2 Haunting Gothic Fiction Stories Perfect for the Season

by MK French

The countdown to Halloween has begun. What is better than a haunting, gothic novel? I have two novels that would be a great addition to your Halloween reading list.

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Demon Song by Kelsea Yu

September 2025; Titan Books; 978-1835410394
audio, ebook, print (176 pages); gothic horror

Megan and her mother were dragged from Portland to Beijing, and have now escaped their captor. They don't have many options, and accept room and board at the Huihuang Opera Theater in exchange for cleaning the ancient building. Megan's Mandarin isn't good, and she has constant reminders that she’s an outsider. Kristy is the glamorous young lead and offers Megan friendship as well as a copy of the book that inspired the opera she stars in. The opera house has secret passages within the walls, and myths from the book 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.

The story of the Monkey King is a famous one and is often retold in various ways.  (Ever see Dragon Ball? No, really, it's heavily influenced by these stories.) Chinese opera is an old and storied tradition of its own. Megan, brought all over and to different places because of her mother's abusive boyfriends, feels out of sorts because she isn't as fluent in Mandarin and doesn't know all the stories. As she learns the Monkey King's story from the perspective of the demon, she has dreams about the missing opera star who once performed there. With secret passages and other missing performances, Megan had stumbled upon a ghost story. 

This novella has a gothic atmosphere, an almost claustrophobic sense of being in passages behind mirrors and a darkened auditorium. The eerie feelings are mostly from the dreams and how much Megan's mother deflects from unpleasant truths. Then it takes on a sinister cast, and the final quarter of the book brings on the chills. I loved it, and the sense of being there with Megan in the opera house. 

Buy Demon Song at Amazon

The Hong Kong Widow by Kristen Loesch

October 2025; Berkley; 978-0593548011
audio, ebook, print (368 pages); gothic fiction

In 1953, Hong Kong, witnesses insist that a massacre took place, even if police found no evidence of it. Decades later, there was evidence of blood everywhere, and at the time, Maidenhair House was the site of a competition between six mediums. Over six nights, they conducted séances, and the winner would get a fortune. Mei is a refugee from the Chinese Communist Revolution, and only agreed to go because the hostess is the wife of the man who ruined her life. The events of that night in Maidenhair House are now an urban legend, but now Mei must uncover the truth about the house and her final night in it.

The story is told in three time periods: the 1930s, when Mei is a young child, 1953, leading up to the séances, and then 2015, when Mei and her daughter Susana go to investigate Maidenhair House because an anonymous letter accused Mei of murder. The three threads are interwoven, with the parts labeled, and the separate sections of the book are labeled to make you feel like it's mixed up and out of order. The truth is revealed slowly, drawing you in and making you wonder from the start what happened, and more importantly, why.

The story involves ghosts, internal and external. Mei sees ghosts and can speak with them, some using up their energy to look as real as people. It's a trait her mother had, and why she was invited to Maidenhair House. War had hit Shanghai hard, with the Japanese imperial army trying to take over the city and China, then World War II. Refugees are present in the city, and Mei eventually becomes one herself. The loss and grief become ghosts as well, and Mei communicates with them through drawing or possession. Makes her raise her daughter with no sense of heritage or the past, but that leaves its own kind of emptiness and grief. Of course, Susana doesn't know how to deal with grief, thinking chasing down a ghost story will help. We see the layers of Mei's past, and it all weaves together at the end. This allows them to move forward, embracing the gift of Sight as well as family.  I adored the haunted and lyrical way the story was told, fitting the Gothic tradition and atmosphere. 

Buy The Hong Kong Widow at Amazon

Born and raised in New York City, M.K. French started writing stories when very young, dreaming of different worlds and places to visit. She always had an interest in folklore, fairy tales, and the macabre, which has definitely influenced her work. She currently lives in the Midwest with her husband, three young children, and a golden retriever.

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