The Spider and Her Demons

Between Chinatown and the glittering lights of the harbour, prowl demons and witches - hiding in plain sight, wielding powers beyond imagining.

Moving and funny by turns, this is a story about what it take to make peace with your demons - literal or otherwise. An urban fantasy take on growing up feeling pressure to make others proud, even if means betraying your true self, feeling like your authentic self is trapped inside your body, and being a second-generation immigrant, struggling to find a sense of belonging.

After waiting tables at the dumpling shop and dealing with her aunt's big expectations, Zhi just wants to find time for her friends, get through high school . . . and make sure no one finds out she's half spider demon. But then she accidentally kills and eats a man in front of Dior Panne-Nix, the most popular girl in school . . .

And she's about to find out she's not the scariest thing hiding in the shadows.

sydney khoo is a recipient of Penguin Random House Australia's Write It fellowship program, which aspires to find, nurture and develop unpublished writers across all genres, with a focus on underrepresented sections of our community.

About the Author

Sydney Khoo (they/them) is a nonbinary and aromantic asexual writer, born on Dharawal Country (South Western Sydney), to Malaysian Chinese parents. They have a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Masters in Creative Writing. Having worked at an eclectic mix of places, including a suicide prevention centre, tattoo parlour, publishing house, and medical clinic, sydney has found working in made-up worlds to be most fulfilling. Though typically drinking bubble tea in Cabramatta, or reading fanfiction in a McDonald’s carpark, they can occasionally be found writing poetry and stories at cafés with their dog Gizmo.