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.