It's always Halloween in Japan

"He seemed so normal"

I'm a huge fan of Ukiyo-e master Taiso Yoshitoshi. His woodblock prints are unmatched in their dynamic, comic book-like sense of movement, action and story telling (you can tell he is a clear influence on modern comic artists, namely Frank Miller). For the most part his subject matter dealt with Japanese epics, Kabuki theatre and poetry, but the guy also had a real love of grossing people out. Some of his print collections like "100 Aspects of the Moon" and "New Forms of 36 Ghosts" are tremendously spooky and very atmospheric. Some collections, like "28 Famous Murders With Verses", are full on horror shows with enough blood and guts to rival any slasher flick you could see today. Mind you these where all done between 1860-1890. In the spirit of Halloween, here's to Yoshitoshi; you were one talented sicko...