It's that month.
A speed bump on the way to Christmas for some. But for some of us, that best, most eerie time of the year. When those strange changes are on the wind. The time when reality thins a bit and the shadows stretch longer and deeper. It's time for Halloween and time to remind ourselves how to shiver and huddle closer before the bleakness of winter is upon us.
I thought I would share something that makes me shiver a bit. A favorite of mine...
Junji Ito is without a doubt my favorite mangaka, possibly my favorite creator of anything in the horror genre. I first encountered him the pages of the long dead monthly manga anthology
Pulp published by Viz. It was there I lost my equilibrium in the death spiral that is
Uzumaki.
Uzumaki tells the tale of a small coastal town that is cursed and ultimately doomed by spirals. It is lovecraftian in the strange and unknowable nature of the curse and in the futility of the protagonists ' struggles. Chapter after chapter brings more strange corruption of the town, and brings our central characters closer to their fate.
The thing about Uzumaki, and about all Ito stories, is there's always this moment. A moment that makes you stop and take a breath, and shudder a bit. so I thought I would share some of those. If you've never read Ito's stuff, this will either compel you to seek him out or convince you to never delve into his work.
More after the jump...
