Teddy Bears Never Die by Cho Yeeun, Sung Ryu (Paperback)

Fiction - Horror - Slasher - World Literature - Korea - Science Fiction - Humorous

RELEASE DATE: 5/26/2026 (WILL SHIP DIRECTLY FROM OUR SUPPLIER'S WAREHOUSE) 

"The perfect mix of horror and heart." —Kylie Lee Baker, author of Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng

"Cho Yeeun is amazing. Insanely amazing." ―Bora Chung, author of The Midnight Timetable

A young woman and a possessed teddy bear set out on a revenge quest unlike any other in this stylish slasher from Cho Yeeun, a rising star in Korean horror. 

When the fledgling coastal town of Yamu is rocked by a mass-poisoning attack at the Seaview Parc, a luxury high-rise apartment, Hwayoung is one of many who lost family members. Except, she has never believed that her mother was poisoned. 

Now, fueled by grief and a desire for revenge, Hwayoung spends her time hustling to save every penny and bring those responsible to justice. Across town, Doha wakes up in a teddy bear and realizes something sinister has taken his body. 

When fate brings Hwayoung and Doha together, the two team up for a revenge quest that will shake the city's shiny façade to its rotten core. 

This time, revenge is not just personal—it's supernatural.

AUTHOR BIO: 

Cho Yeeun has enthralled the Korean literary scene since her notable debut clinched the Kyobo Book Award. Now, Cho has become known for weaving chilling, genre-bending stories set in dystopian worlds teetering on the edge of collapse. Young female readers have particularly connected with her stories, enthusiastically immersing themselves in what they've dubbed "Yeeun's World" and celebrating her complex, unconventional female characters. Cho's standout short story collection, Cocktails, Love, Zombies not only soared in sales, exceeding 100,000 copies since its 2020 release but also crossed borders, being exported to Japan, China and Taiwan. Her English-language debut, New Seoul Park Jelly Vendor Massacre (Honford Star, 2024) cemented her reputation as a bold and daring voice in horror.

TRANSLATOR BIO: 

Sung Ryu is a literary translator working from and into Korean. Her English translations include Shoko's Smile by Choi Eunyoung (Penguin Books, 2021), Tower by Bae Myung-hoon (Honford Star, 2021), and I'm Waiting for You: And Other Stories by Kim Bo-Young (co-translated with Sophie Bowman, Harper Voyager, 2021). Her Korean translations include Grandma Moses: My Life's History by Anna Mary Robertson Moses (Suo Books, 2017). She grew up in South Korea, the US, and Canada, and now lives in Singapore. She is a member of the translator collective Smoking Tigers.

"A savagely entertaining revenge tale that charges forward on a knife's edge, Teddy Bears Never Die pairs brutal social satire with a charming yet tragic supernatural companion. Elevated by Sung Ryu's sure-footed translation, Cho Yeeun infuses her signature dark, grotesque imagination into Korea's sense of han to tell a story about violence that festers under unresolved injustice." -- Jinwoo Park, author of Oxford Soju Club

"This story defies simple genre categorizations. Cho throws blood-soaked crime thrillers, magical realism, and even teen romance into a blender set on high, creating a gory but fun, action-fueled cocktail." -- Booklist

"Suspenseful, scary, and dizzyingly fun. " -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)