I read the same horror book every year-it's better than the film and not Stephen King

Love it or hate it, the spooky season is around the corner, and classic horror films and books that bring chills down your spine are making a resurgence. Most horror stories will just scare you in the moment, but one ghostly tale has stuck with me, compelling me to revisit it every year.

No matter how familiar the twists and turns become, the atmosphere never loses its power, and the dread feels just as intense with every read. The horror book in question is Ring by Koji Suzuki (1991). This Japanese tale stands as one of the greatest of all time and even rivals the greatest Stephen King novels. However, one thing I believe (which many will disagree with) is that the book is more horrifying than the film.

Over the years, filmmakers have attempted to create the same chilling essence on screen as formed from the book, but the result always seems to fall short of the novel's haunting spell. On the page, the tension coils tighter, the setting seeps into your imagination more vividly, and the characters unravel in ways that no camera can fully capture.

The Ring has been adapted several times, including a Japanese film in 1998 and a Western adaptation in 2002. But for this comparison, I will stick to the 1998 version as I was inspired by my editor, Steffan Rhys, who curated a list of the top 20 best movies ever made.

Steffan has watched over 2,000 movies, but listed Ringu (1998) at number 18, which surprised me, as I argue the film is terrible compared to the book. Here's why...

The weirdest and saddest backstory

For those unaware, the Ring follows a journalist, Kazuyuki Asakawa, who is investigating the death of his niece, who was one of four teens who all mysteriously died on the same day at the same time. It turns out the teens watched a videotape which had a deadly warning.

Asakwa stumbled upon the videotape during his investigation. It displayed a sequence of abstract and unsettlingly realistic images, each more cryptic and disturbing than the last. When the videotape finally reaches its climax, a chilling message appears on the screen: "The one who has seen these images is destined to die one week from today at this exact time.

"If you wish to escape this fate, you must follow the instructions that will now be given. That is-" But before the warning can be completed, the words are abruptly cut off.

In both the book and the film, the terrifying ghost who created this curse is Sadako Yamamura. In the film, Sadako is embodied as an evil girl with psychic powers, dressed in white and with long hair, but her backstory is not really considered compared to the book.

Within the book, Koji really highlights her tragic life of her parents' untimely death and her terrible sexual assault before her murder. Sadako is also described as beautiful with an eerie presence, which directly contrasts the ghastly appearance in the film. She is also said to be intersex, further othering her and creating a sense of 'unnaturalness' and monstrosity.

The book is better than the film as it gives the reader a sense of empathy for why the curse was created, rather than suggesting it was just an evil monster who wanted revenge on humanity. This makes the story more unsettling morally and emotionally.

What makes a great horror story is not the jump scares but rather the terror and mystery behind the 'evil' being. The explanation of Sadako's past is a real page-turner, and what makes the story more creepy is that humanity's unfortunate actions led to the inexplicable curse.

Tension in the book versus the film

When sharing his opinion about Ringu (1998), Steffan stated: "If there's anything more terrifying in all of cinema than the image of Sadako in her white dress and long black hair crawling, walking and dragging herself in that horribly unnatural way, I haven't seen it yet. It has a 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes."

However, I argue that this 'scary' sequence only happens at the end of the film, which takes 10 minutes in a one-hour and 36-minute movie. Yes, throughout the movie, there are long, eerie noises and perfectly directed shots to create a sense of fear, but it is rather dull.

I'll admit, the opening sequence was also frightening, but you lose interest quickly afterwards. The book keeps you invested throughout, and though the protagonist has his issues, you want him to win in the race against the clock.

As stated earlier, there's always the argument of whether film can execute the same fear on screen as formed from the book and while Ringu has created an iconic image of Sadako that has lived on through generations, I believe it's her lack of physical presence in the book that makes it more frightening.

Though the protagonist thinks he has solved the mystery, Sadako's will lives on. No, she doesn't crawl out of the television to 'get you,' but her death wish is impossible, haunting, and unexpected. You don't know what is to happen at the end, but the end will happen, and to me, that's terrifying.