4 Graphic novels of horror, history, and mythology

There’s something magical about stories that feel both familiar and brand new—like listening to your lola’s cautionary tales again, only this time in comic form. This small stack of local graphic novels takes us through haunted childhoods, curfew-struck streets, myth-making geology, and fantastical palacios. Each title offers a glimpse into a uniquely Filipino world, incredibly told and illustrated you ought to have them in your shelves. They remind us how powerful our own stories can be when drawn from our own mythology, heartbreak, and magic.

Cautionary Tales from a Filipino Childhood by Bambi & Roland Amago

Anyone fascinated by Filipino horror folk lore (or who grew up devouring R.L. Stine books) should do themselves a favor and pick up this graphic novel. Tightly written and beautifully illustrated, it’s filled with familiar tales of folkloric spirits and mythological creatures that are meant to scare, and maybe stir a bit of nostalgia if you grew up hearing these stories.

The tales of aswang, manananggal, ghostly apparitions and other beings are told, through the character of Inang, the novel’s Lola Basyang (ask your own lola about her). But unlike the original’s whimsical children’s stories, Inang spins chilling narratives meant to unsettle the grandkids.

The book is divided into three sections—Aswang, Apparition, and Anting-anting—and even includes a helpful section on “Inang’s Fantastic Facts and Fables” section, offering more context about mystical mountains and underground cemeteries, classic Filipino snacks, and Pinoy childhood street games.

12:01 by Russell Molina, Illustrated by Kajo Baldisimo

Set during Martial Law, 12:01 follows four bandmates who miss the curfew, which is alarming during that time as anyone caught outside from 12 mn to 4 am could be arrested and detained. Seeking refuge, the group stumbles into a newspaper office shuttered by the regime, and later hitches a ride with a jeepney driver looking for his missing daughter, who had disappeared after joining several rallies.

The short graphic novel succeeds in showing what it was like during the dark period of Martial Law—warrantless arrests and detentions, enforced disappearances, and other human rights violations—through the story of one tense evening among a group of friends who simply want to get home. Written in Filipino, the dialogue feels real and honest, reflecting the colloquial language of the time. Molina proves himself a skilled storyteller, adept at building tension, while Baldisimo’s illustrations heighten the story’s gripping and melancholic tone. Beyond the main story, Molina also includes three original songs (“Hala,” “Tahan Na,” and “Gising Na”), each perfectly capturing the shifting emotions of the story.

Dead Balagtas (Tomo 1) Mga Sayaw ng Dagat at Lupa By Emiliana Kampilan

Dead Balagtas is a remarkable work of graphic literature that deserves a place on your shelf. Emiliana Kampilan weaves a multi-layered narrative that traces both the geological history of the world and the Philippines through four different stories. Her ability to connect geology, Filipino mythology, and sharp social commentary feels almost poetic, yet she never shies away from confronting harsh realities of class, poverty, labor, and queer relationships. It’s no surprise that it earned the National Book Award for Best Graphic Literature.

From the opening chapter (Ang Santinakpan), which retells creation in an unconventional format, you immediately sense that you’re reading something groundbreaking. Each succeeding chapter unfolds in such an expansive backdrop of shifting continents and crashing seas, where human stories rise and fall alongside geological upheavals. By the time we reach the last chapter (Lupang Hinirang), the Philippines itself emerges. This book reminds us that our nation’s story is inseparable from the land beneath our feet. It’s ever-changing, turbulent, but also resilient and alive.

Sagala by Tori Tadiar

Here’s a dazzling Filipiniana fantasy that reimagines courtly intrigue with a distinctly local flair. At its heart is Riel, a gunsmith’s apprentice who dreams of trading her tools for silk as a courtesan in the Royal Palacio. But when she inadvertently saves the mysterious Ambassador Corrido Mireil and his courtesan Awit from an assassination attempt at the annual Sagala Pageant, her ambitions twist into revelations of family secrets and hidden power.

Tadiar’s lush illustrations brim with drama—petticoats conceal pistols, courtesans whisper like conspirators, and myth lingers in every chamber. Bold, stylish, and unmistakably Filipino, Sagala is a genre-bending tale of ambition and identity, where every flourish is as sharp as a drawn blade.

All books are available at the Mess Studio, Common Room, The Atrium, Makati Ave., Makati City