Haunted Book / Publication / Landmark Writing

Haunted is a comic zine that depicts the love story between a kapre, a Filipino mythological creature, and a human being. Created by Bisaya artist Marc Conaco in 2017, the zine builds a layered narrative about love, mythology, and the colonial manipulation of Filipino folk tales: “because there was existing mythology in the Philippines, [Spanish colonizers] tweaked the existing myths to fit in with Christin propaganda and values”. This included the kapre, which was warped into a creature to fear. The zine reclaims the original lore of the kapre as a “huge docile tree-dwelling black spirit” that can passively fall in love with a human being.

Through intricate black and white illustrations, Conaco plays with negative space to comment on concepts of ghosts, hauntings, and the original 'passive' presence of the kapre. The visual narrative is central to the story, with the language of Haunted maintaining a lyrical and sporadic style: “soft strands of memories / taking root like weeds” - some pages are completely wordless and rely wholly on the illustrations.

Conaco states that Haunted “shows a different side to [him] as a creator” and reflects on how the style and story is distinct to his previous work on I am brown. I will not frown — which was a more explicit educational resource and personal journey towards decolonisation. In contrast, Haunted critiques colonial influence from a more lyrical, reserved perspective, layering Conaco’s commentary beneath a love story. The zine won the Chromacon Best Comic Art award in 2017.