A six-panel collage featuring Budjette Tan, the cover of Trese: Murder on Balete Drive, an animated fiery-eyed character in a fighting pose, a winged demonic silhouette, the book cover for Under the Balete Tree, and a portrait of Lauren Lola.

‘Trese’ Author Budjette Tan on Elevation of Filipino Folklore and Horror in Pop Culture

November 5, 2026 Lauren Lola

Both horror and Filipino folklore appear to be having a moment in contemporary pop culture. For the former, projects within that genre have been growing both in quantity and also quality, such as that of Sinners and Backrooms. For the latter, while the subject matter has been around for centuries with multiple interpretations within that time, this year has seen an increase in focus, such as the likes of the pilot episode for Sun Chaser and DreamWorks’ latest feature film, Forgotten Island.

Budjette Tan is one whose work is intertwined in both, as the writer and co-creator of Trese; a Filipino horror comics series about an investigator in modern-day Manila, who looks into crimes surrounding creatures of Filipino folklore. Over Zoom, we talked in depth about his early exposures to Filipino folklore and horror, his impressions of projects like Forgotten Island, interpretations of Filipino folklore, and thoughts about what makes a story a horror story.

We spoke as fellow writers, as Tan inquired about the reception to my own take on Filipino folklore in the form of my new graphic novel, Under the Balete Tree, and also about my relationship to the horror genre.