THE VALLEY OF VENGEFUL GHOSTS
A Most Anticipated Book of 2026 from TIME, Book Riot, and Chicago Review of Books
From the critically acclaimed and award-winning author of Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century comes The Valley of Vengeful Ghosts—an eerie, spellbinding novel of grief and guilt, with a razor-sharp eye for the absurdity and melancholy of the internet age.
In the aftermath of her mother’s death, Eleanor is unmoored. For years, her mother orchestrated every detail of her life—from meals, to laundry, to finances—so that Eleanor could focus on her career as a therapist.
A Most Anticipated Book of 2026 from TIME, Book Riot, and Chicago Review of Books
From the critically acclaimed and award-winning author of Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century comes The Valley of Vengeful Ghosts—an eerie, spellbinding novel of grief and guilt, with a razor-sharp eye for the absurdity and melancholy of the internet age.
In the aftermath of her mother’s death, Eleanor is unmoored. For years, her mother orchestrated every detail of her life—from meals, to laundry, to finances—so that Eleanor could focus on her career as a therapist. Left to navigate the world on her own, Eleanor clings to her mother’s final directive: use her inheritance to buy a house.
Desperate to obey her mother one last time, but finding few options she can afford, Eleanor impulsively buys a model home in a valley-turned-construction site, a picturesque development steeped in a shadowy history. It feels like a fresh start, until the rain comes—an endless, torrential downpour. As water seeps in through the house’s cracks, the line between what is real and what is not begins to blur. Haunted by the stories of her clients, a stream of workmen and bureaucrats she can’t trust, and visions of ghosts from her past and present, Eleanor’s reality unravels, and she is forced to reckon with the secrets she’s buried and the dark choices she’s made.
- Tin House
- Paperback
- March 2026
- 240 Pages
- 9781963108699
Buy the Book
$17.99
About Kim Fu
Kim Fu is the author of two novels, a collection of poetry, and most recently, the story collection Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century, winner of the Washington State Book Award, the Pacific Northwest Book Award, and the Danuta Gleed Literary Award, as well as a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Ignyte Awards, and the Shirley Jackson Awards. Fu lives in Seattle, Washington.
Praise
“There’s a tingle of Poltergeist déjà vu in Kim Fu’s disquieting novel.” —TIME
“Home buying as horror story has become a beloved trope . . . Real hauntings, like real life, are never simple. Fu captures that with memorable elegance. Highbrow horror that’s still a page-turner.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“Think Julia Armfield’s Private Rights. Think Nicky Gonzalez’s Mayra . . . wrapped in ghosts, grief, and the price of wanting more than you’re ready to handle.” —The Next Best Book Blog
“Fu is the writer to tell an immersive story grounded in earthly issues and haunted by ghosts.”—Book Riot
“Fu’s titular ghosts, both living and dead, continue to deny Eleanor any semblance of home sweet home. Fu hauntingly, elliptically unravels their vengeful agendas.” —Booklist
“Alluring. . . . a vivid portrait of mental fragility in the face of such an overwhelming situation, one that will resonate with any new homeowner.” —Publishers Weekly
Discussion Questions
1) Homeownership is often seen as the gold standard of adulthood. How does this ideal shape Eleanor’s decision to buy a model home, and how does her experience reflect the anxieties young people face regarding security and the American Dream today?
2) “But now it was the only thing Eleanor had left to do, the last of Lele’s orders” (5). Consider the situation of receiving a final directive from a parent. How much weight should one give to the expectations of others?
3) Eleanor’s house is a shiny and new possibility, but it quickly begins to fall apart. How does the house mirror Eleanor’s internal state?
4) This book is full of rain—once the rain starts, it doesn’t stop. What do you think the water represents? Is it cleansing, a punishment, or an indifferent force of nature?
5) Eleanor works as an online therapist offering advice on anxiety and control, even as her own life spirals into chaos. Do you think she is actually helping her clients, or is she projecting her own fears? How does Eleanor’s job and therapy talk shape the way she thinks about the reality of her situation?
6) Isolation plays an important role in the book. How do you feel this story was influenced by real-world isolation like the COVID-19 pandemic? Were there aspects of Eleanor’s isolation that felt recognizable?
7) Do you think the ghosts and supernatural elements are “real” in the world of the novel, or just a product of Eleanor’s imagination? How does that affect your reading of these scenes?
8) The circumstances of Eleanor’s mother’s death hang over the novel. How did you feel about Eleanor’s role in this? Did your understanding of their mother-daughter bond shift?
9) How does the “vengeful” aspect of The Valley of Vengeful Ghosts apply to the ghosts that haunt this story?
10) Consider the final scene. Did you read the ending as hopeful or doomed? What do you think happens to Eleanor after the final page?