The Ghost of Japanese Colonial Mansion takes place in the Japanese occupation of Korea, where a Korean caretaker Jun-yeong loathes and curses Kanemoto, a wealthy Japanese merchant who settled down in Joseon, and his only son, Yutaka. As Jun-young struggles to survive in the colonized country, Kanemoto’s red-walled mansion symbolizes for him both the height of wealth and a resentful remnant of Japan. Jun-yeong thought Yutaka was harming himself only because his illness prevented his high-strung and violent personality otherwise. However, he later learns that Yutaka is actually Kanemoto’s adopted and exploited son, which makes him feel a compassionate bond with the Japanese man. The story then switches to the present day in the 2020s, where Jun-yeong’s great-granddaughter, Hyun Wun-ju (protagonist), is defenselessly exposed to the subtle violence of her husband, Wu Hyeong-min, who uses the marriage as an excuse to claim death benefits. The ghost of Yutaka, who has existed in the red-walled mansion for generations, appears in front of Wun-ju from time to time, and she thinks she is going crazy because of the spiteful specter. But in her dream, Wun-ju becomes her great-grandmother and learns Yutaka’s true identity. The ghost of him finally whispers to her the words that he has been harboring in his heart: “I’m the one who’s going to kill my father.” The novel depicts a family’s dark and devastating secrets and supernatural phenomena at a turbulent point in Korean history with Cho Yeeun’s unique rendition of horror.