Spiral (1995)

Spiral, the sequel so insane the movie series has (mostly) opted to ignore it entirely, is a hard book to discuss. First of all, a lot of what I said a few days ago in my Ring review would apply beautifully here. Post-modern horror with veins of sci-fi running throughout, unfettered imagination, and odd narrative decisions: it's all here. Worse still, distinguishing the two almost necessitates spoiling both novels completely, but I will try my darndest to avoid doing so. Here goes nothing...

Spiral opens with our new protagonist, Ando, beginning an autopsy on a fallen character from the original story and slowly but surely becoming swallowed up in Sadako's plot to bring about the extinction of the human race. This time around plotting is far more convoluted and bizarre in general, as her viral offspring has now mutated as a result of some gobbledygook, and the tape is no more, meaning the terms and conditions of the curse are now entirely different. The new-and-improved Ring virus adds a dimension of squicky body horror to the story, and the wild twists and turns of the original have been completely outdone in terms of pure insanity. So, why do I have so many reservations?

Well, first of all, I think this book relies far too much on the original text for something that aims to be a standalone book that anyone can read, whether they're familiar with the original or not. I could almost recommend starting here if you want to jump straight into the new stuff without reading the oft-adapted original, if it weren't for the fact that a few late-game revelations here play on your feelings and perceptions of characters from the original who are almost entirely absent from the endless recapping and recontextualizing of its predecessor. Though, in other ways, the opposite is true: having not read the source material, you'd be far less likely to notice all the ways the ending revelations outright contradict it.

And yes, I started reading these purely out of curiosity, wondering how far they'd take the whole concept, having already heard little bits and pieces that left me infatuated with their absurdity. But even going in with expectations set accordingly, I still think Spiral may have jumped the shark a bit in its particulars. You already had a pretty solid apocalypse scenario in the first book; something far from realistic, but nothing that required you to suspend your disbelief too much. And here, for a while, even at its whackiest, the nightmarish aspects of the story made it easy enough to do so, especially when the author is so obsessed with explaining the mechanics of his supernatural threat with science. But come on: a man's DNA carrying a coded message that he himself willed into existence? An army of Sadako clones? Resurrection? Surreal and imaginative is one thing, but obviously, it's a delicate balancing act to keep it from turning stupid, and I think this may cross it. Add to that the way that every character, whether they have a Ph.D. or not, automatically believes every word of the supernatural conspiracy, no matter how outlandish, and it begins to grate on even the most patient reader's sensibilities. Still, there's an appeal to watching a franchise jump the shark this boldly; at least it's some kind of event, and by god, is it memorable, for better or worse. And for the eagle-eyed readers out there, there's no way you'll see any of it coming, which is never a bad thing.

So, even with all my complaints, the pure insanity, genuine thrill and chills, and memorably bonkers third act may just make up for it. Add to that a rather clever metatextual bent that has new characters retracing old characters' steps and trying to stop the release of a novel called Ring that may hold the very same power that the original videotape had and you have something that is impossible to recommend without reservation, but still can't be fairly dismissed for its quirks.