Kylie Lee Baker’s latest novel, JAPANESE GOTHIC, blends horror, folklore and family drama into a creepy and tense tale of loss, fear, trauma and connection that will stick with readers long after the final page is turned. 

It’s fall 2026, and NYU student Lee Turner has just murdered his roommate. He doesn’t recall much, the why or the how, but he remembers cleaning up and panicking. Now he is in Japan where his father, Jim, and Jim’s girlfriend, Hina, live. Lee has arrived unexpectedly, saying that he needs a break. While Jim seems mildly suspicious, Hina is happy to have him around so she can cook for him, show him the grounds of their house, and even share a ghost story with him.

"The book is bloody, weird and frantic, and the setting lends a gothic vibe.... [T]he narrative is unique and often thrilling, and the prose is both dreamy and gory. Kylie Lee Baker has some surprises in store for hardy readers in JAPANESE GOTHIC."

Lee is paranoid, self-medicated and possibly delusional. But this is nothing new. It has been his constant state since the disappearance of his mother many years ago. Her fate is presumed to have been violent and terrible. Lee has only ever wanted to go back in time to save her and calm her voice in his head that’s pleading, “Let me out, Lee.”

In 1877, the Turner house is inhabited by Sen and her family. They are Samurai, Japanese warriors who wield physical and political power on behalf of the imperial court. But the days of the Samurai are ending with bloodshed. Sen and her family, led by her unpredictable and violent father, have fled to this house to try to avoid execution. Sen, herself trained as a warrior, is now burdened with her father’s demands and protecting her family. 

The house that Lee and Sen are living in is isolated, surrounded by sword ferns, and each family has retreated there to seek solace. However, Lee realizes that the house is not quite right. Soon his ideas are confirmed when a space opens up, allowing him and Sen to bridge the gap of years. It may be that Sen is a ghost, visiting Lee in the here and now. But things are not that simple.

JAPANESE GOTHIC moves between Lee’s story and Sen’s as each struggles with family trauma, secrets, violence and uncertainty. What duty do they owe to their parents? What does the violence they perpetrate mean? Why is the past and present colliding here? How can they understand the past and move forward? Everything becomes stranger and more nightmarish as Lee and Sen continue to question their own existence and the reality of the world around them. Moving across time, their memories and actions take on increasing significance even as the truths they seek remain elusive. 

The book is bloody, weird and frantic, and the setting lends a gothic vibe. Lee is a frightening but pitiable character who clearly cannot trust himself or those around him. Is he insane? Haunted? Both? Sen is a compelling figure --- powerful, proud and protective, but ultimately unable to fight fate and the forces stronger than she is. Both are unmoored and must confront familial pain. 

The concept here is complex and interesting. While sometimes the plot is a bit repetitive and unfocused, the narrative is unique and often thrilling, and the prose is both dreamy and gory. Kylie Lee Baker has some surprises in store for hardy readers in JAPANESE GOTHIC.