In Strange Houses, author Uketsu once again delivers a uniquely chilling horror tale, weaving a narrative that invites readers to unravel its haunting mysteries alongside the characters. With every turn of the page, you're pulled deeper into a world where the familiar becomes frightening, and nothing is quite as it seems. Both eerie and deeply unsettling, this book masterfully blends psychological tension with supernatural dread. It’s another standout from Uketsu—and a must-add to your 2025 TBR list.

Strange Houses is a scary and wild short story. A friend reaches out to Uketsu about a house they are thinking about purchasing, but the floor plan is a tad bit strange.

Uketsu then decides to reach out to his architect friend to help him understand why it seems strange, but can't quite put his finger on it.

Then the architect comes up with this disturbing story about the reasons on the strange floor plan. And then a murder man was found near the house. Uketsu then writes a story about the house and a woman reaches out because her husband was murdered in the same way a missing left hand.

The story then takes on crazy twists and turns that go to these crazy dark places. It will keep you intrigued and captivated the entire time.

Wow what a story! I was hooked from page 1. The story is incredibly fun and easy to read while being thrilling and full of so many twists and turns! I really enjoyed this so much I want to purchase my own copy and read it again to see if I can discover any more hidden secrets!

4.5 stars, rounded to 5. Despite associating enjoyment with horror being a bit strange itself, I very much did. I have a paper copy of Strange Pictures that I’m looking forward to reading next.

Based on Strange Houses and the reading experience I imagine Strange Pictures to be, I think of Uketsu and Grady Hendrix as kindred spirits from different continents. Both share a similar sensitivity, though I can’t quite put my thumb on how to describe it. Maybe it’s the diagrams/artwork that accompanies it. Then again, maybe it’s a something else, like a distant cousin to Horrorstor.

Strange Houses is the story of a psychopathic killer family who builds or renovates the family home to support the family business of murder to contain the family secret within the walls.. This book - as all the Japanese books I’ve read and enjoy are - written from a distinctly Japanese POV, meaning they’re logically, rather than emotionally/intuitively driven. Murder and horror is chaotic, but through a Japanese lens almost becomes orderly and surgical and I mean that as a compliment.

Clever and unique in format and plot, reads fast, and had several twists I didn’t see coming. Not grisly or graphic, but not a cozy mystery either. Highly enjoyable reading experience and would definitely recommend to anyone who likes suspense and/or Japanese horror.

Strange Houses is an intersection between the horror I want (formatted transcripts, a 'found footage' vibe) and being the horror I hate (a 'thriller' described as horror, a show vs. tell approach). The result is just sort of meh.

Incredibly dry with little suspense, Strange Houses follow a writer and his friend's paranoid deductions about a house and the hypothetical murders which could've taken place based on the strange blueprints. It's a lot of paranoia, a lot of fanfiction-ication that I can't decide whether or not I'm supposed to take seriously, and a lot of delusion. It could've been fun if it was self aware - like if the characters knew they were being a bit wacky theorizing all the possible bloody nightmares which could've taken place within these strange buildings' homes, but the fantasy gives way to something more realistic, depressing, and nearly banal.

There's a lot of characters talking in this book - which is to be expected, since it relies mostly on transcripts of conversations and letters - but without a feeling of suspense or any descriptions giving us a certain aura, it's difficult to capture the atmosphere of the characters' world. There's a lot of heavy lifting on behalf of the reader to make this a horror.

It's not bad. This book is definitely for fans of Japanese fiction, specifically thrillers, but it lacked a lot of flavor for me.

Strange Houses is the second book translated into English by a Japanese author who goes by the name Uketsu. I really enjoyed Strange Pictures, so I was eager to figure out the mystery of Strange Houses.

The book follows a similar format with a type of questioning and answering by the characters in order to puzzle together a series of murders through odd blueprints. Unfortunately, the translation does come off a bit stilted in this one. While much shorter than Strange Pictures, I didn’t find the mystery as compelling as the first. I also had trouble distinguishing the characters from each other in the final reveal, as there are so many of them with similar names!

While Strange Houses is an intriguing short mystery, it just didn’t engage me as much as the first book.

3.25/5 stars rounded down

Note: “Uketsu’s real name and identity are unknown. He only ever appears online, wearing a mask and speaking through a voice changer. His innovative mysteries challenge readers to discover the hidden clues in a series of sinister drawings.”

Expected publication date: 6/3/25

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperVia for the ARC of Strange Houses in exchange for an honest review.

Full disclosure, I adored "Strange Pictures" so when I saw this I knew 1) I had to read it and 2) I was going to be heavily biased in favor. I love Uketsu's creepy, unsettling writing style, and I'm also an enormous sucker for the Creepy House genre of horror story. I recommend this to anyone who's into Japanese creepypasta type stories!

While the title might bring the reader in with expectations of a different kind of horror or mystery, Strange Houses doesn't fail to deliver on the unsettling as its tale unravels. When a house hunter asks their friend for their opinion on a house floorplan when something seems a little bit off, the friend has very little idea of what they're getting involved in.

I've recently been on a kick for strange and unconventional stories, and this definitely scratched that itch. The use of visuals to support the story was well-executed, and the translation does an impressive job of keeping the flavour of the original Japanese text. I'm looking forward to be able to share this with my friends and anyone else with the taste for a different kind of storytelling.

3.5 out of 5 starts, rounded up to 4 for the helpful diagrams and pictures. I love a good floor plan or family tree, and this book has several!

I was brought in by the premise and the hope for a solid entry to translated Japanese horror, blind to the context and the author. I was originally put off at the subtitle-styled dialogue, and very few moments of a standard idea of prose--but I pressed on, ecstatic to see floor plans in the ebook. When I learned that Uketsu's main media is YouTube videos, the structure made sense: it was like I was reading the transcripts of a YouTube video, asking us to draw our own conclusions from the same information provided to the author. It feels a lot like an episode of "Dateline," a true crime podcast, or an episode of "Buzzfeed Unsolved: True Crime"> or Watcher's "Mystery Files." The plot itself has lots of twists and turns, too--never really giving us a clear picture of where the story heads next.

However, this book and writing style probably isn't for everyone. The translation, though, felt...stilted, I guess? Dialogue and metaphors are bit clunky in places, and I think another round or two of editing might've helped iron out any wrinkles. For those who aren't a fan of YouTube videos of deep dives into mysteries and the unexplained, then this may not be for you--but if you are a fan, I'd give Uketsu's "Strange Houses" a try. I'm looking forward to exploring his other works.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced reader's copy.

this one felt a bit sillier than Strange Pictures, but was also more shocking. The writing style definitely improved and I want more from this author immediately, please

Uketsu's stuff is absolutely awesome so I knew I had to get this one as an ARC too, and it was more than worth it! Strange Pictures was more focused on the visuals of drawings, but this one was more focused on maps and plans. Still, it had a similar feel! 5 stars. tysm for the arc.

Complete waste of time. There's no tension, no excitement. Everything is forced. Stilted dialogue. Bad.

Not my cup of tea. I don't know if the fact that this book is a translation, but I just found the stories overly creepy and unrealistic.