House of Darkness
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Summary
One day he is assigned to handle a complaint, and in the client's foul-smelling house he finds the corpse of a child who has hanged himself. The child's father shows no grief; instead he secretly watches Wakatsuki's reaction.
The father who took out an expensive insurance policy on his child has fixated on Wakatsuki, coming to his door every day to press for the payout. Meanwhile, strange things begin happening around Wakatsuki—a silent phone call rings out in the middle of the night; his girlfriend's seven cats are all beheaded; a company specialist vanishes without a trace; the psychologist sent to investigate is bizarrely dismembered... And late one night, Wakatsuki himself will face a threat of death!
Editor's review
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Readers who enjoy Japanese psychological horror and social-issue mystery
- Those interested in antisocial personality themes and criminal psychology
- Suspense fans who like continuous reading and tense atmosphere
- Readers curious about how an insurance claims workplace can become horror narrative
Not a good fit for
- Readers who prefer fair-play puzzle mysteries may find the focus is not on the trick
- Readers sensitive to animal harm and corpse descriptions should proceed with caution
- Not suitable for those seeking light, healing, or romance stories
Reading tips
- Try to read continuously; do not stop in the middle of dunning and silent-phone-call passages late at night.
- Pay attention to Wakatsuki's observations of clients' reactions—they are key to understanding the antisocial-personality narrative.
- A brief understanding of insurance claims procedures before reading will help you enter the protagonist's professional situation faster.
- After finishing, revisit the opening "fox in the henhouse" metaphor and trace how the author gradually fulfills that image.
About the publisher
Hainan Publishing House is a comprehensive publisher known for literary and intellectual works, covering foreign literature, philosophy, classics, world-famous works, classical poetry and prose miscellanies. Its catalog includes foreign literary classics such as Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina and Romain Rolland's Jean-Christophe, philosophical works such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau's The Social Contract: Expert Companion Edition, and Chinese classics and poetic studies such as Lu Xun's essays and prose collections and Wang Guowei's Renjian Cihua, as well as illustrated popular-science works like Fabre's Insects. The involvement of translators such as Zhong Shufeng, Fu Lei and Chen Xiaoqing reflects the publisher's emphasis on translation quality and expert guidance. Public information is limited, and the above is based mainly on the books in the catalog.
Contents
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FAQ
Is this book a horror novel or a mystery?
Can I read this directly without having read other works by Yusuke Kishi?
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Comments
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About the author
Yusuke Kishi is a Japanese author; reliable public information about his life and education is limited. Three of his works are included in this catalog: The Blue Flame, From the New World (2 volumes), and The Dark House. These titles show that he works across mystery, crime, and science fiction: The Blue Flame centers on juvenile crime and inner struggle, The Dark House explores dark human nature and a thriller atmosphere, and From the New World uses a vast future society to examine power, memory, and the boundaries of humanity. Overall, Kishi's writing emphasizes psychological portraiture and narrative tension, often placing ordinary characters in extreme situations and presenting fear and moral dilemmas in a calm, meticulous style. In the Chinese book market his works are usually classified as foreign literature and draw readers who enjoy mystery, science fiction, and psychological thrillers.
Cao Yibing is a Chinese author with a notably wide range of subjects; the library holds 45 of her works. Judging from the available titles, her writing and editorial work span several fields. On one hand, she engages with Japanese folk craft and craft culture, contributing to works such as The Beauty of Japanese Folk Craft: The Collected Works of Yanagi Soetsu (4 volumes), Forty Years of Folk Craft, and Craft Culture. On the other hand, she touches on travel and food writing, as seen in A Tree of Travel and the Vegetable Classroom series. She also ventures into mystery and detective fiction, such as the Countdown to the Statute of Limitations, along with essay collections and foreign literature like The Language of Magic. Her works commonly fall under culture, travel, food, mystery and detective fiction, essays, and foreign literature, reflecting a cross-disciplinary curiosity and editorial perspective. Public information about her nationality, dates, education, and personal background is limited; the above is based only on the library's holdings.
