Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker: A haunting premise that never quite sinks its teeth in

The promise of Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker is immediate and irresistible: a blood-soaked, myth-laced horror novel where two lives—separated by centuries—intersect through a house that shouldn’t exist.

Set across two timelines, the novel follows Lee Turner in 2026, fleeing to his father’s secluded home in Japan after a brutal, inexplicable act of violence, and Sen, a young samurai in 1877 living in fear of both imperial soldiers and something far worse within her own home. The house behind the sword ferns becomes the connective thread between them—a place where reality bends, ghosts linger, and something buried refuses to stay that way.

Despite the title, though, this isn’t quite the gothic experience I expected. Going in, I anticipated the kind of creeping dread that lingers long after you’ve put the book down—the kind that makes you think twice about turning off the lights. Instead, the horror here leans heavily into blood and gore, but never quite lands with emotional or psychological weight. There’s a noticeable fairy tale quality to the storytelling that creates distance rather than immersion. It’s vivid, yes—but it rarely feels real enough to truly unsettle.

That said, the novel is undeniably engaging. For the first 90%, I was completely pulled in. Baker does an excellent job weaving together Lee and Sen’s narratives, and both characters are compelling in their own right. What stood out most to me was the shared thread in their stories: complicated, often fraught relationships with their fathers. That emotional core gives the book more substance than the horror elements alone, grounding the narrative even when the supernatural aspects feel a bit untethered.

Where the novel ultimately faltered for me was in its ending. As the story builds toward its conclusion, it becomes increasingly unclear what’s real, what isn’t, and—more importantly—why it matters. The framing device involving the sea princess feels disconnected for most of the book, only to reappear at the end as a kind of catch-all explanation. Rather than feeling like a satisfying reveal, it came across as a convenient way to tie up loose ends, leaving me more confused than haunted.

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Up until that point, this was a solid four-star read for me. The pacing, atmosphere, and character work carried it easily. But the ending knocked it down to a three. It’s a novel with a fascinating premise and plenty of momentum, even if it doesn’t fully deliver on the gothic horror it promises.

If you’re drawn to Japanese mythology, dual timelines, and eerie, visually rich storytelling, Japanese Gothic is still well worth picking up—just don’t go in expecting to lose sleep over it.

What do you think—does a strong ending make or break a book for you?

Japanese Gothic releases April 14, 2026. An advance reader copy of this book (ARC) was provided to me by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Related Content

• Q&A: Kylie Lee Baker, author of The Keeper of Night (The Nerd Daily)
• Exclusive author interview: The Scarlet Alchemist by Kylie Lee Baker (The Fiction Magnet)
• Interview with bestselling author Kylie Lee Baker (Scholar Blogs – Emory)
• LJ talks with Kylie Lee Baker, author of Japanese Gothic (Library Journal)

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