Folk horror, memory and dark traditions stir up Malaysian author's fiction debut

Kopi Soh's 'Looking After The Ashes' offers a glimpse into a Malaysian Peranakan family's past, with a folk horror backdrop for added twists. Photo: Penguin Random House SEA

Author Kopi Soh’s Looking After The Ashes might be a work of fiction, but for readers who grew up with the superstitions, old wives’ tales and stories mentioned in this book, it will feel like home.

How many times have we heard from our parents or older relatives not to clip our nails at night, to finish all the rice in your bowl lest you end up with a pockmarked face, or to not point at the moon or risk getting your ears chopped off?