Chupeco is Chinese and was born and raised in Manila, Philippines. She is of Chinese, Malay, Thai, and Filipino descent. As a child, Chupeco was fascinated with ghost stories, saying that she was drawn in by absolute injustice of Japanese tales that tend to favor male aggressors and never end positively for women. She collected the works of Peter Straub, Stephen King, Shirley Jackson, Edgar Allan Poe, and Christopher Pike. Her favorite story is that of the kuchisake-onna. She describes herself as a pansexual, liberal atheist. Chupeco is also nonbinary and uses she/they pronouns. Prior to becoming an author, Chupeco worked as a graphic designer. She is married and lives with her husband and two children in Manila.
Selected works
Chupeco's works often draw inspiration from Asian cultures. The Girl from the Well Series Her debut novel The Girl from The Well tells the story of Okiku, a vengeful spirit who hunts for abusers and eats their souls, who finds herself in a battle with another evil spirit when she falls for Tark, the boy that the spirit is tethered to. It was published by Sourcebooks Fire in August 2014 and received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. Chupeco says that it was inspired by Japanese horror, particularly the works of Bancho Sarayashi, whose movies she rewatched multiple times prior to writing the book. With the novel Chupeco aimed to try a spin on the topic that had not been done before by making the ghost character the sympathetic anti-heroine. A companion novel, The Suffering, continues the story of Okiku and Tark as they travel the country to search for more people Okiku can kill. The Bone Witch Series The first novel in the series, The Bone Witch, follows Tea, a teen with the ability to raise the dead, who finds herself caught in a struggle for power as she explores her newfound abilities after she accidentally resurrects her late brother. Chupeco says that her writing often is very experimental, mixing different styles and themes, which led to her writing The Bone Witch in order to tell the story of characters in two different time periods. The Bone Witch series was inspired by Filipino witch doctors, mangkukulam, who are revered by the general public yet approached when in need of help, similar to the dark asha in her series. She also drew on Middle Eastern folklore and influences, like the Ayyubid dynasty and Wahhabism. The witch aspect was inspired by real-life geisha. The Bone Witch was published by Sourcebooks Fire in February 2017 and received starred reviews from Shelf Awareness and Publishers Weekly. In the sequel, The Heart Forger, published in February 2019, Tea finds herself bound to a mythical dragon-like creature and embarks on a quest to find a cure. It received starred reviews from Booklist and Foreword Reviews. In the last novel in the series, The Shadowglass, protagonist Tea faces off with her resurrected brother while searching for a way to make him immortal for good. It was published in March 2019.
