Strange Houses: A Chilling Mystery Unraveled Through Sinister Floor Plans – From the bestselling author of Strange Pictures by Uketsu and Jim Rion

HarperVia, 2025. Trade paperback. New. 

When a writer fascinated by the macabre is approached by an acquaintance, he finds himself investigating an eerie house for sale in Tokyo. At first, with its bright and spacious interior, it seems the perfect first home. But upon closer inspection, the building’s floor plans reveal a mysterious "dead space” hidden between its walls, the start of a compelling Japanese mystery. Seeking a second opinion, the writer shares the floor plans with his friend Kurihara, an architect, only to discover more unnerving details throughout.

What is the true purpose behind the house’s disturbing design? And what happened to the former owners who disappeared without a trace? When a body suddenly appears and a young woman reaches out about a second house, it soon becomes clear that the writer and his friend may be in over their heads in this truly unsettling psychological thriller.

Structured around a series of chilling floorplans, with Strange Houses, mystery-horror YouTube sensation Uketsu casts readers in the role of detective, inviting them to help map out the truth hidden within this puzzling architectural mystery . . . and the terrifying plot behind it all.

Translated from the Japanese by Jim Rion