Strange Pictures
2022 novel by Uketsu
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Strange Pictures (変な絵, Hennae) is a 2022 novel by Japanese YouTuber and writer Uketsu, published by Futabasha.[1] An English translation by Jim Rion was published in the United States by HarperVia in 2025.[2] Since its release, the book has been translated to over 30 languages and sold over 1.5 million copies.[3]
![](#/media/File:"Strange_Pictures"_by_Uketsu_book_cover.webp) | |
| Author | Uketsu |
|---|---|
| Language | Japanese |
| Genre | Suspense |
| Publisher | Futabasha (Japanese) HarperVia (English) |
Publication date | October 20, 2022 (Japanese) January 14, 2025 (English) |
| Publication place | Japan |
| Pages | 376 (Japanese) 240 (English) |
| ISBN | 978-4575528138 |
Synopsis
The book contains several dark, macabre stories concerning various characters like members of an occult club in college, a journalist, and a school teacher. Each riddled with clues, the stories are all connected in ways that readers must discover.[4]
Background and composition
With regard to the book's inspiration, Uketsu stated that they were interested in "drawing tests" used in psychoanalysis, after which they endeavored to write a work of suspense that involved deriving a story from pictures that were "scary and eerie."[5]
Flaunt wrote that, in the novel, "the boundaries between detective and reader, between fiction and reality, begin to blur: university students discover a blog recounting a woman's pregnancy, a child draws a haunted photo of his home, the victim of a murder sketches a picture in his final moments."[5] The Critic called the book "An interesting approach" "with hidden clues in numerous pictures and diagrams that are reproduced in the story, but also a fine guide to the personal tensions bound up in Japanese social structures."[6] Japan Nakama lauded the book's interactiveness insofar as it allowed readers to lead the investigation of "the truth" of the plot.[7]
ABC News stated that "Uketsu's storytelling combines images and diagrams with text to draw readers into a horrific puzzle that they witness gradually getting solved, piece by piece. The pictures serve as whodunit clues to chillingly gruesome happenings."[3] Telegraph called Uketsu a possible Richard Osman-like writer for Japan, stating that the book was "a collection of eerie mystery stories, ingeniously connected to each other in ways that only become apparent towards the end of the book. It is a highly visual work, full of pictures that readers must study intently to solve a succession of horrifying murders."[8]
Adaptations
In March 2024, a manga adaptation, drawn by Aiba Kiko, was announced and released in Manga Action.[9]