The Graveyard Apartment

Originally published 30 years ago in Japanese, celebrated fiction writer Koike's popular horror novel is finally available in English. A young family—Teppai (father), Misao (mother), and Tamao (young daughter)—move to a modern high-rise apartment building on the outskirts of Tokyo. Attracted by the low price, the couple believe their new home is almost too good to be true. Curiously, it is located next to a cemetery, crematorium, and a funeral temple. Once settled into the apartment, the family begin to experience spooky occurrences. Tamao claims he is in contact with the family's deceased pet bird, other occupants of the building swiftly are moving out, and there are unexplained sightings in the basement. Then there are the family's own demons, namely Teppai and Misao's illicit affair that resulted in the suicide of Teppai's wife. While the story delivers some frightening scares and the foreboding atmosphere is effective in building tension, the plot is never fully explained, which may bother some readers hoping for a final resolution.