Dark Exorcism

Name: Dark Exorcism
ISBN: 9787516835982

辻村深月 / 李雨萍Taihai Publishing House · ChinaNov 2023

3.6

Word count: 164K words
Chapters: 7
ISBN: 9787516835982

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Summary

This novel is the first full-length orthodox horror mystery by Naoki Prize-winning author Mizuki Tsujimura. The story is steeped in a dark, eerie atmosphere and also features fantastical elements of urban legend. The Kanbara family has always been surrounded by misfortune; no matter where they move, they always bring bad luck to those around them. Malicious smiles, words with no sense of boundaries, terrifying figures trailing behind them... overwhelming malice keeps spreading around them, and death follows like a shadow. A mysterious transfer student, a gentle and easygoing senior, a beautiful and passionate housewife, an amiable senior colleague at work—the darkness lurks among them.

Editor's review

Written by Naoki Prize winner Mizuki Tsujimura, The Dark Exorcism is a work of socially engaged mystery fiction. Its core is not conventional horror or the supernatural but a deeper inquiry into a more hidden and pervasive form of malice in modern society: emotional bullying and the pressure of atmosphere. With delicate strokes, Tsujimura turns the seemingly casual exclusion, verbal cold violence, and invisible pressure of daily life in the workplace and at school into a curse called dark harassment. The book's value lies in how it acts as a precise lens, magnifying the interpersonal toxins around us that are easy to miss. Through interlocking standalone stories that ultimately weave into a web, the author not only creates strong suspense but also prompts readers to reflect: Who is casting the dark exorcism? Have we, without realizing it, also become carriers of this darkness? Its professionalism lies in Tsujimura's success in turning psychological oppression into a literary premise with narrative tension, allowing readers, as they follow the characters in unraveling the mystery, to complete an examination of their own behavior and environment. It is a work that chills the spine yet compels reflection, because the greatest fear often stems from a reflection of reality.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in social mystery and the dark side of human nature
Readers who have felt the pressure of group atmospheres and seek resonance and understanding
Fans of Mizuki Tsujimura's delicate psychological writing and tightly constructed plots
Readers who want fiction that prompts reflection on the dynamics of small groups in school and at work

Not a good fit for

Horror fans looking for traditional ghost stories or intense gore
Readers expecting a light, pleasant reading experience

Reading tips

Read in a relatively quiet setting to fully absorb the oppressive, tense atmosphere the text creates.
Pay attention to how malice breeds and spreads in each standalone story, and consider how it connects to real life.
When the threads converge in the later chapters, look back at earlier details to better appreciate the author's careful plotting.

About the publisher

Taihai Publishing House China · Founded in 1997

Founded in 1997 and based in Beijing, Taihai Publishing House takes “building cultural bridges and promoting cross-strait unity” as its mission, focusing on Taiwan-related studies, social sciences and humanities, Chinese and foreign history, and literature. Judging from the 709 titles in the database, its publishing centers on foreign literature and classic works, with attention to Eastern philosophy, architecture, and social culture. Representative books include Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha and Steppenwolf and the four-volume Hesse literary series, Liang Sicheng’s A History of Chinese Architecture, Lao She’s Teahouse (unabridged classic edition), Sun Wu’s The Art of War, and collections by W. Somerset Maugham, Yasunari Kawabata, and Yukio Mishima. Its authors include major foreign writers such as Hesse, Maugham, Kawabata, and Mishima, as well as Liang Sicheng, Lao She, and Sun Wu. Its publishing features complete presentation of classic texts and series-based organization of foreign literature; public information on its Taiwan-related studies titles and authors is limited.

版权信息
第一章转学生
第二章邻居
第三章同事
第四章组长
最终章家人
尾声

FAQ

Is Anabari a horror novel?

It leans more toward social mystery and psychological suspense. The fear comes not from supernatural entities but from the 'atmospheric' malice that exists in real life, such as collective exclusion and verbal violence; fear rooted in reality is often more chilling.

What is distinctive about the book's structure?

The novel uses a multi-voice structure similar to Confessions: the first part consists of several seemingly independent stories told from different characters' perspectives, all permeated by a similar sense that something is wrong; in the second part the threads gradually converge, revealing the core mystery and the connections among the characters, building suspense layer by layer.

What is Mizuki Tsujimura's writing style like?

Tsujimura excels at portraying the delicate psychology of characters, especially young people and women, with a gentle yet precise touch. She often weaves social issues into the heart of her stories, prompting deep reflection within fluid narratives, and Anabari is a typical work in which she explores the spiritual predicaments of modern people.

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About the author

辻村深月 Author

Tsujimura Mizuki is a Japanese fiction author about whom limited public information is available. The library currently holds four of her works, commonly categorized as suspense and mystery fiction and as foreign literature. Judging from the representative titles—the eight-volume set of classic Japanese suspense and mystery novels, First Time, Morning Sun Approaches, and Anku—her writing centers largely on mystery and suspense, building puzzles and reversals within everyday settings while carrying the narrative texture that readers often associate with translated foreign fiction. The eight-volume set, billed as classic suspense and mystery, indicates that her works are placed within the mystery genre in the Chinese book market, and together with the individual volumes First Time, Morning Sun Approaches, and Anku, these form the main entry points through which readers encounter her. Because reliable records of her birth and death dates, nationality, education, and awards are unavailable, no speculation is offered here; this note summarizes her creative profile solely on the basis of the works held in the library.

李雨萍 Author

Li Yuping is a Chinese translator and author about whom limited public information is available; seven works are currently confirmed under her name, spanning categories such as mystery and detective fiction, otherworldly fantasy, foreign literature, and time-travel fiction. Her representative translations and works include The Human Chair, Dogura Magura, The Absolute Alibi Mystery, the Kyokou Suiri tale The Sleeping Mystery Case, The Girl Who Was Killed Twice, An Yaharai, and the two-volume Three Lives: The Immortal Debt. Judging from these titles, her work centers on translating Japanese mystery and weird fiction while also touching on original Chinese-language fantasy and time-travel themes. Her translations tend to serve plots that are eerie and intricately constructed, and her selections reveal a sustained interest in psychological suspense and supernatural elements. Since no reliable records of her birth and death dates, nationality, or education are available, this profile makes no inferences and merely sketches the outline of her work based on the existing bibliography.