Renowned horror filmmaker Erik Matti recently spoke at the launch of a music streaming platform’s new horror podcasts. “Audio as a medium has the unique ability to forge an intimate connection between the storyteller and the listener,” he said. “The absence of visual distractions allows listeners to immerse themselves completely in the narrative.”
The same can be said about literature, in that taking away the gory visuals and blaring sound effects conduces the reader to let their unconscious fill in the blanks. And what’s scarier than being made aware of what you’ re deeply afraid of?
Here are five Filipino titles to read for the spooky season, which hopefully expose something revelatory about our anxieties or, at the very least, incite a chill down our spines.
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“Waking the Dead and Other Horror Stories” by Yvette Tan
One need not be a horror fan to be an Yvette Tan fan. The Palanca Awardee is easily one of the best horror writers – maybe one of the best writers period – in recent memory, spreading the scaries from books to screenplays.
First published in 2009, “Waking the Dead and Other Horror Stories” uses diverse vehicles to excavate fear from the reader, turning the horror notch up or down to keep things interesting. Anvil Publishing released a new edition in 2021 with a new B movie-inspired story, still characterized by Tan’s sharp voice and mastery in melding Filipino folklore and contemporary life.
READ: IN CONVERSATION: Yvette Tan on why food is connected to horror
Available at Anvil Publishing.
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“Mars, May Zombie!” by Chuckberry Pascual
Author Chuckberry Pascual heard us compare the coronavirus to a zombie outbreak and created a whole new zombie-infested Philippines. Young adult novel “Mars, May Zombie!” is set in 2028, where gay teenager Marcelo, nicknamed “Mars,” discovers an earth-shattering secret with his grandmother and sassy best friend.
The book offers an adventure you can’t resist devouring in one sitting. Pascual is both witty and considerate of his characters, perhaps aware that his readers may see themselves in Mars. And like all good coming-of-age stories, “Mars, May Zombie!” touches on identity, love, family, and the most necessary thing young people now must be armed with – hope.
Available at Adarna House.
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“Horror: Filipino Fiction for Young Adults” edited by Dean Francis Alfar and Kenneth Yu
Being young is a terrifying experience and the fact that horror is not used as much to tell teenagers’ stories feels like a missed opportunity. “Horror: Filipino Fiction for Young Adults,” an anthology featuring 14 Filipino authors, fills the gap with stories that are scary as much as they are relatable.
Making a short story collection for readers aged 10-17 does mean treading the fine line between middle-grade and young adult, and this book delivers a wide array that spans slightly eerie to disturbing. It is also worth acknowledging that there’s something profound about a horror book for young people that focuses less on supernatural entities and more on the normal, human things they see and experience every day.
Available at the University of the Philippines Press.
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“Carnal: Banahaw” by Bambi Eloriaga-Amago, Illustrated by Roland Amago, & color-assisted by B.K. Peña
The first of a series, “Carnal: Banahaw” is premised on a suspicious coincidence: a series of gruesome killings in a small town coincides with the homecoming of Cristobal, a priest, and his twin brother Banahaw, the frontman of a rock band.
This graphic novel turns to familiar small-town tropes to tell a compelling story, from strange balikbayans, hushed gossip, and the persistent presence of supernatural beings in the townspeople’s collective unconscious. It’ s a well-paced rabbit hole that can satiate readers’ appetite for a folksy mystery.
Available on Penlab.
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“Neophobia: A Deconstruction of Filipino Horror” by riotbones
The 60-page zine “Neophobia” by Filipino illustrator Bones is an apt epilogue to every book on this list. It digs into the history of prominent Filipino horror figures and traces the intentions of their origins. As the artist writes in the zine’s synopsis, “The horror genre finds itself situated in a paradoxical position: simultaneously the analog of the anxieties of the common folk and the perpetrator of the ideological ends of the ruling hegemonic order.”
The deconstruction is accomplished in three parts. First, “Setting the Stage” provides historical context on the supernatural creatures ingrained in Filipino collective memory. Next is “Lights, Camera, Action,” which zooms in on specific Filipino horror films, and lastly, “Closing Night,” a fictional short story.