Disney+ Sets Japanese Horror Anthology 'Night Tales Club' — SkimNews
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- 'Night Tales Club' is a six-part Japanese supernatural anthology series set to premiere on Disney+ and Hulu in January 2027, adapted from author Sawamura Ichi's short horror story collection, with Sawamura also writing the screen adaptations.
- Yamada Takayuki leads the cast as Hojo, a businessman convinced ghosts and curses are 'bugs' in a hidden conspiracy; he offers JPY20 million ($126,000) in gold to anyone who presents firsthand supernatural accounts with proof, and six such accounts form the series.
- Kurosawa Kiyoshi ('Cure,' 'Wife of a Spy') and Shimizu Takashi ('Ju-on,' 'The Inugami Family') each direct one episode, joined by Katayama Shinzo, Sode Yukiko, Sakashita Yuichiro, Nakamura Yosuke, and Nakajima Kenji directing the Hojo framing sequences.
- The series is produced by Wakabayashi Yusuke and Yamamoto Teruhisa, and joins existing Japanese titles on Disney+ including 'Gannibal' and 'Land of Tanabata,' as well as lighter fare like cross-cultural rom-com 'Merry Berry Love.'
- Sawamura Ichi said in a statement that he felt 'an enormous sense of surprise and joy' that his stories will be available to 'scare audiences around the world.'
Why it matters: The project puts two of Japan's most internationally recognized horror directors — Kurosawa Kiyoshi and Shimizu Takashi — on a single Disney+/Hulu anthology backed by the author's own screen adaptation, giving the streamer a prestige Japanese horror franchise to anchor its Asia-Pacific originals push ahead of a January 2027 launch.
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