Demon Song

The Phantom of the Opera meets Chinese mythology? This premise made me excited for Demon Song by Kelsea Yu. This novella is set in Beijing, where Megan and her mom have just escaped an abusive man. They end up working and living in the Huihuang Opera Theater, and soon, Megan spends her free time learning about the folklore behind their current production, “The Monkey King and the White Bone Demon.” This opera, plus some strange disappearances over the last 40 years, converge into something altogether more dangerous than Megan can imagine.

What I Liked:

• The Phantom of the Opera vibes. This is one of my favorite musicals! I love theater, operas, and all the dark mysteries lurking in shadows, shrouded in beautiful music. I enjoyed the many clear references to that story, from the hidden passageways to the music lessons to the lingering sense of dread.
• Chinese mythology. This was the other big draw for me. I loved learning the story of “The Monkey King and the White Bone Demon,” or Sun Wukong and Baigujing from Journey to the West. I wasn’t familiar with that 16th-century novel nor the story, but it was an engaging component throughout Demon Song and forms the basis for the horrors Megan is experiencing.
• Surreal, dreamlike shifts in perspective. Megan seems like a normal teenager, but she keeps having visions, like she’s experiencing what someone else once went through. These passages are seamlessly woven in, feeling as jarring for the reader as they surely are for Megan. It’s a nightmarish quality that shines throughout the novella.
• Depictions of family, hardship, and tough choices. Megan has a single mom who jumps from one bad relationship to the next. It’s been disruptive for Megan, most recently in moving them from Portland all the way to Beijing, but also dangerous due to the often abusive men her mom ends up with. Megan just wants stability and to feel like she truly knows her mom. Desperate times may call for desperate measures.

Final Thoughts

Demon Song is a quick and dark read for anyone who likes The Phantom of the Opera, Chinese folklore, and a surreal sense of dread. It can read somewhat YA, since Megan is a teenager, but is engaging and dark. I enjoyed this novella and will look out for more books from Kelsea Yu.

Special thanks to Titan Books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

Get the Book

You can buy Demon Song here – it’s available as a hardcover, ebook, and audiobook.

Demon Song by Kelsea Yu
Audience	Adult
Genre	Horror
Setting	Beijing, China
Number of Pages	176
Format I Read	Ebook (NetGalley ARC)
Original Publication Date	September 30, 2025
Publisher	Titan Books

Official Summary

A young woman discovers the terrifying secrets lurking within the walls of a Beijing opera house, in this addictive Gothic horror novella inspired by Chinese mythology about the price of fame, and the bonds between mothers and daughters. 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.