Already tense situations reach their breaking point in the labyrinth-like mansion where the Shibuya Psychic Research group is currently staked out in the new GHOST HUNT manga by Del Rey. The house’s mysterious past creeps into the present and it’s a scramble to find the missing researchers before it’s too late.

Mai Taniyama is a high school student working part time with Kazuya Shibuya, nicknamed Naru, president of SPR. Around her are Lin, the mysterious man who always seems to be around Naru, John Brown, an Australian minister, Ayako Matsuzaki, a self-proclaimed “Miko”, Houshou Takigawa, a former monk, and Masako Hara, a well known television psychic. The ability of each member varies; and they are all employed to dispel the spirits haunting their clients’ buildings. In their latest case, the Prime minister himself had hired a number of psychic research groups to investigate the series of disappearances in an old mansion. SPR is one of those groups, and due to political reasons, they are told not to leave until it’s solved. Floors that don’t line up, windows that open up only to reveal a brick wall, and a chimney that no one can explain make the house difficult to traverse. The disappearances do not stop with the presence of the research groups, and some of the other researchers are now on the MIA list.

Picking up when Mai wakes up from a horrible dream, the team delves deeper into the house and its past. Startling revelations are made about Mai’s telepathic dream, and the connection between the missing researchers is revealed. When another researcher goes missing, everyone pairs up and goes nowhere alone. Fights between the team members threaten to disrupt the balance in their system, and the relationship between Naru and Lin comes into light. Lin uses his talent to prove their theories correct. The mystery of the house’s previous owner is discovered, and it is a gruesome one at that, involving an owner from the Meiji era who enjoyed reading stories about Vlad the Impaler, (the inspiration for Bram Stoker’s Dracula), and Elizabeth Bathory, (who thought murdering virgins and bathing in their blood would bring her immortality). A fight between two of SPR’s members leaves one of them missing, and the other at risk. Using Mai’s dream as a starting point, the team must find their way into the center of the house, where they believe the missing researchers are being kept. Will Mai’s telepathic dreams help save her missing teammate, or will she be next on the victim list?

GHOST HUNT Volume 7 falls in line with its predecessors as a great work of art and riveting fiction. The translation was thorough, and if there was anything that couldn’t be translated smoothly, there are translation notes after the story. Also, the artists drawing style is one that is free of horror, foul language and mature subject matter, making this a story for both young and old- a mind-grabber with clean-cut images that makes you both thankful and curious about that which wasn’t shown, but merely implied. Laced with comic relief, this is both a thriller and a real time drama, and the characters all face events that hold true to modern day life.

IN SUMMARY:
A group of missing researchers.  An era of victims.  Just the kind of setting that shows SPR at its best. A fast-paced tale, full of wonderful illustrations and real life characters sets the bar high for this latest volume of mystery in the GHOST HUNT series by Shiho Inada and Fuyumi Ono.