Gigi Murakami: Queen of Horror Manga

Award-winning Manga Artist & Illustrator, Gigi Murakami, was among the select official talent to this year’s Dream Con. Notable for horror titles such as Resenter, published digitally by Viz Manga, Murakami discussed her love of all things scary, getting the elderly into horror, and reflecting on her accolades and projects.

As a recipient of the Cartoon Crossroads Columbus Emerging Talent Award, presented by Bone creator Jeff Smith and partner Vijaya Iyer in 2025, Murakami is no stranger to leaning into her title as “Queen of Horror Manga.” She is currently working as the art lead and executive producer for WEBE, an upcoming horror animation project with N LITE.

Seth A. Romo: You’ve noted different horror titles such as Tales from the Crypt and Silent Hill as inspirations. How would you describe your specific style as you’ve blended different horror tropes like supernatural and body horror?

Gigi Murakami: I feel like saying “Black horror,” as there's elements of Black horror in my work. I don't know if there's a specific genre or sub-genre that I lean into. I'm more so concerned with themes and–on the writing side–what do I want to talk about, and how can I best discuss that. So I think I'm a little bit more eclectic. But that's also why I like horror, because it allows you to sort of bounce around and play.

How has your relationship with horror evolved, especially as you’ve gotten into creating it yourself?

I got into horror when I was very young, and I love all of horror, to be honest. I think the only thing that's changed for me is how personal horror can be. Whereas when I was younger, it was a little more like a morality thing, right? Like, “be a good person or else this will happen to you.” Whereas now, I feel like there's a freedom to be a bit more personal and a little more humanistic in horror and talk about things that people actually go through. And that's pretty interesting to me–it’s something I’ve taken away from my work.

My title, Resenter,  was quite personal to me. I was thinking about resentment and revenge and stuff like that. But I don't really have a favorite type of horror. There's room to play in all of it, and each sub-genre does its own thing well.

As a horror fanatic, do you find joy in getting people into horror? For example, having a mental catalogue of what might get someone into the genre?

Not so much with movies, but I have had this happen with my own work. There are quite a few Black folks who don't actually like horror. A few months ago, I was tabling at French Comic Fest in New York City, and there was this one elderly lady who came to my booth after she saw me and asked, “This is nice, what do you do?” 

I responded, “I create horror manga.” 

“What? That’s too scary, why do you like it?” 

“Horror helps us. It gives us thought exercises to think about how we would act. It’s like a test run for a scary situation, but in a controlled way.”

After breaking it down for her, she ended up buying my book. [Chuckles] This seventy-year-old woman had probably never touched a horror thing in her life. So I felt vindicated. 

You’ve mentioned you emphasize Black Women representation in your work. Often in horror, the “final girl” is white. Have you explored changing that in your storytelling?

I have a concept for a story called, “Black Women Versus the World.” It’s a print where conceptually it’s one Black Woman who’s in a world full of zombies, but the “infection” is bigotry. I came up with it during the pandemic, but I’ve had a lot of people ask me about it–so in a way she could be a “final girl.” I have some stories I’m cooking though, but I’m not sure I’m ready to kill off anybody to end with a “final girl”–but maybe.

As an award-winning creator, how does it feel to reflect from when you started to now?

It makes me cry. It does. It's a little surreal, especially early on—I've actually cried during panels talking about it. I remember my first industry party at Anime NYC, and I could see where my old job was, and that was crazy emotional for me. Maybe I have accepted it to the point where I’m just like, “Yeah, I did it.” But there’s definitely a lot more that I want to do. But I think it’s important to sit with the thing and take it in. 

For more on Gigi Murakami, visit https://www.gigimurakami.art/ or follow her at @Gigi_Murakami. This interview was edited for clarity.

In addition to her title, Resenter, Murakami has worked on a number of series such as Are You Afraid of the Dark? The Sinister Sisters, The Soul Stealer, Peep the Apocalypse, and more.

Gigi Murakami at Dream Con 2026