Description
Description
A Most Anticipated Book of 2026 from TIME, Book Riot, and Chicago Review of Books From the critically acclaimed and award-winning author of Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century comes The Valley of Vengeful Ghosts--an eerie, spellbinding novel of grief and guilt, with a razor-sharp eye for the absurdity and melancholy of the internet age. In the aftermath of her mother's death, Eleanor is unmoored. For years, her mother orchestrated every detail of her life--from meals, to laundry, to finances--so that Eleanor could focus on her career as a therapist. Left to navigate the world on her own, Eleanor clings to her mother's final directive: use her inheritance to buy a house. Desperate to obey her mother one last time, but finding few options she can afford, Eleanor impulsively buys a model home in a valley-turned-construction site, a picturesque development steeped in a shadowy history. It feels like a fresh start, until the rain comes--an endless, torrential downpour. As water seeps in through the house's cracks, the line between what is real and what is not begins to blur. Haunted by the stories of her clients, a stream of workmen and bureaucrats she can't trust, and visions of ghosts from her past and present, Eleanor's reality unravels, and she is forced to reckon with the secrets she's buried and the dark choices she's made.
About the Author
About the Author
Kim Fu is the author of two novels, a collection of poetry, and most recently, the story collection Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century, winner of the Washington State Book Award, the Pacific Northwest Book Award, and the Danuta Gleed Literary Award, as well as a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Ignyte Awards, and the Shirley Jackson Awards. Fu lives in Seattle, Washington.
Critical Reviews
Critical Reviews
"Fu is the writer to tell an immersive story grounded in earthly issues and haunted by ghosts."--Book Riot
"A brilliantly written tale of grief, loneliness, and the horrors of real estate...A bold and searing work by a writer working at the top of their game." --Kate Folk, author of Sky Daddy "There's a tingle of Poltergeist déjà vu in Kim Fu's disquieting novel." --TIME
"Home buying as horror story has become a beloved trope . . . Real hauntings, like real life, are never simple. Fu captures that with memorable elegance. Highbrow horror that's still a page-turner." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review "Think Julia Armfield's Private Rights. Think Nicky Gonzalez's Mayra . . . wrapped in ghosts, grief, and the price of wanting more than you're ready to handle." --The Next Best Book Blog "Kim Fu continues to write with sharp genre-bending prose. . . . In Valley of Vengeful Ghosts, Eleanor is haunted less by literal spirits than by the lingering effects of trauma and the very real threat women navigate in a world that wasn't built to protect them." --West Trade Review
"Fu still instills tension with modern fears like home ownership, isolation, climate change, and losing one's parents. It feels like a gothic novel, except the house isn't old and decaying but new and decaying, while the never-ending rain, which is slowly eroding the surrounding landscape, creates an oppressive atmosphere." --Diversity in Horror Fiction
"Fu's titular ghosts, both living and dead, continue to deny Eleanor any semblance of home sweet home. Fu hauntingly, elliptically unravels their vengeful agendas." --Booklist "A haunting tale about a woman cracking under the pressures of everyday life . . . [and] a primer on the horrors of first-time homeownership." --The Driftless Area Review "Eerie psychological horror." --Electric Literature
"Alluring. . . . a vivid portrait of mental fragility in the face of such an overwhelming situation, one that will resonate with any new homeowner." --Publishers Weekly "Riveting. . . . A first-time homeowner is haunted by visions and nightmarish property woes. . . . Surreal and mundane elements spiral into buyer's remorse and emotional rebirth in the gripping novel The Valley of Vengeful Ghosts." --Foreword Reviews "A story addictive enough to devour in one sitting, The Valley of Vengeful Ghosts introduces a world in which quotidian fears bloom luridly into nightmare. Through Eleanor's eyes, twenty-first century terrors are considered in all their varied forms: technological interference, the violence of loneliness, and worst, the kinds of natural and psychological damage we've brought upon ourselves. I looked up from this book and saw everything around me in higher definition." --Lucy Tan, author of What We Were Promised and Tiger's Mouth "Gorgeous and profoundly moving, Kim Fu's The Valley of Vengeful Ghosts lays bare the lonely abyss of grief and all of its disorienting contours. Just when I thought I would drown, she brought me to the surface, gasping for air. An extraordinary and unforgettable novel." --Talia Lakshmi Kolluri, author of What We Fed to the Manticore "This book has all the weirdness, madness, and surreal beauty we've come to expect of Kim Fu's work. Part psychological horror, part existential philosophy, and a whole lot of ghosts--a chilling and pitch perfect experience, I read it in one feverish dream." --Susie Yang, author of White Ivy
"A brilliantly written tale of grief, loneliness, and the horrors of real estate...A bold and searing work by a writer working at the top of their game." --Kate Folk, author of Sky Daddy "There's a tingle of Poltergeist déjà vu in Kim Fu's disquieting novel." --TIME
"Home buying as horror story has become a beloved trope . . . Real hauntings, like real life, are never simple. Fu captures that with memorable elegance. Highbrow horror that's still a page-turner." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review "Think Julia Armfield's Private Rights. Think Nicky Gonzalez's Mayra . . . wrapped in ghosts, grief, and the price of wanting more than you're ready to handle." --The Next Best Book Blog "Kim Fu continues to write with sharp genre-bending prose. . . . In Valley of Vengeful Ghosts, Eleanor is haunted less by literal spirits than by the lingering effects of trauma and the very real threat women navigate in a world that wasn't built to protect them." --West Trade Review
"Fu still instills tension with modern fears like home ownership, isolation, climate change, and losing one's parents. It feels like a gothic novel, except the house isn't old and decaying but new and decaying, while the never-ending rain, which is slowly eroding the surrounding landscape, creates an oppressive atmosphere." --Diversity in Horror Fiction
"Fu's titular ghosts, both living and dead, continue to deny Eleanor any semblance of home sweet home. Fu hauntingly, elliptically unravels their vengeful agendas." --Booklist "A haunting tale about a woman cracking under the pressures of everyday life . . . [and] a primer on the horrors of first-time homeownership." --The Driftless Area Review "Eerie psychological horror." --Electric Literature
"Alluring. . . . a vivid portrait of mental fragility in the face of such an overwhelming situation, one that will resonate with any new homeowner." --Publishers Weekly "Riveting. . . . A first-time homeowner is haunted by visions and nightmarish property woes. . . . Surreal and mundane elements spiral into buyer's remorse and emotional rebirth in the gripping novel The Valley of Vengeful Ghosts." --Foreword Reviews "A story addictive enough to devour in one sitting, The Valley of Vengeful Ghosts introduces a world in which quotidian fears bloom luridly into nightmare. Through Eleanor's eyes, twenty-first century terrors are considered in all their varied forms: technological interference, the violence of loneliness, and worst, the kinds of natural and psychological damage we've brought upon ourselves. I looked up from this book and saw everything around me in higher definition." --Lucy Tan, author of What We Were Promised and Tiger's Mouth "Gorgeous and profoundly moving, Kim Fu's The Valley of Vengeful Ghosts lays bare the lonely abyss of grief and all of its disorienting contours. Just when I thought I would drown, she brought me to the surface, gasping for air. An extraordinary and unforgettable novel." --Talia Lakshmi Kolluri, author of What We Fed to the Manticore "This book has all the weirdness, madness, and surreal beauty we've come to expect of Kim Fu's work. Part psychological horror, part existential philosophy, and a whole lot of ghosts--a chilling and pitch perfect experience, I read it in one feverish dream." --Susie Yang, author of White Ivy
Publishing Information
Publishing Information
Publisher:
Tin House
Pub date:
2026-03-03
Length:
240 pages
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