Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker

For Kylie Lee Baker’s second Adult Horror novel she didn’t disappoint. Baker is one of few authors I can say I was there at the start (of her Adult Fiction Career) but it was actually by accident. I was at Barnes & Noble looking at the New and Noteworthy section and saw her first adult novel Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng. This one grabbed me by the title because I love Bats but I had no idea what the name ment. I read the synopsis on the dust jacket and absolutely love a good ghost story so I bought it knowing nothing else about it. I loved that book and have been so excited about this one since it was first announced.

As I have mentioned a few times in previous posts, April and May were just crazy months for me. I have not had time to do any of the fun reviews I wanted. I have so many started drafts it’s crazy. This is one that has been sitting forever considering I finished this book May 25. I actually read this very quickly because I waited to start this boon until after May 1, so I could read it for the Asian Pacific Heritage Month achievement on Goodreads for the Spring reading challenge. Since I finished this book I have not been able to stop thinking about it and already want to do a re-read.

This book is like a horror version of the movie The Lake House with Keanu Reeves and Sandras Bullock. However, there isn’t a love story in Japanese Gothic. The main characters Lee and Sen are separated by centuries but brought together by the same house. Lee lives in present day and is fleeing his college dorm because he can’t remember how or why he killed is roommate but needs to get out of New York and heads to his father’s house in Japan hidden behind the sword ferns. Sen lives in 1877 as a young Samurai hiding from imperial solders in the same house behind the sword ferns. Her father returned from war when he should have died to honor the samurai. What came back may look like Sen’s father, but a monster lurkes behind those eyes.

There is something wrong with this house and that sets up this incredible ghost story atmosphere. No animals will come near the house and the quiet can be unsettling and the bedroom window isn’t always a window. Lee and Sen’s world begins to blur when Lee sees a woman with a sword in the yard outside the bedroom window. One of these people is a ghost but which one? Depends on which timeline you want to believe in, there are reasons to question the validity of both.

Kylie Lee Baker is absolutely a master at character creation. Lee and Sen are so real and well developed that I was drawn into this book from the very beginning. The blurring/melding of present and past is both beautifuly done and eerie at the same time. Lee has a past that is haunting him about what he did to his roommate that he is desperately trying to figure out to determine if he is going to be caught or not. Sen knows her father is not the same but still obsessed with his approval that she will do anything for him even if it mean turnning on the rest of her family. The ever popular descriptor “Hauntingly Beautiful” is absolutely perfect for this book. I really couldn’t put this down.

I was very fortunate that our local Indie Bookstore, Main Street Books, sponsored a signing event at the library for Japanese Gothic. I was already a fan so I bought my hardcover copy and the paperback version of Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng through Main Street Books for pick up at the event. I dragged my wife with me bcause I am anti social with sever social anxiety and I need my support wife when I go out in public. Ok, so I just like to spend time with my wife. After listening to Klyie Lee Baker talk wife ended up really liking her as a person added sexual books to her TBR list and then she read both of Bakers books back to back.

I was already a fan of Kylie Lee Baker’s but after meeting her and listening to her talk about her process, and the insights to Japanese Gothic, I am even more a fan of hers if that makes sense. She is such a genuinely nice and kind human who is crazy talented and absolutely become one of my favorite authors of all time. I can’t wait for her next book, Hell to Pay, coming out March 2027. Japanese Gothic is without a doubt a 🥃🥃🥃🥃🥃 read and probably one of my favorites for 2026 so far. I might even give her YA series a read just to tide me over till Hell to Pay in March. I cannot recommend this book enough and not only did I make my wife a fan, but she has since lent out our copies to her Best friend and her Mom. The paperback version releases March 9, 2027 and you can pre-order your copy HERE.