Jason Voorhees. Freddy Krueger. Michael Myers. Over the decades, America’s horror genre has given viewers countless icons who have slashed their way into the hearts and minds of audiences worldwide. While Hollywood has a never-ending stream of horror monsters to populate the genre, manga can’t say the same. While horror icons like Junji Ito create their own twisted tales, there hasn’t been an anime slasher who can stand toe-to-toe with the villains from Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Halloween. Luckily, one of the only manga slashers is planning their major return this year.
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Pumpkin Night first began running as a manga in 2016, steadily releasing new chapters ever since as one of the biggest horror manga around. Unfortunately, like many other manga artists in the medium today, creator Seima Taniguchi struggled with health issues that caused the series to take a hiatus. The break officially started in April of last year, meaning that fans have waited over a year to see the comeback for the titular slasher that wears a creepy pumpkin on her head. In a new update from the manga’s creator, Pumpkin Night is confirmed to begin serialization once again next month on August 19th. Taking to social media, the artist is also planning to kick off a “recharge public campaign,” allowing fans to get prepared for the killer rising to stalk her victims once again.
What is a Pumpkin Night Anyway?
Ironically enough, Pumpkin Night has many “tropes” in common with other killers that have helped become slasher icons. The story itself focuses on a girl who escapes from a mental hospital, donning the rotten pumpkin head after she murders everyone inside of their former abode. Stalking the world specifically to get revenge on those who had played a prank on her back in school, the slasher takes elements from characters like Michael Myers and, obviously, Pumpkin Head for her reign of terror. So popular is the slasher that she even had her own prequel series titled Pumpkin Night Gaiden: Naoko, documenting the time before she escaped from the facility.
As of the writing of this article, there has yet to be an anime and/or live-action adaptation of Pumpkin Night, which is a shame considering there haven’t been too many examples of “slashers” in the anime world. While you could argue that characters like Paranoia Agent’s Lil Slugger fit the bill, there has yet to be an iconic anime character that stalks victims while gaining the same notoriety as many of the American horror icons. With over a decade of stories under its belt, perhaps one day we’ll see Pumpkin Night finally arrive in the anime world.
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