Japanese Literary Awards

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ホラーサスペンスたいしょう

Public rookie literary award targeting full-length novels rich in horror and suspense elements.

Horror novelsSuspense novelsFull-length novels
Established
2000
Organizer
Gentosha, Shinchosha, TV Asahi
Category
Genre Fiction
Selection Method
Open call
Target
Newcomer
Frequency
1 per year
Status
Ended

Description

Public rookie literary award targeting full-length novels rich in horror and suspense elements. Features Grand Prize and Special Prize. Odd-numbered edition Grand Prize winners are published by Shinchosha, even-numbered by Gentosha, and Special Prize by the publisher not handling the Grand Prize work. Additionally, the winner's first post-award single-volume book is published by the publisher that did not publish the award-winning work.

Prize

Main Prize
Publication of single-volume editions for Grand Prize and Special Prize winning works

Selection

Selection Process

4th edition
Judges Ōsawa Zaichō, Kirino Natsuo, Yuiikawa Megumi
5th to 6th editions
Judges Ayatsuji Yukito, Kirino Natsuo, Yuiikawa Megumi

Related Awards

  • Mystery novel awards
  • Japan Mystery Suspense Grand Prize
  • Shincho Mystery Club Award
  • Shincho Mystery Grand Prize

Past Winners

Shunsaku Kira きらい しゅんさく grand prize

Kitai is a horror-suspense novel in which a ritual by high school students to revive a dead friend leads to terror eighteen years later. As those who know the old secret are targeted, the story turns youthful guilt into revenge-driven fear.

A resurrection ritual from eighteen years earlier returns as a nightmare that kills the old friends.

317 pages
horrorresurrectionhigh school studentspast guiltrevenge
Jotaro Mokumiya きみやじょう たろう special award

Time Quietly Trembles is a horror-suspense novel that begins with a child consultation center director overwhelmed by abuse reports and moves toward the hidden pattern behind seemingly random killings. Social anxiety and a disturbing vision of human evolution converge.

Behind seemingly random murders, a disturbing law of human evolution begins to surface.

352 pages
horror suspensechild welfareserial killingsevolutionsocial anxiety
Mahokaru Numata ぬまた まほかる grand prize

A suspense novel in which a husband's disappearance causes a mother and son's everyday life to collapse into unease. It depicts loneliness and obsession inside the home, approaching fear through a realistic texture.

As if September will not end, the shadow of disappearance covers the family's time.

189 pages
suspensefamilydisappearanceloneliness
Shusuke Michio みちお しゅうすけ special award

A horror mystery in which uncanny eyes in a mountain village connect with a disappearance. Folkloric fear and logical investigation run side by side, giving the early novel its distinctive unease.

A gaze that should not be seen leads the reader toward a past crime.

397 pages
horrormysteryfolkloredisappearance
Yuu Takada たかだ ゆう grand prize

A horror suspense story in which a man senses the final images seen by others, drawing him into a chain of memory, fear, and violence.

A horror suspense story in which a man senses the final images seen by others, drawing him into a chain of memory, fear, and violence.

342 pages
award-winning workcontemporary literature
Tetsuya Honda ほんだ てつや special award

A suspense novel where malice invades teenagers' everyday lives through phones and a network, combining urban-legend dread with youthful unease.

A suspense novel where malice invades teenagers' everyday lives through phones and a network, combining urban-legend dread with youthful unease.

459 pages
award-winning workcontemporary literature
佐藤ラギ さとう らぎ grand prize

ギニョル by 佐藤ラギ is known as a ホラーサスペンス大賞 winning work, shaping its subject through relationships, memory, and the atmosphere of its time.

ギニョル is an award-recognized work by 佐藤ラギ.

award-winning workcontemporary literaturerelationships
Izumi Makimura まきむら いずみ special award

邪光 by Izumi Makimura is known as a ホラーサスペンス大賞 winning work, shaping its subject through relationships, memory, and the atmosphere of its time.

邪光 is an award-recognized work by Izumi Makimura.

373 pages
award-winning workcontemporary literaturerelationships
Takahisa Igarashi いがらし たかひさ grand prize

Rika is a horror-suspense novel in which an ordinary office worker meets a woman through an online dating service and is driven into terror by her obsessive stalking. It amplifies the fear of intrusion through familiar communication tools by creating a monstrous central figure.

A casual impulse in ordinary life turns into inescapable terror born of obsession.

321 pages
stalkinghorror suspenseonline datingobsessionurban fear
Yuuko Haruguchi はるぐち ゆうこ special award

Homura no Yakata is a horror-suspense novel in which strange events in a newly built apartment building expose unconscious harm and small acts of malice. Blending fantasy with visceral fear, it turns the building itself into a place of judgment.

Inside a new home, overlooked malice rises like flame.

311 pages
apartment buildingsupernatural eventsrevengesmall malicevisceral fear
Yo Kurotake くろたけ ひろし grand prize

そして粛清の扉を is a work by 黒武洋. It was recognized by ホラーサスペンス大賞.

そして粛清の扉を, recognized by ホラーサスペンス大賞.

385 pages
award-recognized workliterary awardpublished book
Yoshiaki Ando あんどう のりあき special award

鬼子母神 is a work by 安東能明. It was recognized by ホラーサスペンス大賞.

鬼子母神, recognized by ホラーサスペンス大賞.

558 pages
award-recognized workliterary awardpublished book