The manga has received generally positive reviews from English-language critics. The manga was adapted into two video games for the WonderSwan and a Japanese live-action film directed by Higunchinsky. Ito believes the horror of Uzumaki is effective due to its subversion of symbols which are positively portrayed in Japanese media, and its theme of protagonists struggling against a mysterious force stronger than themselves. The story for Uzumaki originated when Ito attempted to write a story about people living in a very long terraced house, and he was inspired to use a spiral shape to achieve the desired length. The series tells the story of the citizens of Kurouzu-cho, a fictional city which is plagued by a supernatural curse involving spirals. Viz Media then published the volumes from October 2001 to October 2002, with a re-release from October 2007 to February 2008, and published a hardcover omnibus edition in October 2013. In North America, Viz Media serialized an English-language translation of the series in its monthly magazine Pulp from February 2001 to August 2002. In March 2000, Shogakukan released an omnibus edition, followed by a second omnibus version in August 2010. Appearing as a serial in the weekly manga magazine Big Comic Spirits from 1998 to 1999, the chapters were compiled into three bound volumes by Shogakukan and published from August 1998 to September 1999. 'Spiral') is a seinen horror manga series written and illustrated by Junji Ito.

Uzumaki by Junji Ito