Many moons ago, shortly after I returned to the States from my year of living in Japan, I came across a fan site for the Japanese Ring phenomenon. Being a complete nut for Ring, and not yet having anyone Stateside with whom I could gush about it (the U.S. remake didn’t come on the scene for a few years), I took the opportunity to strike up correspondence with the site’s proprietor, J. Lopez. It’s been a long time since we last exchanged emails, or cursed video tapes, but I remember J. as a really nice guy. When I dug into drawing the Ring-themed strips you’ll be seeing this month, I thought I’d see if his site was still up. Lo-and-behold, it still lives, and you should check it out: The Ringworld

This site holds a wealth of info for Ring-nuts and intrigued others. And if you run into J., tell him I said hello!

I’d be remiss this week, in light of my Halloween Ring parody, if I didn’t give you a peek at the onryou, usually depicted in stories as the vengeful spirit of a wronged woman. The onryou is one of several classes of ghost (not entirely unlike a class 5 full roaming vapor) found in Japanese folklore. One of the most famous onryou, and the partial basis for Ring, is the spirit of Okiku, a young servant girl murdered in a romantic embroilment and thrown down a well.

You can get the nutshells of three variations of Okiku’s story at Wikipedia, among other places. And do be careful around any open wells or unmarked video tapes.