Black Hole is a twelve-issue comic book limited series written and illustrated by Charles Burns and published first by Kitchen Sink Press, then Fantagraphics.

A compiled hardcover volume was released by Pantheon Books in 2005, albeit without the interstitial character portraits from the single issues.

[2] An early version of Black Hole called Contagious exists in the first ever issue of comic anthology, Taboo.

[3] Set in the suburbs of Seattle during the mid-1970s, the story follows a group of teenagers who contract a mysterious sexually transmitted disease referred to as "the Bug", which causes them to develop bizarre unique physical mutations and subsequently become social outcasts, many of them running away from home to live in the nearby woodland.

The plot focuses on two central characters who often narrate the story: Chris, a popular and respected female student, and Keith, a stoner who seems to experience anxiety.

Around the same time, Keith meets Eliza, a young woman who also carries the Bug which manifests as a lizard-like tail.

Some of the infected teens, particularly females, begin disappearing, with strange statues and even body parts being found around the woods.

Chris eventually invites some of the other teens that frequent The Pit to stay at the tract house, which they proceed to destroy to Keith's detriment.

[4] The Knife album Silent Shout, along with the music video for the title track and some of the press photos, were inspired by Black Hole.

[7] In 2007, director Rupert Sanders released an abbreviated live-action adaptation of Black Hole on his website[8][9] as part of his pitch for the project.

In February 2008, Variety reported that the film would be produced by Paramount Pictures and directed by Academy Award-nominee David Fincher.

[14] In February 2018, the project was revived when New Regency and Brad Pitt's production company Plan B acquired the rights to the film with Rick Famuyiwa attached to write and direct after making his Sundance hit Dope.