Despite its dark themes, Strange Pictures, the horror sensation from Japan written by Uketsu, the anonymous literary figure and YouTuber, could almost be classified as children’s literature for it evokes that same sense of wonder that good children’s novels do. It also makes you want to put on your detective hat and attempt to solve the complex picture puzzles at the centre of its plot.
On the surface, this book seems like an anthology of three seemingly unconnected horror-mysteries
Despite its dark themes, Strange Pictures, the horror sensation from Japan written by Uketsu, the anonymous literary figure and YouTuber, could almost be classified as children’s literature for it evokes that same sense of wonder that good children’s novels do. It also makes you want to put on your detective hat and attempt to solve the complex picture puzzles at the centre of its plot.
On the surface, this book seems like an anthology of three seemingly unconnected horror-mysteries best solved using pictures. Halfway through, it becomes clear that the three stories are connected. In the most compelling chapter titled The Smudged Room, a single mother, Naomi, wakes up in her apartment and finds her child, Yuta Konno, missing. An analysis of the picture drawn by Yuta at school reveals chilling details about his disappearance. Is Naomi abusing Yuta? Is Yuta being stalked by an unknown man? He is eventually found in a cemetery, standing next to a grave.
The novel is full of such chilling incidents: a pregnant woman is brutally murdered by hospital staff; a husband writes a disturbing blog post complete with drawings that reveal details of his wife’s murder; a child kills her psychopathic mother for harming her pet; a psychologist uncovers details of a murder using the picture drawn by a child.
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Readers themselves get to decode the mystery behind the pictures along with the characters. Indeed, the role of the reader isn’t that of an observer but of an active participant, trying to unravel the many complicated threads of the puzzle. Strange Pictures evokes a sense of intrigue and wonder and for a while, this reviewer too felt like a school kid reading Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie. Elements of Japanese culture are used as central elements: How did a boy as young as Yuta learn to write his name in Kanji? Workplace stress and the mental health crisis in Japanese cities is also alluded to. At one point, a wife force-feeds her husband a meal laced with sedatives.
The most heartbreaking passage has Naomi, the daughter of an abusive mother, realising she never got the love she deserved: “Naomi discovered something about herself. She had always been proud of her beautiful mother but she had never felt anything else for her. Not once. They could be together as mother and child only with Father connecting them. Now, with Father dead, they were only two women”.
There is much heartache at the centre of this novel that portrays mental illness, self-harm and child abuse. The central character, Naomi, is a psychopath whose maternal instincts get the best of her. She kills her mother to protect her pet and then kills her husband to protect her son. She comes to realise, though, that the murders she has been justifying to herself as acts of self-preservation were motivated by selfish reasons.
A chilling depiction of all-consuming motherhood, the crux of this horror story can be summed by a passage in the final chapter: “Naomi had surely loved Haruto [her son] more than anyone, but in doing so, she had stood in his way of independence. It was as if Haruto’s umbilical cord had never been cut. No matter how old he grew, he was always a part of Naomi. So, no matter how hatefully she acted, he could not resent her. He could not break free from her”.
Those raised by overly-possessive mothers will especially relate to Haruto and Yuta’s emotions. This then is a gut-wrenching portrayal of childhood trauma and generational abuse.
Deepansh Duggal writes on art and culture. Twitter: @Deepansh75.
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