Thai One-Baht, 'Rampant Ghost'

Horror was also a popular theme in Thailand’s boom of cutprice, cut-throat ‘one-baht’ comics (a baht being about three US cents). Behind lurid, enticing covers lurk short, sharp shockers, typically of sixteen small pages, concerning such traditional Thai spooks as the phi pop, which infests bodies and consumes them from the inside before finding another host, or the krasue, a woman’s head that separates from her body at night to feed on blood and flesh.

This work features in Mangasia: Wonderlands of Asian Comics, a Barbican International Enterprises exhibition, curated by Paul Gravett. Mangasia presents a vivid journey through the art of Comics and visual storytelling across Asia. From its historical roots to the most recent digital innovations, the exhibition looks to popular Japanese ‘Manga’ and beyond, highlighting key creators, characters and publications.