Stormraven - by Kelsea Yu (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Mexican Gothic meets Get Out with this Rebecca-inspired gothic horror rooted in Chinese American history, as a gifted artist uncovers a haunted mansion's chilling secrets that threaten to make her dream life a living nightmare.

Mixed media fine art photographer Lydia Chen dreams of gaining fame and fortune, even as she's forced to do odd jobs to pay the bills--like running a gothic portrait photo booth for Seattle's elite during a lavish charity event. But fate intervenes when she wins the event raffle for a once-in-a-lifetime retreat to Stormraven, a 19th-century estate owned by the Vandermeer family on a private island off Washington's coast. There, she meets Henry Vandermeer, the enigmatic young scion of his clan. Charmed by Henry and drawn to his beautiful estate, Lydia joins his mysterious family and moves into Stormraven.

With her sudden change in fortune, Lydia leaves behind the daily grind to chase her artistic aspirations, settling into seemingly idyllic surroundings. But with each passing day, ominous nightmares come to the fore, as Lydia catches glimpses throughout the property of a ghostly woman who eerily resembles herself. The more she investigates the mansion's chilling secrets, the more she feels her sanity slipping under the weight of its emerging terrors. For Lydia soon discovers she is not the first to be trapped in Stormraven's hallowed halls--and if she fails to unearth its rotten truth, her new home may soon become her eternal prison....

About the Author

Kelsea Yu is the Taiwanese Chinese American author of the 2022 Shirley Jackson Award-nominated novella, Bound Feet, the 2025 Children's Book Council Award-winning novel, It's Only a Game, and the novella, Demon Song. Dozens of her short stories and essays are published in magazines and podcasts such as Clarkesworld, Apex, Nightmare, PseudoPod, and Fantasy, and in award-winning horror anthologies such as Aseptic and Faintly Sadistic, Classic Monsters Unleashed, and Death in the Mouth. Kelsea lives with her husband, children, and a pile of art supplies in the Pacific Northwest. Find her on Instagram as @ANovelEscape or visit her website KelseaYu.com.