Abstract

A formless monster lurks on a deserted street.
When it spots a child, it transforms into a human and speaks to them in a friendly manner.
"Are you ready?"

Unidentified animals, curses that drive people to suicide, serial child murders, haunted houses...
Ghost story writer, Umeki Kyoko, unravels four mysterious and criminal cases.

The story of the Refrigerator Hag was once popular among elementary school students living in the countryside. A series of child murders, seemingly imitating the story, occurs. The bodies of the victims are found abandoned in refrigerators in a strange state. Umeki Kyoko, a writer who writes ghost stories using folkloristic fieldwork techniques, is asked by the police to cooperate in an investigation...

Author’s Information

Born in Tochigi Prefecture in 1982, Oshima completed a master's course at the University of Tsukuba Graduate School. While publishing his theories on ghosts and monsters as a researcher, in 2020 he won the 17th Mysteries! Newcomer Award for his work "Weird Tales of Kagefutei (Kagefumitei no Kaidan)," which was highly praised for its innovative balance of the supernatural and the unraveling of mysteries. His major works include "Modern Ghost Theory," "Ghost Research in J-Horror," "Weird Tales of Kagefumitei", "Weird Tales of Akamushi Village," "Weird Tales of a House in Pieces," "The Solitude of the Jioyujin," "The Most Terrifying Haunted House," and "The Isolated Island of Professor Hitomego," as well as the "Kaidan Oumagadoki Gakuen" series, which he co-authored.