darkproves itself as a must-read with the skillful way it tells a tale of horror andmystery, spanning a total of 4 volumes and 19 chapters.
The series centers around the story of Muoro, who was falsely accused of a crime and is forced to serve a sentence of labor in a cemetery, earning himself the moniker Grave Keeper. There, he meets a beautiful girl called Meria who becomes a source of fascination for him, even as he continues his sentence of digging a hole which might lead to a beast living underground cryptically called The Dark.
3Another
Anotherhas become a well recognized series, spanning multiple sequel novels as well as an anime adaptation, due to the fantastic horror story that earned its acclaim. Not only that,Anotherisshort and sweet, with only two volumes that succinctly tell the story.
Set in a school, this light novel adds horror to this setting rather than opting for the tried and true slice-of-life genre. 26 years ago, a student named Misaki died on school grounds, but her spirit remains there with some students said to have seen her. As with any tragic death, it spawned rumors. In this case, the story was that if the class gained an extra student beyond the usual number the class would have multiple deaths if the student in question was not ignored.
2Ordinary Days With A Man-Eater
Many manga and anime fans might dream of having a non-human waifu, but for main character Toya Kamisaki, having Kuroe Ogami as his fiancée has been a nightmare. The title itself is a dead giveaway as to the nature of Ogami. Though not traditionally scary, the stakes of the light novel are high, andcreates a real sense of anxietyfor the readers.
RELATED:Darkest Anime Waifus
Though she looks like an ordinary high school girl, Ogami is actually a wolf monster that masquerades as a human, but looking like a human doesn’t change her base nature. She still requires the same sustenance, which is the fresh flesh and blood of humans. After she saved him from a brutal gang beating, Toya is now indebted to her. His repayment is fetching her fresh meals, or she will take a meal of her choosing, which could be his friends, family, or Toya himself.
1Summer, Fireworks, and My Corpse
Summer, Fireworks and My Corpseis a collection of two novels in one volume, as well a bonus story, which all tell disparate but equally chilling tales, masterfully written by author Otsuichi. This light novel is a hidden gem that doesn’t get recognition from many light novel aficionados, and will greatly reward any who dare open its pages.
To give an example of the stories within, the bonus story “Black Fairy Tale” involves a girl who loses an eye, and receives an eye transplant taken from a dead body. However, she soon begins to see secrets that belonged to the previous owner of the eye. Those who want to know what those secrets are will have to brave the novel themselves.
