DEMON SONG

Kelsea’s second horror novella will be published by Titan Books in September 2025! Learn more about the book, read the article on The Bookseller, or add it on Goodreads!

An eerie and unsettling gothic horror about the heady and hungry price of fame, drawing on Chinese mythology. Perfect for fans of Shirley Jackson and Cassandra Khaw.

Places like this have a history. Desires. And this one is famished.

Megan and her mom are on the run after narrowly escaping the clutches of an abusive man who dragged them from Portland to Beijing. With few options, Megan’s mom turns to an old friend who offers them room and board in Huihuang Opera Theater in exchange for cleaning the ancient building.

Between her rusty Mandarin and constant reminders that she’s an outsider, Megan struggles with loneliness—until she meets Kristy, the glamorous young lead in the operatic adaptation of “The Monkey King and the White Bone Demon”. Soon, Megan’s free time is split between reading a battered copy of the Chinese classic that inspired the opera and her budding new friendship; Kristy’s love of singing brings out Megan’s long-buried ambitions.

But the opera house has its secrets. There are passages within the walls that shouldn’t be there, and the more Megan delves into that old book, the more the myths begin to bleed into real life. As Megan finds it increasingly difficult to separate reality from folklore, she must uncover a decades-old mystery to discover the true, horrifying secret of the opera house before it casts its hungry eyes on her.

 
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IT’S ONLY A GAME

Kelsea’s debut novel, a young adult thriller published through Bloomsbury, is AVAILABLE NOW!! Learn more about the book here or see below for links to order the book and add it on Goodreads!

In this twisty, fast-paced YA thriller, a dangerous game becomes all too real when Marina and her friends are framed for murder.

When Marina Chan ran from her old life, she brought nothing with her-not even her real name. Now she lives in fear of her past being discovered. But when her online gaming team is offered a tour of their favorite game company, Marina can't resist accepting, even though she knows it might put her fake identity at risk.

Then the creator of the game is murdered during their tour. The killer plans to frame Marina and her friends for the murder unless they win four rounds of a dangerous game. A game that requires them to lie, trespass, and steal. A game that could destroy everything Marina's worked so hard to build…. A game that she might not survive.

This pulse-pounding YA thriller is perfect for fans of A Good Girl's Guide to Murder and Slay.

 
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Praise for It's Only a Game header on red watercolor background
 

"A twisty, heart-pounding story of betrayal, buried secrets and a hidden past unraveling as a high-stakes and deadly game seeps into reality. Kelsea Yu deftly weaves in the exploration of found family, love, and the Asian diaspora experience between layers of action, suspense, and revelations in this propulsive thriller.”

—Amélie Wen Zhao, New York Times bestselling author of the Song of the Last Kingdom duology

“Kelsea Yu's gripping debut combines pulse-pounding, life or death stakes with fully-realized characters, an immersive setting, and the sweet, life-sustaining bonds of found family. Not to be missed!”

—Kit Frick, author of I Killed Zoe Spanos and The Reunion

“Yu anchors this whirlwind debut with a smart, courageous, loyal, and caring heroine who easily earns the trust of friends and readers alike.”

—Publisher’s Weekly

“More than a by-the-numbers thriller, this layered debut has propulsive momentum with effective cliffhangers and twists threaded throughout.”

—Kirkus Reviews

“Flashbacks from Marina's secluded past with her mother provide clues to the present situation, although any such clues are no match in complexity for Yu's plot twists and turns.”

—Booklist

“A page-turning thrill ride…Verdict: Unputdownable.”

—School Library Journal

BOUND FEET

Kelsea’s Shirley Jackson Award-Nominated novella is published as part of Sadie Hartmann’s My Dark Library series through Cemetery Gates Media. AVAILABLE NOW!! Learn more about the book here or or see below for links to order the book and add it on Goodreads!

On the night of the Hungry Ghost Moon, when spirits can briefly return to the living world, Jodi Wu and her best friend sneak into Portland’s Chinese Garden and Ghost Museum. Kneeling before the pond where Jodi’s toddler drowned one year before, they leave food offerings and burn joss paper—and Jodi prays that Ella’s ghost will return for the night.

To distract Jodi from her grief, the two friends tell each other ghost stories as they explore the museum. They stop at the main display, a centuries-old pair of lotus slippers belonging to a woman whose toes were broken and bound during childhood. While reading the woman’s story, Jodi hears her daughter’s voice.

As Jodi desperately searches the garden, it becomes apparent that Ella isn’t the only ghost they’ve awakened. Something ancient with a slow, shuffling step lurks in the shadows…

This haunting, modern gothic novella is perfect for fans of Nothing But Blackened Teeth and Crossroads.

 
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Praise for Bound Feet header on yellow watercolor background
 

“Kelsea Yu’s Bound Feet about a mother’s fearlessness, where she reaches into darkness in hopes of grasping light, is a novella carefully plotted and executed without losing realism, heart, or voice of the story. Yu juxtaposes the ancient with the modern, an eerie and jarring inter-section of the past and present that makes everything more uncanny. Yu shows us how loss, grief, and the act of mourning might change you and drive you, taking your mind and body to places you would overwise refuse to enter. A beautiful piece about haunting ghosts who only want their stories told, rather than hidden away, un-finished, untruthful—of friendship, betrayal, lies, and a sisterhood between the living and the dead.”

—Ai Jiang, author of Linghun

“Utilizing graceful twists and turns, Bound Feet tackles grief and rage passed down through generations. Yu reminds us that the need for not only justice but truth outlives the body.”

—J.A.W. McCarthy, author of Sometimes We’re Cruel and Other Stories

“Haunted by the specters of unimaginable loss, Kelsea Yu’s Bound Feet unearths the ways in which past and present can be bound together by the hungry ghosts of violence and betrayal. A story that demands to be heard in more ways than one, the rich reversals and revelations will keep readers on their toes until the very end of this exciting debut.”

—Gordon B. White, author of As Summer’s Mask Slips and Rookfield

ABOUT KELSEA

Kelsea Yu is the author of Bound Feet, It’s Only a Game, Demon Song, and nearly two dozen short stories and essays. Full bio here or press kit below.

Photo ©Katy Weaver

NEW ON THE BLOG!

SHORT STORIES

Kelsea has short stories published or forthcoming in various anthologies and magazines.

NONFICTION

Kelsea has nonfiction pieces forthcoming or published in various magazines and newsletters.

Follow @anovelescape for A peek into Kelsea’s world…

Six months to DEMON SONG! My horror novella about a girl with long-buried singing ambitions who moves into a haunted Chinese opera house and stumbles into a decades-old mystery comes out September 30, 2025, from @titanbooks! It’s on Goodreads
❓Have you been on a writing or reading retreat? My husband and I went on one earlier this month! His work is remote, I can write anywhere, and we’re fortunate enough to have family nearby. So, we picked a beach town, snagged a nice room at an
It’s Women in Horror month, so I figured I’d pop in for a little reintroduction! I’m Kelsea Yu, author of (mostly) dark fiction! I live in Portland, OR, with my husband and two young kids. Five years ago, I started reading and writ
Earlier this week, I shared about “In Our Skin,” my sci-fi horror short story published in this month’s issue of Nightmare Magazine. There’s an interview accompanying it on the site as well. I want to be cool about it, drop a
✨FREE GOODIES!!✨ Hey friends! To celebrate six months of IT’S ONLY A GAME being out in the world, I commissioned these gorgeous, double-sided quote bookmarks from the brilliant @melodythio! I’d love to send one your way—along with
Thinking of making headbands again 👀👀👀 ❓Do you have a creative outlet you enjoy? For those newer to my page, I used to do all sorts of crafts like these. This photo is from a month before my first daughter was born—most of these were gifts

Feel free to reach out to Kelsea through the contact page.