Warning: Disturbing Imagery Ahead. Reader Discretion Advised.Junji Ito’s masterpieceUzumakiis home to some of the most terrifying chapters from any of his work. The legendary horror mangaka has made a name for himself with his horrifying short stories. The way he depicts the terror of his concepts withhis disturbing artworkhas made him into one of the most famous horror authors in the world. However, out of all his work,Uzumakiis undeniably his strongest piece.
Uzumakifollows Kirie and her boyfriend Shuichi as they face the curse of the spiral in their town, which drives the inhabitants mad. It’s a story that has been defined as Ito’s masterpiece by critics and fans alike. Now, witha highly-anticipated anime from Adult Swimon the way, it’s become a better time than any to look back through the chapters and rediscover what made the story so terrifying in the first place.Uzumakiconsists of 19 chapters in all, and these are the ten most terrifying of the bunch that will frighten any horror fan.
10Chapter 12: The Storm
Kirie Becomes the Desire of an Eerie Storm
Uzumakikicks off the final act of Kirie’s story as Kurouzu-Cho becomes the host of a violent hurricane. When the storm makes landfall, she steps out to bring her reclusive boyfriend his dinner. However, she can’t help but feel like she’s being watched. Later that night, she hears the wind calling her name. When she wakes up, she sees the storm hasn’t faded away as a spiral forms over the town thanks to the storm’s eye. She and Shuichi quickly discover that the storm wants her, and it will stay over the town until it can pull her in.
While not nearly as grotesque as the other stories inUzumaki, “The Storm” is undeniably one of the most unsettling tales in Ito’s library.The fact the hurricane’s eye plays a central role makes the terror feel inescapable.There’s nowhere Kirie can hide before the storm destroys the town to find her. So, it’s just an inevitability that the storm will discover her at some point. Plus, the image of the woman it mistakes for Kirie sucked up to the eye is absolutely terrifying as she faces Kirie’s fate, swallowed whole by the eye.
9Chapter 13: The House
Kirie’s Family Moves to a New Home with Horrifying Secrets
This follow-up to “The Storm” sees Kirie and her family forced to move to a new home after their old house is destroyed by the hurricane. When they move in, they discover it harbors a dark secret as they slowly begin to develop warts shaped like spiral cones. Plus, with rumors of a monster haunting the house, it’s a story that’s loaded with terror of many shapes. From creepy neighbors to strange noises at night, it’s a tale that perfectly recreates the chills of moving to a new place.
The biggest scare of the entire story though is easily the reveal of Kirie’s neighbor, Mr. Wakabayashi, as he succumbs to the warts that grow on anyone who lives in the house. When it’s revealed he’s been spying on the family, he discovers the spiral cones on his hands. The next time readers see him,his body has been completely taken over by them,turning him into a disturbing creature, unable to control his actions.It’s a terrifying display of body horror that Junji Ito is best known for, and it results in a particularly gruesome finale when Wakabayashi is impaled through the neck.
8Chapter 4: The Firing Effect
Kirie’s Father Finds New Artistic Inspiration Through the Spiral
This story explores Dragonfly Pond, which seems to be the center of Kurouzu-Cho’s spiral effect as ashes from the crematorium descend into it, no matter what. It follows Kirie’s father as he begins using a new batch of clay to create bizarre new pottery that distorts and forms spiral shapes after being placed in the kiln. However, after discovering some horrifying details in her father’s work, Kirie sneaks into his studio and discovers thathe’s been using mud from Dragonfly Pond to create them.
The scariest aspect of this story comes from the reveal thatthe clay used is imbued with the souls of the deadthat have descended into the pond following cremation. The warped faces of Shuichi’s parents in the pottery paired with their screams of agony while in the kiln shows a fate worse than death. While not necessarily a gory story, it’s absolutely haunting. Plus, when Shuichi learns the truth, his terrified expression speaks wonders as he realizes his parents are in agony and destroys the kiln, freeing their spirits from the heat. It’s a unique type of ghost story that needs to be seen to be believed as Ito’s signature style takes over to show how warped the process can be.
7Chapter 8: The Snail
Junji Ito Introduces the Horrific Snail People
Ito once again flexes his talent for body horror with this terrifying chapter. The story follows a student named Katayama, a slow-moving boy who’s constantly bullied. However, one day, he begins developing a shell on his back. As the week continues, he slowly transforms into a giant snail. Unsure what to do, the school keeps him in a pen and feeds him. However,it’s quickly discovered that anyone who messes with him also becomes a snail, as demonstrated by Katayama’s bully and teacher slowly transforming as well.
The horror from this odd chapter inUzumakiundeniably comes from the transformation process. Seeing Katayama develop a growth on his back is a terrifying start to his metamorphosis, but other adjustments such as his eyes becoming stalks are a horrific sight. It’s like seeing Brundle slowly transform into an insect in David Cronenberg’s remake ofThe Fly.This is body horror at its absolute finest, and for fans of Junji Ito, it beautifully depicts this terrifying concept with his iconic style that toys with the idea from start to finish in a way that will make any reader squirm.
6Chapter 6: Medusa
Kirie’s Hair Becomes Cursed by the Spiral
One ofUzumaki’s more well-known stories, “Medusa”, sees Kirie come face-to-face with the spiral curse after being weary of her boyfriend’s claims in previous chapters. Her hair begins to curl into spirals and grows out of control. Whenever she tries to cut it, it begins to strangle her like a Facehugger from theAlienfranchise. The spirals soon gain consciousness and attract attention from people by hypnotizing them. Jealous of her sudden popularity, Kirie’s friend Sekino allows her hair to become cursed as well,leading to their curls dueling for attention.
What makes this story so frightening is how it officially changes things forUzumaki’s main character, Kirie. While she has seen strange things throughout the story so far,this is the moment when she realizes the curse is real, and it can be absolutely deadly. Plus, with the final shot of Sekino being drained of her energy by her hair, it’s a horrific story as well with a powerful message of the dangers of attention-seeking. Its imagery has become iconic for fans ofUzumaki, making it undeniably one of the best chapters in the novel.
5Chapter 2: The Spiral Obsession - Part 2
Shuichi’s Mother Becomes Haunted by Her Husband’s Demise
This follow-up to the first chapter ofUzumakitakes a psychological approach to the madness the spiral curse creates. It features Shuichi’s mother, who has been hospitalized following her husband’s death.She’s developed an intense fear of spirals, going so far as to shave the hair from her head and cut off her fingerprints so she doesn’t have to look at them. However, when Shuichi discovers the cochlea in the human ear is a spiral, he rushes to ensure his mother never knows.
It’s absolutely terrifying to see how far down Shuichi’s mother goes as she loses her sanity to the shape that drove her husband mad. The fact that Shuichi realizes she could harm her ears just to get rid of her cochleas is enough to make this one of the scariest tales inUzumaki. However, it gets even worse when she’s haunted by her husband, being told about the spirals that surround her and hide within her. Plus, with her dying in a constant state of vertigo after stabbing her ears, she essentially lived the rest of her days in a neverending spiral.
4Chapter 7: Jack-in-the-Box
Kirie’s Jumpscaring Suitor Terrifies Her After Death
This fairly disconnected story from the overarchingUzumakinarrative that will likely be removed from the animedue to its short episode countis a perfect mini-horror story. It follows Kirie as she constantly rejects a boy named Mitsuru who won’t stop asking her to date him. In an effort to prove his love for her, he steps in front of a car and gets crushed, believing his feelings for Kirie will save him. After the funeral, Kirie grows weary when a jack-in-the-box Mitsuru gave her before he died blames her for his death. So, she and Shuichi go to his grave to see if he’s still dead after being warned he’ll come back.
The final segment where Shuichi’s corpse relentlessly jumps toward Kirie and Shuichi isa fun yet terrifying climaxas it continues to break away with each bounce. His posthumous design is terrifying to look at, and when it’s revealed there’s a spring lodged where his spine would be, it makes for a creepy image as he becomes a jack-in-the-box himself. In the end, it turns out that the spring came from the car that crushed him, but the sounds he makes when leaping at Kirie are absolutely horrific as it hints the curse briefly brought him back to life.
3Chapter 3: The Scar
The Spiral Literally Consumes One of Kirie’s New Classmates
This is undeniably the most famous chapter fromUzumakifor one image alone. It follows Kirie as she meets a new classmate named Azami. When she learns that she has a tendency to attract any boy to her, she discovers the power to do so likely comes from a scar on her forehead. Shuichi quickly tells her to stay away from Azami, rejecting the latter’s advances in the process. This leads to her luring him out to find out why she doesn’t want him.However, her obsession leads to the spiral taking over.
The image of Azami’s head being consumed by a spiral has become known as one of Ito’s best creations, if not his absolute best. The depiction of her head spiraling into nothing with her eye being consumed in the process has haunted readers for decades because of how uncanny it looks. What’s even scarier is how she inevitably ingests one of her classmates when he reaches into the spiral before eventually being consumed by herself. It’s a haunting tale that’s ripe with horrifying imagery.
2Chapter 9: The Black Lighthouse
Kurouzu-Cho’s Lighthouse Hides an Eerie Secret
The lighthouse is a structure from Kurouzu-Cho that has been a part ofUzumakisince the first chapter. Shuichi even points it out as something that disturbs him. However, in this chapter, it roars to life every night, hypnotizing those who see it. When Kirie’s brother and his friend head up it to check it out, she climbs the lighthouse and discovers that the intense heat has killed anyone who attempts to climb it whenever it lights up at night.
This story isJunji Ito at his most cosmic. There’s no explanation for why the lighthouse has started to operate on its own, and there’s no reason behind the mysterious orb that hovers at the top. All that matters is that it’s lethal. Plus, when Kirie tries to get them out, one of her brother’s friends ends up dying from the heat before he can make it out. It’s a ruthless story, which funnily enough likely got Ito the job to makean official manga adaptation of Robert Eggers’The Lighthouseyears later.
1Chapter 10: Mosquitoes
The Spiral Curse Turns Pregnant Women into Bloodthirsty Monsters
In what is hands down the scariest chapter inUzumaki, “Mosquitoes” sees Kirie admitted to a hospital after suffering burns from her experience in the lighthouse. While there, multiple pregnant women are sent there following serious mosquito attacks, including her cousin Keiko. One night, Kirie wakes up and hears a mysterious sound. When she looks outside, all the pregnant women attacked by the mosquitoes walk into various rooms with hand drills. What happens next isa sequence that is sure to shock any reader.
These women are shown drilling into patients' skin to consume their blood and feed their babies.The way they’re designed as horrific monsters makes the sight absolutely upsetting. It’s a disgusting and stomach-curdling display, and it gets even worse when they discover Kirie has learned the truth. They charge her, threatening to kill her for knowing what they’re doing. However, she scares them away with bug repellent, managing to survive the night. It’s one ofJunji Ito’s most nightmare-inducing stories, making it the absolute scariest chapter inUzumaki.
Uzumaki: Spiral into Horror
Cast
Uzumaki: Spiral into Horror is an adaptation of Junji Ito’s acclaimed manga, directed by Hiroshi Nagahama. The series unfolds in the town of Kurôzu-cho where inexplicable events related to spirals plague the inhabitants, leading to terror and madness. Highlighting the psychological and supernatural, the show follows high school student Kirie Goshima and her boyfriend, Shuichi Saito, as they confront the spiraling horrors that engulf their town.
