Strange Buildings
by Uketsu
translated by: Jim Rion
Where to order: Amazon | Bookshop.org
ARC Review
Publisher: HarperVia
Pub Date: March 3, 2026
What It’s About
Strange Buildings is a horror-mystery built around eleven unsettling structures, each with its own floor plan, architectural impossibility, and disturbing backstory. A writer obsessed with the occult gathers these cases, slowly revealing that the buildings are not isolated at all, but part of something larger and far more sinister.
This is a puzzle-driven novel where diagrams and layouts matter. The floor plans aren’t decoration. They are essential to understanding what’s happening, and to realizing what shouldn’t be possible.
What Stuck With Me
This book knocked the wind out of me.
When I finished, my first thought wasn’t “how do I review this,” it was “I need a healing book after this.” That’s how much it got under my skin.
I really enjoyed the puzzle mechanics. Some of the architectural logic stretches believability, and there were moments where I just had to accept the premise and move forward. But overall, the concept worked for me. The floor plans were fun, necessary, and honestly the only way the story could function. Without them, I don’t think I would have been able to follow what was happening at all.
What surprised me most was how emotionally disturbing this was. It’s clever and creepy, yes, but it’s also deeply unsettling in a way that doesn’t let go. The horror isn’t just about strange rooms or impossible spaces. It’s about what happens inside them, and what people are capable of when trapped.
The reveal hit like a punch to the gut. Just when you think the book is finished with you, it keeps going. The darkness deepens. What felt contained suddenly feels much bigger, and much worse. I don’t want to say more than that, because this is a book that works best if you go in as blind as possible.
Compared to Strange Houses and Strange Pictures, this one felt heavier. All three are entertaining, but Strange Buildings is the one that really crossed into nightmare territory for me. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the one that sticks with me the longest.
Would I Recommend It
Yes, but very carefully.
This is not for the faint of heart. Honestly, it probably deserves just about every content warning you can think of. If you’re sensitive to disturbing material, or you prefer horror that stays more atmospheric than psychological, this may be too much.
But if you like puzzle-based horror, unsettling mysteries, and books that are willing to go somewhere very dark and stay there, this will absolutely deliver.
My takeaway
Some spaces are wrong. And once you see why, you can’t unsee it.
Thank you to HarperVia and NetGalley for the digital review copy.
More books by this author:
Strange Pictures - First book in the series
Strange Houses - Second book in the series
