10 most terrifying chapters of Junji Ito’s Uzumaki

Warning: Disturbing imagery ahead. Reader discretion advised.Junji Itos masterpiece Uzumaki is home to some of the most terrifying chapters of any of his works. The legendary horror mangaka has made a name for himself with his horrifying short stories. The way he portrays the terror of his concepts with his disturbing artwork has made him one of the most famous horror authors in the world. But of all his work, Uzumaki His strongest piece is for nothing.

Uzumaki Follow Kirie and her boyfriend Shuichi as they confront the curse of the Spiral in their town, which is driving the inhabitants insane. This is a story that has been defined as Ito’s masterpiece by critics and fans alike. Now, with a highly-anticipated Adult Swim anime on the way, it has become a better time than any to look back through the chapters and rediscover what made the story so terrifying in the first place. Uzumaki Consisting of 19 chapters in all, these are the ten most terrifying of the bunch that will terrify any horror fan.

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Chapter 12: The Storm

Kirie becomes the desire of an eerie storm

Uzumaki The final act of Kirie’s story kicks off when 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 that the storm has not grown, as a spiral forms over the town thanks to the eye of the storm. She and Shuichi quickly discover that the storm wants her, and it will stay over the city until it can pull her in.

Although not nearly as grotesque as the other stories in Uzumaki“The Tempest” is undoubtedly one of the most disturbing stories in Ito’s library. The fact that the hurricane’s eye plays a central role makes the terror escape. There is nowhere Kirie can hide before the storm destroys the city to find her. So, it’s only inevitable that the storm will reveal itself to you at some point. Plus, the image of the woman it mistakes for Kiri sucked up to the eye is absolutely terrifying as she faces Kiri’s fate, swallowed whole by the eye.

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Chapter 13: The House

Kirie’s family moves to a new home with terrible secrets

In the aftermath of “The Storm” it is seen that Kirie and her family are forced to move to a new house after their old house was 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 whole story, however, is easily the revelation of Kirie’s neighbor, Mr. Wakabayashi, when he comes across the warts that grow on anyone who lives in the house. When it is revealed that he has been spying on the family, he discovers the spiral cones on his hands. The next time readers see him, His body is completely taken overTurning 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.

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Chapter 4: The Firing Effect

Kirie’s father finds new artistic inspiration through the spiral

The story explores Dragonfly Pond, which seems to be the center of Kurozu-cho’s spiraling effect when 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 strange 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, Kiri sneaks into his studio and discovers that He used mud from Dragonfly Pond to create them.

The scariest aspect of this story comes from the discovery that The clay used is imbued with the souls of the dead who descended into the pond after cremation. The disfigured faces of Shuichi’s parents in the pottery paired with their screams of agony while in the kiln show a fate worse than death. While not necessarily a gory story, it is absolutely haunting. Plus, when Shuichi learns the truth, his frightened expression speaks wonders when he realizes his parents are in agony and destroys the cooler, 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 heated the process can be.

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Chapter 8: The Snail

Junji Ito introduces the terrible snail people

Ito again flexes his talent for body horror with this terrifying chapter. The story follows a student named Katayama, a slow-moving boy who is constantly bullied. However, one day, he begins to develop a shell on his back. As the week goes on, he slowly turns into a giant snail. Not sure what to do, the school keeps him in a pen and feeds him. however, IIt is 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 of this strange chapter in Uzumaki Undeniably 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 terrifying sight. It’s like watching Brundle slowly transform into an insect in David Cronenberg’s remake The flight. This is body horror at its absolute finestAnd for fans of Junji Ito, it beautifully portrays this terrifying concept with his iconic style that plays with the idea from beginning to end in a way that will make any reader squirm.

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Chapter 6: Medusa

Kirie’s hair is cursed by the spiral

one of UzumakiThe more well-known story, “Medusa”, sees Kiri coming face-to-face with the spiraling curse after getting tired of her boyfriend’s claims in previous chapters. Her hair begins to curl in spirals and grows out of control. When she tries to cut it, it starts suffocating her like a facehugger Alien Franchise. 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 be cursed as well, leading to their curls dueling for attention.

What makes this story so terrifying is how it officially changes things for Uzumakis main character, Kirie. While she has seen strange things throughout history so far, This is the moment when she realizes that the curse is realAnd it can be absolutely deadly. Plus, with the final shot of Sekino being drained of her energy by her hair, it’s also a terrifying story with a powerful message of the dangers of attention-seeking. His imagery has become iconic for fans of UzumakiMaking it blind is one of the best chapters in the novel.

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Chapter 2: The Spiral Obsession – Part 2

Shuichi’s mother is haunted by her husband’s death

This follow-up to the first chapter of Uzumaki Takes a psychological approach to the madness that the spiral curse creates. It shadows Shuichi’s mother, who is in the hospital after the death of her husband. She developed a deep fear of spiralsGoing so far as to part the hair from her head and cut off her fingerprints so that she does not have to look at them. However, when Shuichi discovers the cochlea in the human ear is a spiral, he rushes to ensure that his mother never finds out.

It is absolutely terrifying to see how far down Shuichi’s mother goes as she loses her sanity to the form that drove her husband. The fact that Shuichi realizes that she can hurt her ears just to get rid of her cochleas is enough to make this one of the scariest stories in Uzumaki. However, it gets even worse when she is haunted by her husband, 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 out the rest of her days in a never-ending spiral.

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Chapter 7: Jack-in-the-Box

Kirie’s jumpscaring suitor terrifies her after death

This fairly disconnected history of the overarching Uzumaki Story that will likely be removed from the anime due to its short episode count is a perfect mini horror story. It follows Kiri as she constantly rejects a boy named Mitsuru who won’t stop asking her to date him. In an effort to prove his love to her, he steps in front of a car and is crushed, believing his feelings for Kirie will save him. After the funeral, Kiri gets tired when a jack-in-the-box Mitsuru gave her before he died, blaming her for his death. So, she and Shuichi go to his grave to see if he is still dead after being warned he will come back.

The final segment where Shuichi’s corpse relentlessly jumps towards Kirei and Shuichi is A fun yet terrifying climax How it keeps breaking off with every bounce. His posthumous design is terrifying to look at, and when it’s revealed that there’s a spring where his spine would be, it makes for a creepy picture of him becoming 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 he jumps on Kirie are completely terrifying because it sounds like the curse brought him back to life briefly.

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Chapter 3: The Scar

The spiral literally consumes one of Kirie’s new classmates

This is undoubtedly the most famous chapter of Uzumaki For one image alone. It follows Kirie when she meets a new classmate named Azami. When she learns that she has a tendency to attract any boy to her, she discovers that the power to do so probably 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 pulling 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 image of her head spiraling into nothing with her eye consumed in the process has haunted readers for decades because of how strange 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 himself. It is a haunting tale that is ripe with horrifying images.

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Chapter 9: The Black Lighthouse

Kurouzu-Cho’s lighthouse holds an eerie secret

The lighthouse is a structure of Kurouzu-Cho that was a part of Uzumaki Since the first chapter. Shuichi even points it out as something that bothers him. However, in this chapter, it roars to life every night, hypnotizing those who see it. When Kirie’s brother and his friend go up it to check it out, she climbs the lighthouse and discovers that the intense heat has killed anyone who tries to climb it when it lights up at night.

The story is Junji Ito at his most cosmic. There is no explanation for why the lighthouse began to work on itself, and there is no reason behind the mysterious orb that hovers at the top. All that matters is that it is lethal. Plus, when Kiri tries to get them out, one of her brother’s friends ends up dying from the heat before he can make it. It’s a gruesome story, which oddly enough probably got Ito the job of making an official manga adaptation by Robert Eggers The lighthouse Years later.

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Chapter 10: Mosquitoes

The spiraling curse turns pregnant women into bloodthirsty monsters

In which is hands down the scariest chapter in Uzumaki“Mosquitoes” sees Kiri admitted to a hospital after suffering burns from her experience at the lighthouse. While there, multiple pregnant women were sent there after 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 who are attacked by the mosquitoes go into different rooms with their hands bent. What happens next is A sequence that is sure to shock any reader.

The women are shown drilling into the skin of patients to consume their blood and feed their babies. The way they are designed as horrible monsters makes the sight absolutely upsetting. It’s a disgusting and stomach-curdling display, and it gets even worse when they discover that Kirie has learned the truth. They accuse her, threatening to kill her for knowing what they are doing. However, she scares them away with bug repellent, managing to survive the night. It is one of Junji Itos most nightmare-inducing stories, making it the absolute scariest chapter in Uzumaki.