Ring


 * Were you looking for the Ring (2004 manga)?

, also known as The Ring, is a series of horror novels written by Koji Suzuki. The novels were initially a trilogy, consisting of Ring (1991), Spiral (1995), and Loop (1998). A short story collection called Birthday was released shortly after, introducing extra stories interconnecting the trilogy. Two further books, S and Tide, were published in 2012 and 2013, respectively.

The novels revolve around a curse, embodied within a videotape, unleashed by Sadako Yamamura, the ghost of a psychic who was raped and murdered before being thrown into a well. Though the curse was initially presented as a supernatural force, it is eventually revealed to be a cataclysmic virus which Sadako utilizes for her own misanthropic ends.

The success of the novels led to the release of numerous film adaptations in Japan, South Korea, and the United States. The first and most famous film adaptation was released in Japan on January 31, 1998. A less well known TV movie was released in Japan on August 11, 1995. Both initial films had a 95 min run time.

The first manga adaptation illustrated by Kouhirō Nagai based on the novel was released in 1996. A second manga illustrated by Misao Inagaki with additional writing by Hiroshi Takahashi based on the novel and 1998 film was compiled into 2 volumes and released January 21, 1999 about a year after the film.

Plot
The body of a young girl is found at her home in Yokohama, contorted in fear, but the cause of her death is a mystery. Soon afterwards the bodies of three more teenagers are discovered - dead in chillingly similar circumstances.

Sensing a story, journalist Asakawa becomes fixated on unravelling the cause of this bizzare sudden-death syndrome. He discoveres that the four victims had shared a log cabin for one night, exactly seven days before their deaths.

In the cabin, Asakawa finds a nightmarish secret - a curious videotape which plays not a movie, but a strange collecrion of abstract, subliminal images, concluding with a portentous message: 'Those who have viewed these images are fated to die at this exact hour one week from now. If you do not wish to die, you must follow these instructions exactly...'

Then the tape cuts to static.