THE QUIET THINGS THAT NO ONE EVER KNOWS.

theyre calling 'hikaru' an evil spirit meanwhile he's wrapping himself in a blanket skipping school and crying his eyes out because he's scared yoshiki doesn't love him. evil spirit WHERE. ignore the villagers he's been violently murdering

gothic horror is when there's a location. cosmic horror is when there's an unauthorized fucking Thing. folk horror is when you're outside.

Sometimes, an anime can be all three.

“your friend is dead, and their corpse is inhabited by something only you can see for what it truly is" is already good horror. but "you begin to love the thing that wears their face"? the blasphemy of it. terror turning into desire. grief turning into longing. being enticed by what should repel you. it twists the knife deeper, because the horror is not based on deception anymore. the fear comes from recognizing the monster in its raw form and finding beauty there. you're not clinging to scraps of your friend, you're surrendering to something other, something wrong, and loving it. you're not holding onto a ghost of the past, it’s the monster itself that you choose