Japanese Gothic: The instant Sunday Times bestseller. An all-new haunted house Samurai horror from the bestselling author of Bat Eater!
Kylie Lee Baker
Apr 2026 · Hodder & Stoughton · Narrated by Natalie Naudus
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2 reviews
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10 hr 19 min
Unabridged
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Kylie Lee Baker returns with another addictive, gory, horror PHENOMENON
'A blood-soaked, masterful blend of horror and mystery' GUARDIAN
'Blood-slicked, unsettling and immersive' DAILY MAIL
'A lush, unnerving ghost story' NEW YORK TIMES
'Brilliantly inventive. A must read - I couldn't turn the pages fast enough' MONIKA KIM
'A haunted house horror with a samurai twist' IGN
'Audacious, surreal . . . An exquisite expression of human pain held tight across centuries' LEIGH RADFORD
2026
Lee can't remember exactly where he hid the body, but he can remember the blood. Hiding out at his father's centuries-old home in Japan, Lee knows something is wrong with him, and he knows it has something to do with his mother's disappearance almost a decade ago.
1877
A female samurai, Sen, stalks the borders of her home to protect her family from slaughter after the abolition of the samurai class. She's not sure how they'll ever survive, not without her father, who has returned from war with a different soul behind his eyes.
When Lee and Sen find one another through a door between their worlds, they're both looking for answers. But what they find in the creaking old house they share is beyond what either of them could imagine...
PRAISE FOR THE NEWEST VOICE IN HORROR:
'A profound reminder of the true horrors that lurk in the world' TORI BOVALINO
'A serial killer mystery and a heartbreaking portrayal of grief' KIRSTY LOGAN
'This book dug its claws into me and would not let go' LING LING HUANG
'Body horror and female rage fiction combine in a powerful novel that will leave you quaking' ALMA KATSU
'A poignant, searing portrait of the hostility and violence that plagued pandemic-era NYC' VERONICA G. HENRY
'A blood-soaked, masterful blend of horror and mystery' GUARDIAN
'Blood-slicked, unsettling and immersive' DAILY MAIL
'A lush, unnerving ghost story' NEW YORK TIMES
'Brilliantly inventive. A must read - I couldn't turn the pages fast enough' MONIKA KIM
'A haunted house horror with a samurai twist' IGN
'Audacious, surreal . . . An exquisite expression of human pain held tight across centuries' LEIGH RADFORD
2026
Lee can't remember exactly where he hid the body, but he can remember the blood. Hiding out at his father's centuries-old home in Japan, Lee knows something is wrong with him, and he knows it has something to do with his mother's disappearance almost a decade ago.
1877
A female samurai, Sen, stalks the borders of her home to protect her family from slaughter after the abolition of the samurai class. She's not sure how they'll ever survive, not without her father, who has returned from war with a different soul behind his eyes.
When Lee and Sen find one another through a door between their worlds, they're both looking for answers. But what they find in the creaking old house they share is beyond what either of them could imagine...
PRAISE FOR THE NEWEST VOICE IN HORROR:
'A profound reminder of the true horrors that lurk in the world' TORI BOVALINO
'A serial killer mystery and a heartbreaking portrayal of grief' KIRSTY LOGAN
'This book dug its claws into me and would not let go' LING LING HUANG
'Body horror and female rage fiction combine in a powerful novel that will leave you quaking' ALMA KATSU
'A poignant, searing portrait of the hostility and violence that plagued pandemic-era NYC' VERONICA G. HENRY
Kylie Lee Baker returns with another addictive, gory, horror PHENOMENON
'A blood-soaked, masterful blend of horror and mystery' GUARDIAN
'Blood-slicked, unsettling and immersive' DAILY MAIL
'A lush, unnerving ghost story' NEW YORK TIMES
'Brilliantly inventive. A must read - I couldn't turn the pa...
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Ratings and reviews
2 reviews
David McComb
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September 12, 2026
Although I somewhat enjoyed this book, I still can only award it 3 stars. It was certainly more lengthy than it had to be. This was due to the constant repetition of some of the main motifs of the story ... over & over. OK! We get it! đ The overuse of the word "salt" or "salty" pertaining to "blood" was prevelant as was the number of times that someone's shadow loomed over someone else. What sort of relevant positions were these people getting into? Quite entertaining but it is never going to be considered a classic.
About the author
Kylie Lee Baker is the Sunday Times bestselling author of adult horror novels Bat Eater and Japanese Gothic, and YA novels The Keeper of Night duology and The Scarlet Alchemist duology. She grew up in Boston, but lived in Atlanta, Salamanca and Seoul before returning to Massachusetts. Her work is informed by her heritage (Chinese, Japanese and Irish) as well as her experiences living abroad as both a student and teacher. She has a BA in Creative Writing and Spanish from Emory University and an MS in Library and Information Science from Simmons University. In her free time, she plays the cello, watches horror movies and bakes too many cookies.
Kylie Lee Baker is the Sunday Times bestselling author of adult horror novels Bat Eater and Japanese Gothic, and YA novels The Keeper of Night duology and The Scarlet Alchemist duology. She grew up in Boston, but lived in Atlanta, Salamanca and Seoul before returning to Massachusetts. Her work is...
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