Author: Uketsu

Review – Strange Houses

Posted October 4, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 6 Comments

Review – Strange Houses

Strange Houses

by Uketsu

Genres: Crime, Mystery
Pages: 208
Rating: three-stars
Synopsis:

A Japanese mystery bestseller, revolving around a series of unsettling floorplans, in which the reader is the detective - from the Youtube sensation Uketsu.

A mysterious windowless room on a house's floorplan hints at a hideous secret

A young girl suspects that her cousin's seemingly accidental death was the result of a sinister family tradition

Can you uncover the dark secret of these strange houses? When you do, an unforgettable truth will be revealed.

I really enjoyed the puzzle of Uketsu’sĀ Strange Pictures, so I was really looking forward toĀ Strange Houses, and if anything I think I enjoyed it even more. I ended up reading it really fast, all in one go. I learned from the past and made sure I read it in a physical copy, which made it easier to leaf back and forth looking at the plans (though they’re often repeated and zoomed in etc to follow the analysis in the story, which is helpful).

It’s fun to try and guess what’s going on, and in this book it was a bit easier because you knew all the different floorplans are linked, which helps (you know the sort of thing you’re looking for in each case).

Of course, the answer to the mystery is very convoluted and dramatic, but that was pretty much as expected after readingĀ Strange Pictures, and it felt right for the story that there was this grand… almost a conspiracy theory behind the weird houses.

Overall, looking forward toĀ Strange Buildings, which I gather is coming in 2026? Sooner would be great!

Rating: 3/5 (“liked it”)

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Review – Strange Pictures

Posted April 22, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Review – Strange Pictures

Strange Pictures

by Uketsu

Genres: Crime, Horror, Mystery
Pages: 240
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

An exploration of the macabre, where the seemingly mundane takes on a terrifying significance...

A pregnant woman's sketches on a seemingly innocuous blog conceal a chilling warning.

A child's picture of his home contains a dark secret message.

A sketch made by a murder victim in his final moments leads an amateur sleuth down a rabbithole that will reveal a horrifying reality.

Structured around these nine childlike drawings, each holding a disturbing clue, Uketsu invites readers to piece together the mystery behind each and the over-arching backstory that connects them all. Strange Pictures is the internationally bestselling debut from mystery horror YouTube sensation Uketsu—an enigmatic masked figure who has become one of Japan's most talked about contemporary authors.

Uketsu’sĀ Strange Pictures really is an odd one. If you think a weird mystery based around interpreting drawings made by characters sounds like your thing, I think I’d recommend experiencing it without reading any further than the end of this paragraph. I’m not going to give outright spoilers, but I went in only knowing that it was supposed to be weird, that it was based around weird/creepy drawings, and that it was a mystery. I normally like spoilers, but actually I think it’s worth coming to it with an open mind in this case. I will say that you might want a physical copy, though, rather than reading it on an ereader (though I did).

So, for those who’ve stuck around to keep reading, what to say? First, the translation: it feels like a pretty plain, bare-bones translation, nothing flowery, nothing extraneous added. It’s hard to say whether that’s true since I can’t read the original, but it’s certainly the impression I get. The drawings aren’t particularly beautiful or astounding either, in part because they’re not meant to be drawn by super great artists — they’re drawn by characters who are part of the mysteries.

The reason I suggested you might want a physical copy is that it can benefit to be able to turn the pictures around, if you’re trying to join in on solving the mystery. You can read it and just wait for the solutions, it doesn’t do anything gimmicky like leave you without answers, but if you want to join in then a physical copy might give you a bit more convenience in doing so, potentially tracing the images out, etc.

The format is an interesting one, too. At first it seems like a collection of unconnected short stories, but the stories actually connect into a greater mystery — and each answer might change your mind about the outcome of a previous story, too.

I found it a fascinating read, and I’m interested to read Uketsu’sĀ Strange Houses, which is coming out later in the year.

Rating: 4/5

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