Freaky manga-ka legend Kazuo Umezu is getting another shot in America via REPTILIA, due this October from IDW, which is making its first foray into manga publishing:

Just in time for Halloween, IDW Publishing brings Japanese horror legend Kazuo Umezu’s seminal manga work Reptilia to America next month, translating the 40-year-old terror classic into English for the very first time as IDW continues to expand its publishing line.

“This is our first manga project,” says Chris Ryall, publisher and editor-in-chief of IDW, which reinvented American horror comics several years ago with the blockbuster miniseries 30 Days of Night, to be released as a major motion picture from Sony in the same month that IDW unveils Reptilia. “We wanted to do something unique for our first effort to bring Japanese manga to the States, and considering our past success in creating horror hits, it made sense to publish something from the man who is considered the father of horror manga in Japan.”

Reptilia, which first frightened Japanese audiences in serial form but now appears as a full-length collection from IDW, tells the story of a hunter who sets out into an infamous swamp, only to perish three days later. As decades pass, his granddaughter Yoko knows little of what happened to him-until terror strikes her village on the anniversary of his death, and she must face the same threat that took his life years before.
The graphic novel features an all-new cover from acclaimed illustrator and concept designer Ashley Wood, artist on IDW’s hit B&W horror series Doomed.

REPTILIA, 320 B&W pages in manga-sized softcover, hits stores in October, retailing for $14.99. Diamond order code AUG07 3758.