BUT WAIT! Don't go off just because of that. This book isn't so much about walking you through things as it is about giving some EXTREMELY useful tips. While using this book I found myself looking back and saying..."Wait I ALREADY DO THAT!" And by paying attention to the techniques I was using for the genre unconciously I was able to refine and get better! If your interested in Occult, Horror, Fantasty, and magic based comics I'd suggest this book greatly. It's a nice RESOURCE.

Buy it as soon as you can. Just don't expect to have steps taken with you. This is a "Look at us do it and now YOU do it." Also for you strict pencillers out there, some of the inking techniques in this book can be applied to you. I don't like inking my work unless it's to certain parts. Never as a whole. So I mimicked alot of this in pencil. Hope this helps people! Bye bye!


One of the best   June 10, 2003
 16 out of 17 found this review helpful

Im sure all of you manga artists out there have probably heard of the "how to draw mang" series, although most of the books are for experts a begginer such as myself can learn a whole lot out of a book like this. The book concentrates on things like monsters and gosts ect.. The book shows some background techniques (very important) and as another reveiwer said there are a lot of RPG character ideas. The bad side: None of the how to draw manga series shows how to draw manga step by step if the book showed step by step it would definetly earn its 5th star. Although I must admit it is sometimes fun just copying the pics. It may seem expensive but trust me its worth every penny. for those who like step by step then perhaps a Christopher Hart book may be best for U

Thanks for reading my review !!


Another themed reference book   November 22, 2004
 15 out of 15 found this review helpful

These specific themed books are wonderful as references and Occult & Horror is no different from the rest. Hayashi once again covers a wide variety from human monsters, standard monsters, animal monsters, and how to create the mood necessary for a successful horror manga.

This book is not for the faint of heart. The zombie was fantastically grotesque and there is a section on drawing dismembered body parts which may be unsettling for some folks. Not to mention the cool ghost scenes and other... umm yeah, if you don't like creepy stuff, then this book isn't for you. Otherwise, this book is mostly for reference.


Excellent, but I wouldn't recommend this for "green" artists   August 29, 2004
 14 out of 14 found this review helpful

This is an excellent book for those who have basic artistic skills. There's plenty of stuff to get ideas off of, such as the Griffin, Chimaera, etc... It tells about the "moods" of the background in a demonic scenario.

Other things included in this book are: zombies, ghosts, and fictional monsters. But there's also ways to turn a "conventional" character into a demonic-like one, such as sharpening the eyes a bit, or changing the pupils to make your character look psychotic.
One of the things I really loved about this book was the "bitten-off limbs" section. It shows dramatic cuts, non dramatic cuts, faces being partly bitten off, etc...
The cover, however, is quite misleading. If you're looking to draw "Nekos" (catwomen) like the one shown on the cover, you're better off looking at "How to Draw Manga: Bishoujo/Pretty Gals" and its counterpart, "How to Draw Manga: More About Pretty Gals"
I highly recommend both, by the way.

Long story short, this book is great for people who just want ideas or something to draw off of, or maybe even incorporate horror and mecha. Possibilities are endless. Your imagination's the limit.