Fuyumi Ono

Fuyumi Ono (1960-) was educated at Otani University in Kyoto, where she graduated with a dregee in Buddhist Studies. She first tried her hand at fiction writing as a member of the Mystery Fiction Society; a student group that lists numerous authors among its alums. She made her publishing debut in 1988 as a writer of adolescent girl fiction, a novel entitled Sleepless on Birthday Eve. Her early works fell almost exclusively in the YA "light novel" category, including the best-selling fantasy series Junikokki (Twelve Kingdoms). In 1994, Tokei ibun (A Strange Tale in the Imperial City Tokei) became her first novel targeted at more mature audiences. Shiki (Corpse Fiend, 1998), a Japanese take on the zombie tale, became a bestseller and was nominated for both the Yamamoto Shugoro Prize and the Mystery Writers of Japan Award for Novels. Ono garnered the Yamamoto Shugoro Prize for her horror novel Zan'e (Lingering Pollution) in 2013. Her other novels include Kokushi no shima (Island of the Black Shrine, 2002) and Kura no kami (Storehouse Spirit, 2003). She is married to the mystery writer Yukito Ayatsuji (writer of the horror best seller Another), whom she met as a fellow member of the Mystery Fiction Society in her student days. Ono has an unmatched talent for weaving truly scary stories.