Uzumaki: Spiral Into Horror by Ito Junji

Ito, Junji. Uzumaki: Spiral Into Horror. Shogakukan, 2017. 648p. ISBN: 9781421561325. $27.99. OT/(Adult/Borrowed) ****

Ito’s Uzumaki: Spiral Into Horror is a classic horror manga for older teens and adults. The whole tome is broken into chapters that follow Kirie Goshima, her boyfriend, Shuichi Saito, and at times her family, as their small town in Japan slowly “spirals” out of control. Kirie and Shuichi start to notice a strange pattern, spirals, cropping up everywhere and causing individuals and even natural weather events to act strangely. The curse caused by the spirals changes humans into slugs, causes pregnant women to murder and eat others, and hurricanes to target individuals.

This manga is very dark and most definitely for older teens and adults. There are no real language issues, but the illustrations and content are extremely graphic, especially for black and white illustrations. There aren’t any sexual instances but a woman is drawn naked in one of the chapters. Each chapter draws the reader into the madness that the main characters and eventually the whole town experiences. For any teen looking for horror in formats other than movies, I would highly recommend anything by Ito. Tomie is also good though is slightly more sexual and bloody in nature. And if teens enjoyed The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, they may also enjoy Uzumaki.

Jessica Lundin, San Jose Public Library