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The Empusium - Olga Tokarczuk
The Empusium is a novel about a young man, Mieczyslaw Wojnicz, who has a mild case of Tuberculosis. He takes it upon himself to travel to Wilhelm Opitz’s Guesthouse for Gentleman. But little does Wojnicz know that the health resort he’s at starts to become a trip full of sinister nightmares…
The Empusium is a novel about a young man, named Mieczyslaw Wojnicz (pronounced: Mi-etchy-swuff Voy-nitch) who has a mild case of Tuberculosis. He takes it upon himself to travel to Wilhelm Opitz’s Guesthouse for Gentleman in the Silesian Mountains, where residents are cared for during their stay. Little does Wojnicz know that the health resort he’s at starts to become a trip full of sinister nightmares.
People die. Hallucinations occur. Eerie noises are heard. And deep philosophical conversations stir emotions. It’s a novel full of deep, thought provoking messages surrounding life and the world lived in before the wars began. Translated concisely by Antonia Lloyd-Jones from Polish to English, written originally by Olga Tokarczuk, who tells the tale with long bouts of description that capture the scenes unfolding with clear powerful imagery and hair-raising action.
It’s heavy on description and quite minimal on dialogue, which I personally find quite difficult to get through. Tokarczuk approached it splendidly, with real sophistication that told the story in an elegant way, but I’m not a fan of long winded passages that sometimes lose my undivided attention because they go too long without the action of people conversing. Dialogue carries a story as well, and I find it more engaging when the characters too are telling the story through words. But - especially in the final thrilling scene - I began to understand how description over dialogue can be quite a bit more powerful. There was no need for speech, the feelings and inner thoughts of Tokarczuk’s protagonist was enough to create a horrific scene that left me with a spine-chilling, and quite harrowing feeling inside. And that’s exactly what I expect from a horror story.
At times I felt it was a little confusing, with certain concepts being mentioned once and then never mentioned again until 70 or 80 pages later, and by then I’d forgotten all about that idea which had me lost at times; questioning what was meant by a certain phrase, or what was actually happening at a certain time. On top of the jumping back and forth; as an English speaker, name referrals were something I didn’t fully understand or follow too easily. Sometimes people were called different names to the names they’d been originally referred to, with honourifics that I’m not familiar with at all, and this chopped and changed which had me concentrating hard on each little detail in each masterfully described scene.
However, the key at the beginning of the book was useful a reference for when I got bewildered by the various number of titles and names of characters used to propel the story along. I do however, solely respect their way of addressing people, it just wasn’t something I’m used to as I’m not a fluent Polish or German speaker.
A translated novel like this made a change from reading books written by English speaking author’s. This is something that pushed me out of my comfort zone. I selected a book that I know will reach a few people immediately, and perhaps it’ll sway the minds of those who only ever stick to romance, or sci-fi, or even fantasy, because I know it pulled me out of my typical books of choice and I don’t see why it wouldn’t draw others away from their standard novels either.
The Empusium was certainly a new kind of horror story that compelled me right through to end, with creepy happenings that were key milestones carrying Wojnicz through his stay at the health resort. With characters who expressed their anticipation for the future, inflicting fear and anxiety upon Wojnicz which as a reader I felt as well. It’s a place I wouldn’t want to be in, and Tokarczuk did an excellent job of making me feel that way. I give her four stars for a brilliant, magical story drawn from ideas all over. Starting with Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain to phrases taken from author’s such as Charles Darwin, William Shakespeare, Johnathan Swift and many more.
If you like who Tokarczuk has referenced, or you simply like the idea of a health resort gone wrong in a completely disturbing and unnatural way, this is the book for you. Otherwise, get out of your comfort zone, you might like it, and she’s got plenty of other books too which are just as wonderful and worth the read but I’m yet to give them a go myself.
So for now, I’ll stick to The Empusium, where horror meets health resort in the 1910s.
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Where He Can’t Find You - Darcy Coates
Where He Can’t Find You is the story of a town haunted by its past, and Abby Ward is determined to escape its frightening streets and rapidly increasing death count as soon as she can.
Where He Can’t Find You is the story of a town haunted by its past, and Abby Ward is determined to escape its frightening streets and rapidly increasing death count as soon as she can. But for now, Abby and her sister, Hope, continue living in fear, following four strict rules to stay alive and out of trouble. However, when Hope suddenly disappears, snatched by a thing called the Stitcher, Abby steps outside of the rule book she so meticulously created and dedicates her life to saving her sister before the Stitcher gets to her first - down in its lair where its victim’s await their godawful fate. It’s a place where hundreds of people have been taken to die, their bodies found above ground, brutally dismembered, and nobody quite knows why.
It’s a frightening idea, full of unexpected twists that had me turning each page with fear filled curiosity until the very end.
Perhaps it started out a little slow, and took me some time to get into; but like with any book you read, every author has something to tell. And it’s up to the reader whether they want to listen or not. So, if your patience wears thin, set it down and leave its seed untold, or stick through to the end and you might just learn something:
For Darcy Coates it was teaching the importance of friendship and dedication, and the dangers that can come with fear that fuelled her first words right through to the last. Or perhaps she’s crafted a hauntingly compelling story that leaves you with nightmares, teaching you never to pick up a book like this again. Either way, you know it was a decent read because it left a mark. A mark that you’ll remember until the next novel whisks you away, taking you to a world you haven’t explored before.
And Where He Can’t Find You does just that. Coates’ use of metaphors and similes submerge her audience in countless unpleasant bouts of description, painting imagery that exude both dread and disgust. Her short and concise sentences made for a snappy, hair raising novel full of horrific twists and turns.
However, I can’t say this was the best horror fiction novel I’ve ever read. Honestly, it seemed bland at times, with passages of writing that were prolonged for no evident reason. It didn’t add anything to plot, nor did it draw me in like M.L Rio’s If We Were Villains, which had me questioning everything from the very start.
Coates, unfortunately, left it vastly uneventful and this made it quite a tedious read, with mundane scenes that were hard to get through. It felt extremely long as well, finishing at page 416, leaving most of the thrilling action to the last hundred or so pages. And for me, I need something that entices me from the very beginning. After all, an opening that hooks the reader is what sets the mood for the rest of the story. Due to the lack of a good hook, I never expected anything spectacular from Coates. She lost me in chapter two and found me again during chapter twenty-three, then lost me a few times more and found me around ten chapters later. So, if you’re looking for a book that keeps hold of your undivided attention, I’m not sure this is going to be your cup tea; though I can’t speak for everyone.
Besides, Where He Can’t Find You wasn’t so bad that I had to discard it altogether, I managed to persevere, and I give Coates a point for that. The idea is there and I think Coates’ has executed it in her own unique style which is why the story of Abby Ward is so special. It differs from others in both good and bad ways. And that’s what I think will make or break the book for people. You either love it or you hate it. It’s neither terrible nor spectacular. It’s simply a story that nobody else could tell.
So, if you enjoy the rush of a horror novel, or the intriguing plot of a supernatural mystery, then Darcy Coates’ Where He Can’t Find You is probably the book you’re looking for next. I recommend it as a 3.5-star work of art, it might seem a little dry at times but the chills are inevitable. Or maybe Stephen King is more down your street, and if that’s the case, stick around for more because I’ll be reviewing his legendary novels later in the year.
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