Uzumaki, the new anime adaptation of one of Junji Ito's scariest stories, is taking the world by storm. It's had rave reviews since the first episode aired (though there have also been some raised eyebrows after episode two) and stirred up interest in the horror manga auteur's incredible body of work.
But where to start reading that work? Junji Ito (who we interviewed back in 2021) has been creating manga professionally since 1987, when he submitted the story that would become his classic series Tomie to Monthly Halloween magazine. He's told hundreds of stories over the years, many of them wonderfully sinister, but most people aren't going to have the time to read them all. With that in mind, we've picked out 10 of our favorites. These are tales to chill the blood and make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Yes, Uzumaki is one of them, but what are the other nine? Read on to find out...
10. Hellstar Remina
First published in: Weekly Big Comic Spirits (2004–2005)
When Astronomer Oguro makes the chance discovery of a planet emerging from a wormhole, he celebrates the landmark moment by naming the planet after his cherished daughter, Remina. The discovery propels them both into stardom, their names celebrated and revered across the world. Remina – a beautiful, if shy, girl – pursues an entertainment career, featuring in shows and commercials, learning, reluctantly, to enjoy her newfound fame.
But things change when the speed and direction of the planet alarms the experts. As it becomes clear that the unstoppable, sentient star is hurtling toward Earth and destroying everything in its path, mankind looks for something – or someone – to blame. Cue lynch mobs, pitchforks, ritualised murder and burn-at-the-stake sacrifices. As is often the way with Ito, the cast of Hellstar Remina are nothing more than unfortunate souls who happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. There's little justice, little resolution, and little hope, but it's a creepy-ass story with enough strangeness to keep you reading until the final page.
9. Glyceride (AKA Greased)
First published in: Voices in the Dark / Shiver (titled Greased).
Bit queasy around body fluids and the like? You might want to give Gylceride a miss. Yui and her brother Goro live above the family's barbecue restaurant, their home saturated with oil and grease. As Goro likes swiggin' that grease straight from the can, he consequently develops a rather unpleasant case of acne. Schoolyard bullying and a quick temper mean Goro isn't the nicest sibling to have around and, to stop him beating the bejesus out of his sister, Yui's dad beats him to death with a frying pan.
Then he serves up Goro's greasy, tender flesh to the barbecue punters downstairs. The new dish proves popular, but as the supply runs dry, so does the patronage, and Daddy's left needing to source a new meat supply. Cue recurring dreams of volcanic greasy eruptions, parents force-feeding kids tinned grease and then drowning their sorrows with – yup, you guessed it – grease. Know what? I can't even write about this one anymore. Go read it. I'm sorry.
8. Dissection Girl
First published in: Ma no Kakera
When medical student Tatsuro's corpse blinks up at him, he's obliged to re-assess his initial assumption that the body before him is actually dead, and lay down his scalpel. That's not what the corpse wants, though. Turns out the very beautiful and totally-not-crazy Ruriko has a bit of a fetish for being cut up alive, and has pulled the dead-in-a-body-bag stunt several times across several medical schools in order to trick people into slicing her up.
It's revealed that Tatsuro shares a guess-who'll-grow-up-to-be-a-psychopath childhood past with Ruriko. They used to spend their salad days chopping up animals and rodents, Tatsuro blackmailed into assisting Ruriko's amateur surgery following a petty theft he didn't want to get grounded for. When Tatsuro declines to participate in her voluntary slaughter, Ruriko commences a crusade to get chopped up. Scathing social commentary on our need to keep improving ourselves with plastic surgery, or just a creepy story about a very crazy gal? You decide, my friend. It can be found in the collected edition of Tomie.
7. Army of One (AKA Billions Alone)
First published in: Weekly Big Comics Spirits 2004 #2
Following a string of grisly murders wherein bodies are discovered naked and inexplicably sewn together with fishing wire, people are warned not to gather in large groups for fear a terrorist cell, locally dubbed Army of One, will capture and kill them. Curiously, none of the many, many victims appear to have been attacked, abused, stripped, or sewn up against their will. Agoraphobe Michio dropped out of school at 13, but around the time of his 20th birthday an old school pal drops by with news of a school reunion.
Troubled by the recent attacks he suggests canceling the event – particularly when a friend turns up stitched up – but nope, it goes ahead anyway because people in comics are just as stupid as people in real-life. Cue a tantalizing glimpse into the power of paranoia and isolation, and the recurring Ito theme that sometimes you’ve got to know the difference between fight or flight. Check it out in the collected Remina.
6. The Enigma of Amigara Fault
First published in: Spirits Special IKKI 2000
What is the enigma of Amigara Fault? Well, when the aftermath of an earthquake exposes a sheet of rock along the deep, gaping fault-line on Amigara Mountain, it reveals thousands of people-shaped holes cut into the rock, holes so deep even 30 meter-long fibre cables fail to touch the end. As the world's press reports on the spectacle, curious sightseers begin hiking up the inhospitable terrain of the mountain, hoping to catch a glimpse of the mysterious holes themselves. On-site researchers ponder on the discovery, but cannot ascertain how the holes came to be.
With rock so strong, no visible entry point and the holes having been hidden for centuries beneath the soil, who the hell created them? And why are the researchers so convinced that they could only have been carved from the inside out? Most curious of all, some visitors are convinced that they've found their own exact outlines hidden amongst the thousands of holes embedded into the rock. And even though they're terrified, and many blessed with the unfathomable foresight that entering the holes may kill them, they feel a compulsion to step into them anyway...
5. The Thing That Drifted Ashore
First published in: Nemuki 1995-07
You'd think a dead Hell creature would be better than a live one, but as The Thing That Drifted Ashore illustrates with horrifying clarity, that's actually not always the case. Especially when the thing in question is pulled from Ito's magnificently terrifying head. When the remains of a huge, rotting, prehistoric creature wash up on the shore, scientists are baffled not just by what it is, but what's lying beneath its strange, translucent skin.
Crowds of gawkers swarm the site to check out the gigantic life form for themselves. It soon becomes clear that some visitors share the same recurring, unsettling dream of being trapped beneath the ocean, terrified but seemingly protected by an invisible wall. Then, through the corpse's transparent skin, the crowd realizes that the body is stuffed with hundreds and hundreds of people. And they're alive. Well, kinda. It's like the whale bit at the end of Pinocchio – you know, if Pinocchio had been written and drawn by a madman.
4. Frankenstein
First published in: Monthly Halloween (1994)
Originally published in 1994 and only translated into English for the first time in 2018, Frankenstein is Ito's creepy-ass take on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Ito's well known for recycling classic Japanese horror tropes and ideas for his stories, but as his first take on a Western horror story – and a faithful retelling at that – this reimagining of the gothic tale casts this Frankenstein's creation not as Hollywood's shuffling, sympathetic, and child-like fool, but rather as a callous, calculating denizen hell-bent on vengeance.
Ito's Frankenstein is a fantastic opener for anyone new to his work, or even someone new to manga full-stop. It's a tad short, but don't let that put you off. This intriguing and disquieting retelling is the most frightening spin on a Frankenstein story I've ever read.
3. Gyo
First published in: Big Comic Spirits (2001–2002)
You know that terrifying doll from Toy Story? The one that lived next door with a massacred scalp and those horrible, metal, spider-like legs? Gyo is like that. But with fish. At first, it's just little fish – they smell pretty gross, but they're small, so it's okay. But then things like sharks and whales get in on the act and seriously – the only thing scarier than a shark is a shark tottering around on sharp, metal legs.
Turns out the fish are controlled by sentient bacteria lovingly monikered The Death Stench, named as such because the bodies scuttling about are, well, dead. And stinky. Cue a terrifying tale of government experimentation gone wrong and a stern reminder that burying stuff at sea may be out of sight, but it's never out of mind. At least, not if there's sealife nearby. Once upon a time, a Jaws film terrified the world. Then Ito made it worse and gave us Gyo.
2. Uzumaki
First published in: Big Comic Spirits (1998–1999)
You've likely heard of this one... Unlike typical tales of spirit, alien or demonic possession, Uzumaki details an altogether different type of haunting: the supernatural forces of a pattern. Uzumaki is a three-part series documenting the small, sleepy village of Kurzu-cho, a peculiar town with an even more peculiar obsession with spirals.
The spiral curse manifests itself slowly and stealthily, imprinting itself in the world by way of shells, plants, and patterns in both wind and water, causing the townsfolk to become obsessed with, and/or paranoid about, the mysterious pattern. Eventually, the pattern also imprints itself onto people, be it in their hair, their homes, or their faces. The new anime version is airing now, but the story has also featured in a pair of video games for the Bandai handheld system WonderSwan – Uzumaki: Denshi Kaiki Hen and Uzumaki: Noroi Simulatio, as well as a creepy (if a tad unfulfilling) Japanese horror movie of the same name.
1. Tomie
First published in: Monthly Halloween (1987)
Widely considered Ito's greatest work, Tomie is a series that tells the story of a school girl blessed – or cursed? – with the inexplicable gift of causing everyone and anyone to fall madly in love with her. Just like Rapunzel, Tomie's beautiful hair takes on a role of its own. Unlike Rapunzel, Tomie's barnet is spooky as balls which means this isn't quite the Disney-like story it first seems.
Along with intense desire, the people who fall for her are capable of brutal acts of furious jealousy – even Tomie herself. Seemingly murdered time and again, Tomie – or at least, copies of Tomie – continue to return, a distressing problem for her teacher Takagi, who – along with most of the class – killed her the first time around. Look out for the Tomie-fied kidney that tries to get it on with the doctor. Now there's a sentence I never thought I'd write.
Eager for more manga and anime? Check out our guide to the best manga published last year, keep track of the Uzumaki release schedule and browse our guide to the best horror comics of all time.
