Shosetsu Subaru Newcomer Award
1 appearances
-
Edition 25 (2012) award
Riu Kushiki
くしき りう
Kushiki Riu
Pen Names:
Kushiki Riu (as 串木里有)（Pen name used at time of submission）
Profile
- Gender
- Female
- Born
- 1972-07-29 （Niigata Prefecture, Japan）
- Nationality
- Japan
- Languages
- Japanese
Career
- Occupations
- Novelist
- Active Years
- 2012-
- Influenced By
- John Saul, Ruth Rendell, Shirley Jackson, Colin Wilson
- Nominations
- Ōyabu Haruhiko Prize nominee (Shirō no Hako, 2025)
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Japan Horror Novel Award — Readers' Prize | Haunted Campus | 読者賞 | KADOKAWA | 受賞 |
| 2012 | Shosetsu Subaru Newcomer Award | Red and White | — | Shueisha | 受賞 |
Japan Horror Novel Award — Readers' Prize
2012
Work:
Haunted Campus
Category:
読者賞
Organization:
KADOKAWA
Result:
受賞
Shosetsu Subaru Newcomer Award
2012
Work:
Red and White
Organization:
Shueisha
Result:
受賞
Awards & Nominations
Japan Horror Novel Grand Award
1 appearances
-
Edition 19 (2012) readers prize
Works
Major Works
Haunted Campus
2012 Horror, Youth (coming-of-age), MysteryA series set on campuses in which young people encounter strange phenomena. Kushiki's debut work that won a readers' prize.
campus lifeghostscoming-of-agefriendshipmystery
Adaptations
- [Film] Haunted Campus / 竹本聡志 (2016)
Red and White
2013 Coming-of-age novelA novel delicately portraying human relationships and personal growth; winner of the 25th Shosetsu Subaru Newcomer Award.
youthfamilycoming-of-ageinner conflict
Chainedog (retitled: Disease Leading to Execution)
2015 Mystery, CrimeA crime-psychology novel originally published as 'Chainedog' in 2015 and later retitled; adapted into a film in 2022.
crimepsychologyrevengemorality
Adaptations
- [Film] Disease Leading to Execution / 白石和彌 (2022)
Utagogawa Village Incident
2018 Mystery, HorrorA novel about an inexplicable incident in a rural village; adapted into a TV drama by WOWOW.
rural communitysecretsincidentdark side of human nature
Adaptations
- [TV drama] Utagogawa Village Incident (2022)
Captive Dog
2020 Horror, MysteryA work in the series featuring former family court investigator Shiraishi Roku; deals with judiciary and family issues.
judiciaryfamilyviolenceuncovering truth
Bibliography
- Haunted Campus series
- Dreamdust Monsters
- Dreamdust Monsters: White River, Night Ship
- Dreamdust Monsters: The Sleeping Moon, a Winter of Bones
- Captive Dog
- Shirō no Hako
- Murder Addiction
- Cruelty Addiction
- Confinement Addiction
- Ash-Colored Crow
- Land of Conflagration
- Village of the Beast
- Red and White
- Lightning Rod Summer
- Hermit-Crab Woman
- Erosion: Record of a Family Destroyed
- Shichinagi Town Antique Shop Casebook
- Chainedog
- Disease Leading to Execution
- On the Day the World Turns Crimson
- FEED
- Girl's Funeral (retitled from FEED)
- Me and Monami, Meeting in Spring
- There's a Stranger Child in Room 209
- Defective Death Property: Aoi of Room 209
- Unhappy Wedding: The God of Marriage
- Utagogawa Village Incident
- A Lukewarm, Slowly Flowing Black River
- Chasing the Tiger
- It's Okay to Die
- Old Bee (retitled: The Obsessive)
- Lethal Dose of Ice
- The Boy's Siege
- Bones and Flesh
- The Fugitive and the Pinky Promise
- Futari Kusare
Adaptations
- Haunted Campus (Film, 2016)
- Disease Leading to Execution (Film, 2022)
- Utagogawa Village Incident (TV drama, 2022)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- tense, atmospheric prosea style that blurs the boundary between ordinary and supernaturalrealistic focus on psychological characterization
- Recurring Motifs
- family breakdownaddiction and obsessionsigns of madnessclosed spaces (villages, campuses)
Legacy
Noted for blending horror and mystery, Kushiki has seen multiple film and TV adaptations of her works since her debut. After winning newcomer awards, she has been recognized as a versatile contemporary writer across genres.
In Popular Culture
- The film adaptation of 'Haunted Campus' contributed to the spread of youth-oriented horror.
- The film adaptation of 'Disease Leading to Execution' brought attention to her work as social-issue crime fiction.
Quotes
-
I believe horror becomes lasting when it depicts the unease that lurks within everyday life.
Source: Interview in 'Invitation to Fantasy — The Words of Storytellers', Tokuma Shoten, 2016 (2016)
Trivia
- Used the pen name '串木里有' when submitting works.
- Worked for an apparel company and a construction firm after university before becoming a writer.
- Several representative works have been adapted into films and TV dramas.
- Active on X (formerly Twitter) under @kushikiRiu.
- In 2025, 'Shirō no Hako' was a nominee for the Ōyabu Haruhiko Prize.