Nippon Shuppan Hanbai Co., Ltd. (President and CEO: Ken Togashi, abbreviated: Nippan) announced the results of the "Scary Book Award 2026" hosted by the Nippon Shuppan Hanbai Library Selection Center (hereinafter, Selection Center) on July 1, 2026 (Wed). The "Scary Book Award" is an event where library professionals nationwide vote for the book they find "most scary" from a list of nominated works to determine the grand prize winner. It began in 2024 as a spin-off of the "Librarian's Choice Selection Center Award" held every December by the Selection Center, and this is the third time it has been held. In response to positive feedback from librarians such as "Scary books are very popular with elementary and junior high school students, so we want to purchase them based on the nominated works" and "We want it announced every year," the award is announced in July, before the summer vacation. For the hot summer, 78 scary books were nominated, and grand prize winners were decided in four categories. ◆ Event Overview - Nominated Books Based on selection performance at the Selection Center, the center's concierges selected 78 books, classifying them into four categories: "Creepy," "Chilling," "Startling," and "Gory." - Participants Library professionals nationwide (851 people) - Voting Method Participants voted for up to 3 books they found "most scary" in each category from the nominated books. - Voting Period May 7, 2026 (Thu) - June 14, 2026 (Sun) - "Scary Book Award 2026" Details https://sensho-c.jp/scary-book-award-2026/ ◆ Voting Results "54-Character Stories: Curse" (Yusuke Ujita, author / Yudai Takeda, illustrator), PHP Institute [Comment from Yusuke Ujita, Author, on Winning the Creepy Category Grand Prize] Packed with tight teeth, insects mimicking organs, and lingering guilt. This book is filled with things I myself found "scary" deep down. If you can relate to that "scary," nothing would make me happier. Thank you for this wonderful award. [Voting Comments] "Bus