Adult Swim announces animated adaptation of Junji Ito's stomach-and-soul-churning Uzumaki

Among the works of Japanese artist and author Junji Ito—he of such deeply unsettling, psychologically fraught stories as Tomie, Gyo, and The Enigma Of Amigara Fault—few are more packed with relentlessly unpleasant imagery than 1998's Uzumaki. (Literally: Spiral.) Blatantly Lovecraftian in its inspirations, the novel centers on a town that falls under the effects of a cursed obsession with spirals—in the sky, in the world around them, and, increasingly, as things go hideously off the rails—within their own flesh. There’s no villain, no giant monster destroying people; just an inescapable madness that creeps into the minds and bodies of everyone it touches, twisting and destroying them as it goes.

So, hey, good news: Now you, too, will be able to experience Uzumaki’s encroaching insanity—in animated form! Adult Swim announced today at Crunchyroll Expo that it was partnering with Japan’s Production IG to produce an animated version of Ito’s classic, which it’ll air as part of its Toonami line of shows. They also released a teaser trailer, and while it’s mostly just still images from the manga with some animation added in, it’s still enough to get our stomachs churning. (That girl with the hair. Ugh!)

The four-part series will debut in 2020.