Kelsea Yu
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anovelescape.bsky.social
Kelsea Yu
@anovelescape.bsky.social
2.7K followers 620 following 320 posts
Shirley Jackon Award-nominated author:
🍃BOUND FEET (CGM)
🎮IT'S ONLY A GAME (Bloomsbury)
🎭DEMON SONG (Titan)
🌊STORMRAVEN (Gallery/Titan, 2026)
🖤stories/essays in Clarkesworld, Apex, Nightmare, PseudoPod +

she/her
www.kelseayu.com
Posts Replies Media Videos
anovelescape.bsky.social
Thank you to Iris Lei for the stunning cover!! I'm absolutely obsessed! 😍

Links & more info: www.kelseayu.com/ye-xian
🎧🦊🍜💖
Cover for Ye Xian and the Celestial Feast by Kelsea Yu with art by Iris Lei. Features a fox, fox mask, gold trinkets, Chinese feast foods, a palace, and a Chinese girl with long hair holding a fox mask.
November 4, 2025 at 5:32 PM
anovelescape.bsky.social
YE XIAN AND THE CELESTIAL FEAST
📜 Chinese folklore
🥢 royal banquet
🐲 dragons & princes
🎭 masquerade ball
🦊 fox spirits
🎧 award-winning narrator @natalienaudus.bsky.social
⌛ quick read
👗 Cinderella retelling

Romantic fantasy tale written by me, produced by @spotifyforauthors.bsky.social! 💖
Trope graphic for Ye Xian and the Celestial Feast by Kelsea Yu: Chinese folklore, royal banquet, dragons & princes, masquerade ball, fox spirits, award-winning narrator, quick read!, Cinderella retelling
November 4, 2025 at 5:30 PM
anovelescape.bsky.social
“Were she any other girl, Ye Xian might have died of her stepmother’s treatment. But she had a secret, passed down from her mother’s line; one which she guarded closely.
Ye Xian was a húli jīng.”
- YE XIAN AND THE CELESTIAL FEAST by Kelsea Yu

More info: www.kelseayu.com/ye-xian

🎧🦊🍜💖
Quote graphic from Ye Xian and the Celestial Feast by Kelsea Yu: “Were she any other girl, Ye Xian might have died of her stepmother’s treatment. But she had a secret, passed down from her mother’s line; one which she guarded closely. Ye Xian was a húli jīng.”
November 4, 2025 at 5:26 PM
anovelescape.bsky.social
✨NEW RELEASE!!!✨
It’s pub day for my fox spirit Chinese Cinderella romantic fantasy folklore tale, YE XIAN AND THE CELESTIAL FEAST! 🥳🎧🦊🍜💖

Listen for free via Spotify Premium, purchase from Libro.FM, Audible, or your fave audiobook retailer, or request from your local library!!! 🎧🦊🍜💖
Photograph of Chinese American woman looking up to the side at a superimposed image of the cover for Ye Xian and the Celestial Feast.
November 4, 2025 at 5:25 PM
anovelescape.bsky.social
DEMON SONG is out in the world today!! Thank you to everyone who preordered, blurbed, reviewed, library requested, shared, beta read, recommended, or otherwise supported this release!! With help from all of you, I get to continue in my dream career! 🥰

Available now in hardcover, ebook, & audio!! 🥳🥳
Photograph of a smiling Chinese American woman in a skull crown holding a copy of Demon Song by Kelsea Yu
September 30, 2025 at 2:44 PM
anovelescape.bsky.social
Thank you to the incredible @aijiang.bsky.social for this stunning blurb! 🥰😭🖤🫶

DEMON SONG comes out TOMORROW in hardcover, ebook, and audio, wherever books are sold!! 😱😱😱

@titanbooks.bsky.social 🖤
Blurb tile for DEMON SONG which reads as follows: “Demon Song is a fast-paced exploration of the power of performance and the cost of desire by the queen of thrilling murder mysteries, twisty red herrings, and complex mother-daughter relationships.” —Ai Jiang, Ignyte, Bram Stoker, and Nebula Award-winning author of Linghun and A Palace Near the Wind
September 29, 2025 at 10:57 PM
anovelescape.bsky.social
Thank you @michaelwehunt.bsky.social for the kind words about DEMON SONG! 🥰🖤

Michael’s debut novel, The October Film Haunt, also comes out next Tuesday, so be sure to check both books out! 🖤🖤
Blurb time for Demon Song by Kelsea Yu which reads as follows: “Demon Song spreads its lovely darkness through the eerie passageways of an aged Beijing opera house, the perfect setting for its many charms: The horror rises like an aria, the evil is enchanting behind its mask, and Kelsea Yu’s haunting prose moves like music to its skin-crawling conclusion. If House of Leaves absorbed the best of 1960s Asian horror films and classic weird fiction into its hallways, this poisonous novella could be the marrow of such a strange architecture.” —Michael Wehunt, author of The October Film Haunt and Greener Pastures
September 25, 2025 at 9:11 PM
anovelescape.bsky.social
Thank you @publisherswkly.bsky.social for this lovely review! 🥰 8 days ‘til DEMON SONG is out!

“Fans of updated gothic horror will find much to enjoy in this gritty take on the sacrifices artists are willing to make for fame and fortune. Yu’s off to a promising start.”

Full review on PW’s website!
September 22, 2025 at 3:04 PM
anovelescape.bsky.social
“A haunting story that’ll please fans of Black Swan and Suspiria, but with a distinctly Chinese folklore hue. It dances right up to phantasmagoric while still commanding a captive audience.”

Thank you for the lovely blurb, @mattblairstone.bsky.social! 🖤

DEMON SONG: 9/30, @titanbooks.bsky.social 👀
Blurb graphic with the following text beside a cover of Demon Song by Kelsea Yu: “A haunting story that’ll please fans of Black Swan and Suspiria, but with a distinctly Chinese folklore hue. It dances right up to phantasmagoric while still commanding a captive audience.” —Matt Blairstone, Shirley Jackson Award-nominated Publisher at Tenebrous Press
September 19, 2025 at 4:21 PM
anovelescape.bsky.social
“Featuring a historic tale which blends seamlessly into the contemporary narrative like a traditional zhiguai, Yu’s white bone spirit beguiles and terrifies.”

Thank you @leemurraywriter.bsky.social for your lovely blurb of DEMON SONG!! 🥰🖤

Out in 13 days from @titanbooks.bsky.social!! 🎭🎶🕯️💀
September 17, 2025 at 9:05 PM
anovelescape.bsky.social
Stunning DEMON SONG artwork by @miavern.bsky.social & Isa Agajanian! 😍
Graphic for Demon Song pre-order campaign item: Artwork by Mia Minnis, inspired by Demon Song by Kelsea Yu. Featuring a teen girl walking toward an ornate mirror in a Chinese opera house. From the mirror, the white bone demon from Chinese mythology reaches out a hand to the girl. The scene is reminiscent of Phantom of the Opera. Text at the bottom reads: free print w/ pre-order from participating bookstores. More info: www.kelseayu.com. Graphic for Demon Song pre-order campaign item: Artwork by Isa Agajanian, inspired by Demon Song by Kelsea Yu. Featuring a Chinese American teen girl looking up. The white bone demon from Chinese mythology stands behind her, reaching into her chest to pull out her heart. Background is red. Text at the bottom reads: free print w/ pre-order from participating bookstores. More info: www.kelseayu.com.
September 16, 2025 at 3:37 PM
anovelescape.bsky.social
ICYMI, you can get a set of bonus goodies (both art prints below + bookmark + signed bookplate) when you preorder DEMON SONG through participating bookstores!!

All pre-order links on my website: kelseayu.com

Out 9/30 from @titanbooks.bsky.social - you won't have to wait long for your order!
Graphic for demon song preorder campaign showing participating bookstores: Always Here, Mysterious Galaxy, Nowhere Galaxy, Brave + Kind, Under the Umbrella, Ballast Book Company, The Book Bin, Forbidden Planet
September 16, 2025 at 3:32 PM
anovelescape.bsky.social
Come celebrate @catherineyuwrites.bsky.social’s THE DEVIL’S IN THE DANCERS virtually with me, @peculiaritea.bsky.social, & Pintip Dunn via a YA horror panel hosted by Underbrush Books!

Tomorrow (Thurs) @ 6:30pm CST! Sign up for free at the link: www.eventbrite.com/e/teen-horro...
September 10, 2025 at 5:03 PM
anovelescape.bsky.social
"Demon Song reaches such a high note, a blissful blend of Chinese folklore & Shirley Jackson, reading like The Haunting of Hill's Opera House, where phantoms flit on pitches no living organism can continue to read sanely."

Thanks for the amazing blurb, @claymcleod.bsky.social! DEMON SONG, out 9/30!
September 4, 2025 at 2:58 PM
anovelescape.bsky.social
It's that time again 👀 Get 25% off your B&N preorder w/ "PREORDER25"! Sale through Friday.

DEMON SONG (out 9/30/25): www.barnesandnoble.com/w/demon-song...

STORMRAVEN (out 6/30/26): www.barnesandnoble.com/w/stormraven...

Demon Song is out in less than a month, so you'll get your preorders soon! 🖤
Graphic for Barnes & Noble Preorder sale showing images of two books: Demon Song by Kelsea Yu and Stormraven by Kelsea Yu and "use PREORDER25 for 25% off." Below Demon Song it says: Phantom of the Opera x The Haunting of Hill House in a Beijing opera house w/ Chinese demon mythology. Below Stomraven it says: Rebecca x Get Out in a haunted PNW private island mansion w/ suppressed Chinese American history.
September 3, 2025 at 3:39 PM
anovelescape.bsky.social
If you're new to BOUND FEET, it's my twisty haunted Chinese garden & ghost museum grief horror novella feat mom BFFs who break into a garden overnight to perform a ghost day ritual honoring their passed children…& accidentally summon something ancient. Shirley Jackson Award finalist w/ 4.4🌟 on GR!
Trope graphic for Bound Feet by Kelsea Yu with arrows to the following: Chinese ghost folklore, Shirley Jackson Award finalist, best friends break in together, haunted Chinese garden, secrets & twists, 4.4 stars on Goodreads, ghost museum, grief horror, Chinese food, Hungry Ghost moon ritual
September 2, 2025 at 3:26 PM
anovelescape.bsky.social
Exciting news 👀 BOUND FEET is now available as an audiobook produced by Spotify & narrated by the incomparable @natalienaudus.bsky.social! Thank you to my amazing agent @jenazantian.bsky.social for negotiating the deal 🫶

Available everywhere audiobooks are sold (or listen free via Spotify Premium)!
Audiobook cover for Bound Feet by Kelsea Yu on a dark Chinese garden background. Above reads "Available Now!" and below it reads "available everywhere audiobooks are sold or listen free with spotify premium"
September 2, 2025 at 3:26 PM
anovelescape.bsky.social
"An appetizingly dark Gothic served dripping in mood and laced with Chinese mythology. Yu's love of theatre sings throughout this musical nightmare."

Thank you @edenroyce.bsky.social for this lovely blurb of Demon Song! 🥰🖤

Out Sep 30, @titanbooks.bsky.social!
August 25, 2025 at 8:36 PM
anovelescape.bsky.social
Ready for WorldCon day 1!! If you see me come say hi!! 🫶
Photograph of a Chinese American woman in a skull headband, cat shirt, and green pants
August 13, 2025 at 4:30 PM
anovelescape.bsky.social
Been working on some fun lil things to give out at WorldCon—if you’re going, come find me! I’d love to say hi and give you an envelope of booooookish goooooodies 👻🖤👋
Photograph of black envelopes lined up on a table decorated with ghosts and speech bubbles that say “booookish goooodies from Kelsea Yuuuuuu” Open envelope showing a sneak peek of several items: art print, postcard, bookplate, bookmark, on a table surrounded by art supplies
August 10, 2025 at 6:45 PM
anovelescape.bsky.social
“Characters to sink into & a gorgeous setting, this modern Gothic fantasy touched on the soul of so many of my favourite classics, but stands unique through the mesmerizing use of folklore & excellent unfolding of mystery right up to the end.”

Thank you @alexwoodroe.com for blurbing DEMON SONG! 🖤🥰🎶
August 8, 2025 at 3:27 PM
anovelescape.bsky.social
Thank you for the lovely blurb of DEMON SONG, @unheimlichmanvr.bsky.social!

“Yu's uncanny debut deals concisely w/ friendship, domestic violence, & her protagonist's budding (demi)sexuality, w/o ever losing the unearthly touch of the ancient world behind the curtain.”

9/30, @titanbooks.bsky.social
Blurb tile that reads: “Demon Song is a Phantom of the Opera for the decaying and mysterious Beijing Opera House, with Megan—displaced from her Portland home, and wary about her new living situation—caught in its glamorous web. Yu's uncanny debut deals concisely with friendship, domestic violence, and her protagonist's budding (demi)sexuality, without ever losing the unearthly touch of the ancient world behind the curtain. Ally Wilkes, Bram Stoker Award-nominated Author of All the White Spaces”
August 1, 2025 at 7:36 PM
anovelescape.bsky.social
DEMON SONG is on Netgalley! 🥳

🎭haunted Beijing opera house
🎭decades-old secrets
🎭modern gothic horror
🎭inspired by Phantom of the Opera
🎭Chinese mythology
🎭novella: quick read!
🎭complicated mother-daughter relationships
🎭demi MC

www.netgalley.com/catalog/book...
www.netgalley.co.uk/catalog/book...
Graphic that says “available now on Netgalley, Titan Books” alongside the cover of Demon Song by Kelsea Yu
July 14, 2025 at 3:57 PM
anovelescape.bsky.social
Excited to reveal this lovely blurb for DEMON SONG from the queen of horror, @haileypiperfights.bsky.social!!! Thank you Hailey!! 🖤

DEMON SONG is out Sep 30 from @titanbooks.bsky.social! In the meantime you can:
🎭preorder
🎭add to Goodreads TBR
🎭add to Storygraph TBR
🎭learn more at www.kelseayu.com
June 27, 2025 at 1:23 AM
anovelescape.bsky.social
And here’s a fun aesthetic/preview I made for STORMRAVEN! 🖤🗝️🕯️💀
Graphic showing an open sketchbook page featuring an aesthetic for Stormraven by Kelsea Yu: a red and black photo of a gothic mansion, a dark-haired woman dressed in white looking to one side, a skull, a black chandelier, and two quotes. The first reads: “In those pitch-dark moments of disorientation, I think I’ve awoken in Stormraven Manor once again, and a familiar chill shivers through every bone in my body.” The second reads: “To sleep is to dream of Stormraven.”
June 18, 2025 at 4:46 PM