(Content warning: Body horror and a couple of anatomical references)

We kick off The Tomb of the Crypt, a miniseries on horror comics, with our very first manga title—Umuzaki: Spiral Into Horror by Junji Ito, published by Viz Media!

In this chilling tale that Nerdist referred to as "the Watchmen of horror manga," a small Japanese town becomes plagued by ... spirals. This everyday shape begins showing up in increasingly unsettling ways: A spiral-shaped scar on a girl's forehead grows in size until it consumes her; two boys slowly mutate into giant snails; and a sentient hurricane becomes obsessed with a teenaged girl, to name but a few. And then things REALLY get weird.

Can high-schoolers Kirie and Shuichi figure out what's happening to Kurouzo-cho before their lives are irrevocably altered? And can this superbly realized saga twist and shout its way into that widening gyre of graphic-novel gruesomeness known as ... The Comics Canon?

In This Episode!

• Forget it, Shuichi. It's Spiraltown
• Tomei by Junji Ito
• The Drifting Classroom
• A Walk Through Hell Vol. 1

Join us in two weeks as The Tomb of the Crypt continues with the 2018 Image series Infidel!

Until then: Impress your friends with our Comics Canon merchandise! Rate us on Apple Podcasts! Send us an email! Hit us up on Twitter or Facebook!

And as always, thanks for listening!