Japanese Gothic: A Gothic Dual-Timeline Novel of Ghosts, Hauntings and Redemption (Original)

Kylie Lee Baker

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Book cover for Japanese Gothic: A Gothic Dual-Timeline Novel of Ghosts, Hauntings and Redemption (Original)
Image for variant 9781335001559

Japanese Gothic: A Gothic Dual-Timeline Novel of Ghosts, Hauntings and Redemption (Original)

Japanese Gothic: A Gothic Dual-Timeline Novel of Ghosts, Hauntings and Redemption (Original)

Kylie Lee Baker

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New York Times Most Anticipated Book for 2026
USA TODAY Most Anticipated Books of 2026
Goodreads Readers' Most Anticipated Books of 2026

Book Riot "Our Most Anticipated Books of 2026"

In this lyrical, wildly inventive horror novel interwoven with Japanese mythology, two people living centuries apart discover a door between their worlds.

October, 2026: Lee Turner doesn't remember how or why he killed his college roommate. The details are blurred and bloody. All he knows is he has to flee New York and go to the one place that might offer refuge--his father's new home in Japan, a house hidden by sword ferns and wild ginger. But something is terribly wrong with the house: no animals will come near it, the bedroom window isn't always a window, and a woman with a sword appears in the yard when night falls.

October, 1877: Sen is a young samurai in exile, hiding from the imperial soldiers in a house behind the sword ferns. A monster came home from war wearing her father's face, but Sen would do anything to please him, even turn her sword on her own mother. She knows the soldiers will soon slaughter her whole family when she sees a terrible omen: a young foreign man who appears outside her window.

One of these people is a ghost, and one of these stories is a lie.

Something is hiding beneath the house of sword ferns, and Lee and Sen will soon wish they never unburied it.

Critical Reviews

"An eerie and unrelenting tale of two lives, two time periods, and one singular horror soaked in blood and sorrow."
--Chuck Wendig, New York Times bestselling author of The Staircase in the Woods

"A breathless collision of timelines, cultures, and destinies in this impressive horror outing.... In wrenching prose, Baker renders her characters both deeply flawed and profoundly human.... It's as gruesome as it is un-put-downable."
--Publishers Weekly, starred review

"A spectacular, thought-provoking, and chilling story about how the past ties itself to the present in ways humans cannot comprehend or explain.... Readers will savor every minute."
--Library Journal, starred review

"Japanese Gothic is many things: a haunting. A mystery. A ghost story. A fairy tale. A love story. Above all, it's a compelling and heartbreaking piece of art about how parental expectations can damage us, and how love can, if not quite heal us, at least set us free."
--Johanna van Veen, author of Blood on Her Tongue

"A mesmerizing, beautifully crafted story that breathes new life into the haunted house genre. Ghosts dwell between every page."
--Marcus Kliewer, author of We Used to Live Here

"Kylie Lee Baker has done it again with this tense and bloody follow-up to her incredible adult debut. Japanese Gothic is brilliantly inventive, sending a prickle down your spine as you struggle to distinguish between reality and delusion. A must-read--I couldn't turn the pages fast enough!"
--Monika Kim, internationally bestselling author of The Eyes Are the Best Part

"Japanese Gothic is a heady puzzle box of story--the ones we are told and the ones we tell ourselves to survive. Intricate, sensuous, and haunting, the strange truth at the center of two shared mysteries unfurls in fragile, mesmerizing layers. Utterly sublime."
--Olivie Blake, New York Times bestselling author of Girl Dinner

"This book is a complete mindf*ck and I loved every minute of it."
--Mia Ballard, author of Shy Girl

"An astounding tapestry of blood, time, history, and guilt: Japanese Gothic is bold and ambitious and executed with a master's touch. Pick this up."
--Andrew Joseph White, New York Times bestselling author of You Weren't Meant to Be Human

"Japanese Gothic is a rare gem of a time-slip novel, in which an NYU student hiding a terrible secret from his father crosses paths with an 1870s female samurai--raised by her own father's inflexible code--in a deliciously appealing and ancient house. Kylie Lee Baker effortlessly takes in Japanese mythology, puts her own spin on history, and weaves it all together into an incredibly tense, bloody finale. Following on from the enormous success of Bat Eater, this is, once again, an absolutely marvellous and inventive book."
--Ally Wilkes, author of Where the Dead Wait

"An utterly gorgeous tale of lost souls and bad fathers, Japanese Gothic is brilliant and haunting. Baker controls even her most ethereal threads with the confidence of an orchestra conductor, making every note ring true. I loved it!"
--Christopher Golden, New York Times bestselling author of Road of Bones and Carry Me to My Grave

"So deliciously written, you'll be immediately engrossed."
--Reactor

"Atmospheric and disorienting, Baker's ambitious follow-up to Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng blends historical horror with Japanese folklore, incorporating elements from the legend of Urashima Tarō to deliver a violent and thought-provoking tale of grief, generational trauma, and colonialism. Fans of Alma Katsu's The Fervor will want to pick this up."
--Booklist

Publishing Information

Publisher: Hanover Square Press
Pub date: 2026-04-14
Length: 352 pages

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