The sad fact about the horror genre is that it sometimes feels limited in what it provides the more you watch. Slasher, ghost, animatronic, eldritch, it's all stuff we've seen before. However, there's one manga, while not technically horror focused, provides an incredibly eerie example of what the cyberpunk genre can do with horror.

That manga...is Blame!

     Set in the unknown future, the story follows a man named Killy traveling across a super-complex in search of people who have a "Net Terminal Gene." However, the complex and the machine creatures it creates are incredibly hostile, leading to Killy and his allies to face against these terrifying forces.

    While the story is simple, the true beauty of Blame! comes from the art style. The artist is a master of wide open shots to show how small the characters are in this incomprehensibly enormous, multi-leveled building. Most enemies that Killy face are all machines or cyborgs, but they're so disturbing and deformed. The cyborgs in particular are really eerie, as they do hold some human characteristics. It makes you wonder if we as a species will ever evolve with machines to look like...this.

    Like I said before, the artist is a master of making the environment seem huge. So for people who have the fear of gigantism, it's definitely a spine chilling sight.

    However, the greatest feat of fear the manga provides is the enemies, the Safeguard. Like I said before, it is incredibly disturbing to see these vaguely human, machine like individuals have the ability to wield such weaponry, be incredibly hostile, and above all else, eliminate any human. The character designs of these individuals are absolutely fantastic, it goes to show just how much love and effort the manga creator put into this.

    The sheer creative terror the cyberpunk genre can provide is such an untapped market. It's a pit of creativity that we have barely been able to dig into, something that I believe if put into the right hands, can show the world just how terrifying the cyberpunk genre can truly be....

Also please go read Blame! it's such an amazing manga.