Phantom Tales Of The Night - Book Review #20

by Bean

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️​⭐️/5

​“Phantom Tales of the Night” written by Matsuri is a horror manga that takes place in modern Japan. It has four stories, with the first and last related. Murakumo Inn- where all the events happen - is a mysterious business open to people or spirits who are having issues with their life. The odd innkeeper does not desire money; instead, he wants your deepest, darkest secrets in order to let you stay. 
 
Tokihito, the first story’s protagonist, had always seen butterflies following him, but he didn’t know why. One day, a giant and aggressive butterfly spirit was chasing him. Tokihito then runs into the Murakumo Inn and meets the unnamed and eccentric innkeeper. The innkeeper asks Tokihito for a secret, but he has none. The innkeeper reveals that the butterflies chasing him were actually one of the inn’s employees, Butterfly, but in a different form. 
 
Tokihito soon realizes he’s forgotten how to get home and what his parents look like. He is startled when the innkeeper calls him a “spirit.” Tokihito starts to freak out when he’s told that he’s actually dead, and immediately his body begins to decay and his torso turns into skeleton. When he wakes up in a bedroom and sees the innkeeper behind him, he realizes that it wasn’t a dream. The innkeeper says, “This is a secret I made just for you.” 
 
The next story follows Miho, a woman in her late 20s. She and her twin sister, Kaho, were always told how different they were. Miho felt jealousy towards Kaho and when she gets dumped by her boyfriend and loses her job, while Kaho gets a fiancé, these negative emotions are amplified. One day, Miho stumbles upon Butterfly in his human form and starts to talk to him. She tells him about Kaho and Butterfly says he has granted her wish. She doesn’t seem to know what this means and heads home to find her sister dead. For some reason, the only feeling that welled up inside her was joy. Miho starts her new life with a smile on her face only for it to turn into a frown when everybody starts calling her Kaho. Miho slowly goes mad and starts to melt into butterflies. 
 
The third story introduces a new character, Spider. Like Butterfly, he can change into different forms. He also possesses the ability to use webs. Spider serves as one of the guards for the Murakumo Inn. A girl (who is mostly snake) shows up and tries to assassinate the innkeeper on her master’s order. Spider locks her in a cage and tells her she’s being used. The girl seems to believe that she’s the only one her master trusts to kill the innkeeper, and she starts flipping out when she realizes she has been lied to. The innkeeper ends up killing her, and Spider becomes bitter because he couldn’t save her.
 
The last story involves Tokihito again. He meets an odd man who wishes to kill the innkeeper. Tokihito brings him to the inn, and the innkeeper and this man start attacking each other. At one point, the innkeeper is presumed dead but starts to take the form of a demon-like creature with eyes all over his head. The man’s attempt fails, and he and Tokihito go home.
 
I personally really enjoyed this series, and have been dying for volume two to come out. This has a mix of traditional Japanese lore yet modern themes. Matsuri wrote this really well and portrayed the innkeeper as a sadistic in-human creature. The art is beautiful and quite expressive. I would definitely call this a horror series.