Back to School-What a Fright!

The chills are creeping in…as is school, with its frightful hallways and haunted cafeterias! Well, maybe not haunted, but the lunch they serve these days is sure to cause some dreadful nightmares! To celebrate (and languish) at this yearly recurrence, we are releasing a special article highlighting four series that might aid your return to the place we find ourselves chained to for most of our young life. Very dramatic, I know, but how would we be able to survive otherwise?

So, pack up your lunch, everyone (I wasn’t joking about the food quality these days) and let’s look at four series that take the setting of school life and turn it upside down. And who knows? You might even find a worthy companion in these pages, one that will accompany you for a lifetime, and even beyond…

Toilet-bound Hanako-kun

By AidaIro

“Hanako-san, Hanako-san...are you there?” At Kamome Academy, rumors abound about the school’s Seven Mysteries, one of which is Hanako-san. Said to occupy the third stall of the third-floor girls’ bathroom in the old school building, Hanako-san grants any wish when summoned. Nene Yashiro, an occult-loving high school girl who dreams of romance, ventures into this haunted bathroom...but the Hanako-san she meets there is nothing like she imagined! Kamome Academy’s Hanako-san...is a boy!

A lot of things can be said about Hanako-kun but the best way to describe this series is “urban legends meet school life.” With a cast of charming characters and strange phenomena, this series will have you skipping class to continue to each volume’s very last chapter! Moreover, if you are looking for inspiration for your next art assignment, then you can pick up AidaIro Illustrations: Toilet-bound Hanako-kun and stare at this series’ gorgeous art for hours on end!

The Illustrated Guide to Monster Girls

By Suzu Akeko

The girls of Class Z dream of graduating and becoming full-fledged monsters. But can they make it happen when their grades are the real horror show?!

Hanako-kun is pretty popular, so you might already have that series on your radar. In that case, this next recommendation is for readers who might have enjoyed Nene’s adventures but want to take the thrills of the underworld up a notch. In The Illustrated Guide to Monster Girls, we are met with a lot of cute girls in cute dresses, but beware: although all the students you will encounter in these pages are even cuter than stuffed dolls, they’re still monsters—and they will not hesitate to take a bite out of our dear readers!

A Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School!

By Mai Tanaka

Rookie teacher Haruaki Abe is as cowardly as they come. It’s hard enough for him to handle human students without whimpering—and now he’s going to be teaching at a school full of monsters?! It’s a classroom of horrors for Haruaki, as his mischievous students use every means at their disposal to prank him! Will this poor teacher be able to get his group of ghouls under control, or is this class destined for failure?

Now, school is all fun and games for the students, but what about the teachers? Surely you must be full of courage to control a classroom full of rowdy teens, but you might need an extra boost when your lovely pupils are one bite away from severing your head from your neck! A Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School! offers new insights on school life, albeit this time from a more grown-up perspective. Maybe this series will also lead you to have some pity for your dear teacher…although pranking them once in a while doesn’t sound like a bad idea! The anime for this series is also streaming this fall, so you don’t want to miss it for any reason! 

Nightschool

By SVETLANA CHMAKOVA

Schools may lock up for the night, but class is in session for an entirely different set of students. In the Nightschool, vampires, werewolves, and weirns (a particular breed of witches) learn the fundamentals of everything from calculus to spell casting. Alex is a young weirn whose education has always been handled through homeschooling, but circumstances seem to be drawing her closer to the Nightschool. Will Alex manage to weather the dark forces gathering? 

An oldie but goodie, this last recommendation is a YA graphic novel that is sure to keep you awake at night! Because who needs to be wide awake for first period? You might know Svetlana Chmakova for her bestselling series Berrybrook Middle School, but this author truly shines when it comes to fantasy! If you enjoy a diverse cast, a protagonist who must juggle her family, her powers, and friendships, and the theme of “us vs. them,” then we cannot recommend this series enough! Still, if YA isn’t your cup of tea but you cannot give up fantasy, then check out The Weirn Books! Volume 2 of the series is also coming out next month, so there’s no better time to start reading this middle grade series!

Now that you’re fully prepared for the semester to start, don’t forget to pick a trusty companion to spend your free period with!