1.
Dream transmission
2.
Water tribe
3.
Air plant
4.
Let's cross the sinking bridge
5.
Love is indistinguishable
6.
Oviparous
7.
aristocrats
8.
Sending Pilgrim
9.
The End of the Endless World
10.
The village where the full moon rises
11.
Mother's self-portrait
Translator's Note

"I want to write about human fear and madness."
The dark side of human relationships and emotions.

A collection of 11 ghost stories where everything swirls!

"Dream Transmission" is a collection of 11 short horror mystery stories written with a chilling touch by Makoto Usami.
First, the title piece, "Dream Delivery," begins with a popular author suddenly declaring that he will stop writing.
The writer leaves a strange message to the editor who came to see him, saying, “Something comes to me in a dream,” and from this single line, reality and inexplicable phenomena intersect.
In "Aquarium," a mysterious incident at a local aquarium blurs the line between water and land, and in "Air Plant," strange changes permeate the daily lives of isolated people, like plants that survive without soil.
In "Crossing the Sinking Bridge," the mysterious connection between the actions of one's childhood and the tragedy of the present is revealed.
In addition, each episode, including “Love Cannot Be Distinguished,” “Nantaesaeng,” “Hojok,” “Sending Pilgrims,” “The End of the Endless World,” “The Street Where the Full Moon Rises,” and “Mother’s Self-Portrait,” exudes its own personality and unique charm.

However, if there is a point that runs through each of the individual short stories, each with its own distinct personality, it is that they focus on human 'psychology' and 'relationships' even within a surreal framework.
Makoto Usami's writing style, which has so far been about human psychology and relationships from a three-dimensional perspective, is also clearly revealed in "Dream Transmission."
In particular, the author said that this time he wanted to return to 'ghost stories' and "write about human fear and madness," and these words of Makoto Usami are reflected in the work.
The author's conviction to ultimately tell a story about 'humanity' is evident as he sets up a surreal situation that crosses the line between reality and unreality.

Another common point worth noting is that all of the works are set in closed spaces and limited time and space.
Seaside villages, sparsely populated provincial towns, old houses, and closed worlds like underwater act as devices to confine the characters' emotions while simultaneously amplifying the strange energy seeping in from the outside.
As it tells the story of everyday life, the scale of the events that occur in each short story is usually not large.
Rather, it penetrates the reader in a way that gradually widens the cracks in everyday life.
The sensory descriptions, such as the smell of water, the damp air, and the light seeping through the cracks in the windows of a dusty old house, draw the reader deep into the story and make them feel both peace and anxiety.
I hope you can experience that cool aftertaste for yourself.


The dark heart is conveyed.
From the dead to the living,
And from person to person.

It gradually eats away at the hearts of humans who are on the same wavelength.

Makoto Usami, the Empress of Mystery, is not widely known in Japan despite her fame, but she is one of the most active writers in the country.
Born in Ehime Prefecture, Japan in 1957.
The author made a brilliant debut in 2006 when he was 50 years old, winning the grand prize in the short story category of the first 'Yu' Ghost Story Literature Award with 'The Child of Lumbini', and has published a whopping 23 works as of 2024.
Makoto Usami's works are characterized by a style that draws on her experience as a housewife living in a provincial city to draw out the negative aspects of humanity through ghost stories.
He is particularly adept at depicting the dark emotions latent in humans.
Moreover, his talent for skillfully revealing the darkness within humans through the strangeness that always lurks in everyday life is unparalleled.
It is said that the author was inspired to enter the world of fantasy and horror novels by Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Black Cat', and that he was also inspired by the works of Ray Bradbury, Stephen King, and Thomas Cook.


In this way, after his debut, the author stood out by presenting works with a strong horror theme such as 『Seven Colored Fairy Tale』 and 『The Forest That Does Not Enter』, but suddenly stopped his activities as an author in 2009.
Then, in 2016, he reappeared and began producing works that fused horror, psychological suspense, mystery, and human drama with a different atmosphere from his previous works.
In particular, he made a spectacular comeback in 2017 by winning the 70th Japan Mystery Writers Association Award in the long story and short story compilation categories for 『The Poison of a Fool』.
Published domestically by Bluehole Six in 2020, "The Poison of the Fool" is a shocking masterpiece that densely and weightily captures human despair and inner self, freely striding across the boundaries of crime fiction, mystery, and horror.
Furthermore, it is reminiscent of a human drama that captures the desperate psychology, karma, and tragedy of human beings.
Works with this kind of atmosphere are called 'black' ('white' works, which mainly talk about healing from wounds and hope through solidarity, include 'The Distance Where Moonlight Touches', 'Listen to the Sounds of the Night', and 'The Child Has a Scary Dream').

However, in the case of 『Dream Transmission』, it is difficult to simply classify it as black or white.
If I had to explain it, it could be said to have a similar atmosphere to the author's horror short story collection, "Girls Walk the Night," published in Korea in 2020.
For example, he keenly captures the invisible gaps that exist in extremely ordinary scenery, and does not miss the strangeness and psychological ripples that hide through those gaps.
Coolness and strangeness blur the boundaries of genre, creating different textures and temperatures for each story, presenting readers with a comprehensive gift set of cold horror, subtle suspense, and lyrical lingering emotions.
Even in his late 60s, Makoto Usami continues to publish three or four volumes of works every year, maintaining his obsession with human nature. We look forward to seeing what he does next.


The cracks in everyday life slowly eat away at the reader.
Sensory descriptions, such as the smell of water, damp air, and light seeping through the cracks in the windows of a dusty old house, draw readers deep into the story and create a sense of both peace and anxiety.
- Lee Yeon-seung (translator)