Four years after the publication of Ring, Koji Suzuki returned with the novel Spiral. A direct sequel to his previous novel, but not at all its filmic adaptation, Spiral is more of an investigative detective story than a classic J-Horror scenario. Find yourself an author who can do both. The book and subsequent film begin the day after the events of the last film, with a coroner called Ando retracing the steps of the previous duo with his own trusty assistant. The story explores further psychic projections, the nature of cyclical curses and trauma, and has the craziest ending of any sophomore work imaginable. The curse is spreading and our top men at The Fright Files, Ben and Calvin, are here to dissect all of the clues.

The first series is one that is central and dear to your host's hearts — its Ring (also known as: The Ring & Ringu) — beginning with Koji Suzuki's under-read classic novel Ring from 1991 and expanding into the first two films adapted from it of the same name, the 1995 television horror film and the 1998 film by Hideo Nakata that ignited the J-Horror frenzy and the broadening of Japanese horror to Western markets. The Fright Files will explore the nature of each work, how all the elements of Ring were perfect for piquing interests in J-Horror, and just how different characters can be when translated from text to screen.