Japanese Gothic, Kylie Lee Baker
Japanese Gothic, Kylie Lee Baker
List: $28.99 | Sale: $20.29
Club: $14.49

Japanese Gothic

Author: Kylie Lee Baker

Narrator: Kylie Lee Baker

Unabridged: 10 hr 19 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/14/2026


Synopsis

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.

For readers who love:Grady Hendrix and Stephen KingJapanese mythologyFriendship and family themesTerrifying, gory storiesHorror with heartA new take on the classic haunted house trope

About Kylie Lee Baker

Kylie Lee Baker is the author of young adult andadult novels. Her writing is informed by her heritage (Japanese, Chinese, andIrish) and her experiences living abroad. She has a B.A. in CreativeWriting and Spanish and an M.S. in Library and Information Science. Visit heronline at www.kylieleebaker.com.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Nilufer on March 26, 2026

A mind-exploding, bone-shivering gothic nightmare wrapped in Japanese mythology, samurai legacy, and time-bending terror — this book is an exquisitely strange, intoxicating, and utterly original experience. It’s the kind of story that freezes your blood like black ice while melting your last remaini......more

Goodreads review by DianaRose on March 25, 2026

firstly, thank you to the publisher for an arc and an alc! tw: domestic violence whewwww, i am completely blown away by japanese gothic, and honestly, i can’t say much in my review without spoiling the book because it took me up until the very end to fully understand the plot baker crafted. like, i th......more

Goodreads review by Mai on March 27, 2026

East Asian horror > East Asian fantasy 🕷️🔪⛓️🖤🥀🩸 BAT EATER was one of my fav ARCs of all time. This is a story told in four parts: 1) The Door, 2) The Sword, 3) The Turtle, and 4) The Beginning. I was a tad bit worried when we started off with white boy Lee having green eyes, but it all went uphill from......more

Goodreads review by jenny reads a lot on March 29, 2026

Another adult horror from the Queen! I need this! | IG | TikTok | Thank you to the publisher for the gifted book. All opinions are my own.......more

Goodreads review by Becky on January 28, 2026

Starred review in the January 2026 issue Library Journal Interview with the author in the same issue here: [URL not allowed] Three Words That Describe This Book: two time frames, dreamlike/nightmarish, strong sense of place Draft Review: Baker’s second adult (Bat Eater and Other......more