Junji Ito is considered the absolute master of horror manga, and one of his best-known works was first published 30 years ago. Tomie, a story about a mysterious and dangerous woman, was first published in Monthly Halloween in 1987.

Tomie follows the titular character, a woman who has the power to make any man – and sometimes women – fall in love with her, similar to a succubus. She manipulates emotionally and psychologically and drives them into insane, jealous rages; most of her victims commit awful acts of violence, killing each other over Tomie herself. While Tomie does end up being killed on almost every occasion, but like any good horror villain, she comes back again and again.

Her regeneration is explained in truly horrific fashion. Tomie can create a copy of herself in a budding fashion by sprouting a new version of herself from anywhere on her body, or regenerating an entirely new Tomie from a severed piece of her body. Dismembering Tomie only leads to a new Tomie being created from each piece of her that’s cut off. However, the different Tomies are usually driven to kill each other, leaving just one alive at a time.

The Tomie manga resulted in a long-running live-action film series, with the first film, simply called Tomie, releasing in 1998. The most recent film, Tomie Unlimited, arrived in 2011. The films also follow a girl, Tomie Kawakami, who drives her suitors into insanity, though they delve deeper into Tomie’s ability to regenerate and make copies of herself. Each of the nine films in the franchise focuses on a different Tomie, which has allowed for different actresses to be cast in the role.

Ito ended up winning the Kazuo Umezu Prize for Tomie when it was first published in 1987, and the series continues to stand as not just one of the finest examples of Ito’s work, but of horror manga in general.