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The recent release of Junji Ito’sUzumaki: Spiral Into Horrorhas givenhorroranime a needed jolt, offering a unique vision of terror unlike anything before it. The project, which took over five years to release past its initial announcement, uses unique visuals, an abstract approach to horror, and hapless protagonists caught up in an inconceivably large-scale nightmarish event. Yet, many components make the anime series exceptional, including the composer behind the project,Colin Stetson.
Not all horror or anime fans pay close attention to who makes the soundtrack for a film or a TV series and only acknowledge that it is either ‘good’ or ‘bad.’ However, Colin Stetson has been vital in crafting some of the most frightening modern soundtracks to exceptional movies.Uzumaki: Spiral Into Horroris Stetson’s latest masterpiece of aural terrors, but we will look at why that is and how he has become one of the most acclaimed horror composers of his time.
Uzumaki: Spiral into Horror
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Colin Stetson and Junji Ito’s Uzumaki were the Perfect Pairing
Mangaka Junji Ito excels at crafting stories of terror beyond human comprehension, touching on the same cosmic and metaphysical horrors as beloved purveyors of the genre inauthors H.P. Lovecraftand William Hope Hodgson.Uzumakiis considered by many to be Junji Ito’s most masterful work, capturing large-scale madness, an ancient curse, and body-melding transformations that overtake and slowly warp the very foundation of a sleepy town.
The recent adaptation, from studio Drive and directed by Hiroshi Nagahama, has already proven, with its first episode, to be themost faithful adaptation of Ito’s workto date. It fully capitalizes on that fear of the unknown and sense of cosmic dread that hasn’t been successfully captured in other projects such as Netflix’s recentJunji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre. The series has proven to be acritic and fan-pleaser, with everything from the visuals to sound being touted as masterfully crafted.
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For the score ofUzumaki: Spiral Into Horror,Colin Stetson offers swirling instrumentation that loops into itself, creating an oddly serene yet disorienting soundscapethat perfectly fits the show’s namesake. The score throughout the series utilizes atmospheric noise with a semblance of calm in the background. Playing with familiar soundscapes but disorienting them creates a pervasive dread lingering over fleeting normality.The mix of neoclassical music offset by disruptive noise is perfect for exploring themes of madness and facing the unknown.The score is isolating, all-consuming, yet oddly serene.
It is hard to quantify how effective Stetson’s score is inUzumaki: Spiral Into Horrorwithout experiencing it firsthand. Fans should consider listening to it inside and outside the anime series as it isone of the most masterfully constructed pieces of distorted ambiance; for collectors, Black Screen Records even has astunning vinyl release on pre-sale. As anime fandom and horror do not always intersect, the stunning original score may be a surprise for those new to the composer’s work. However, Stetson has already proven himself a master of crafting terrifying soundscapes.
Colin Stetson’s Music Crawls Under Your Skin and Makes Itself Uncomfortable
Colin Stetson has been making music since the early 2000s, with his first solo album,Slow Descent, released in 2003. Stetson, a master of the saxophone, used unorthodox methods like circular breathing to create unique sounds on the instrument. He has released 11 solo studio albums and has worked with other musicians on projects, including Sarah Neufeld, Arcade Fire, Bon Iver, and Tom Waits. Horror fans will recognize Stetson forhis chilling soundtracks, includingHereditary,Color Out of Space,Texas Chainsaw Massacre(2022), andThe Menu.Stetson saw particular praise for his work onHereditary, with many calling it one of, if not the scariest, scores of all time.
Drawing similarities between his work onUzumaki, theHereditaryoriginal scoreused droning noise with sporadic bursts of music to create an inescapable sense of dread. For theatergoers or those with a great home sound system, the effect was even more prominent with theuse of three-dimensional sound mixing, creating an assault on the senses from all sides, perfectly integrated into each scene.
WhileHereditaryandUzumaki: Spiral Into Horroris sure to bring in the most accolades for Stetson’s soundtrack work,a good companion piece to the latest horror animewould have to be the underrated Nicolas Cage-ledhorrorColor Out of Space. Much like Junji Ito draws inspiration from the works of Lovecraft,Color Out of Spaceis an adaptation of a story by the same name by the famous horror author. This score offers a slightly more picturesque soundscape, with the horror elements being more subtle but effective in conveying terrors from beyond.To experience Colin Stetson’s mastery of creating terror-fueled audio landscapes,Uzumaki,Hereditary, andColor Out of Spaceare essential listening.
Where to Watch Horror Movies Scored by Colin Stetson
It just so happens thatall the scores that Colin Stetson has worked on are also attached to critically acclaimed horror movies, well, except for 2022’sTexas Chainsaw Massacre. Regardless, each film is worthy of your time, particularly if you are approaching it as a fan of horror movie scores and have a better understanding of how essential they can be to elevating an already exceptional visual and narrative experience. Here is how you can watch every film scored by Stetson:
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Hereditary
Color Out of Space
Richard Stanley
AMC+, Shudder
Karen Cinorre
Hulu, Hoopla
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
David Blue Garcia
Mark Mylod
you’re able to streamUzumaki: Spiral Into HorroronMax. Episode one of four aired on July 21, 2025, with subsequent episodes following every Sunday.
