The Empusium

A Health Resort Horror Story

By: Olga Tokarczuk

Narrated by: Antonia Lloyd-Jones, Natasha Soudek

AN INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER!

“A folk horror story with a deceptively light and knowing tone … elegant and genuinely unsettling.”–The New York Times Book Review

The Nobel Prize winner’s latest masterwork, set in a sanitarium on the eve of World War I, probes the horrors that lie beneath our most hallowed ideas

September 1913. A young Pole suffering from tuberculosis arrives at Wilhelm Opitz’s Guesthouse for Gentlemen in the village of Görbersdorf, a health resort in the Silesian mountains. Every evening the residents gather to imbibe the hallucinogenic local liqueur and debate the great issues of the day: Monarchy or democracy? Do devils exist? Are women born inferior? War or peace? Meanwhile, disturbing things are happening in the guesthouse and the surrounding hills. Someone—or something—seems to be watching, attempting to infiltrate this cloistered world. Little does the newcomer realize, as he tries to unravel both the truths within himself and the mystery of the sinister forces beyond, that they have already chosen their next target.

A century after the publication of The Magic Mountain, Olga Tokarczuk revisits Thomas Mann territory and lays claim to it, with signature boldness, inventiveness, humor, and bravura.

©2024 Olga Tokarczuk (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Deft and disturbing. . . In Antonia Lloyd-Jones’s crisp translation, Tokarczuk tells a folk horror story with a deceptively light and knowing tone. . . elegant and genuinely unsettling.”—Hari Kunzru, The New York Times Book Review

“In Tokarczuk’s hands, the staid genre of the bildungsroman erupts with sinister possibility…. A grand fantasy of revenge …taut, febrile.”—Washington Post

“A novel that in Tokarczuk’s dexterous hands transcends its own limits, further cementing the Nobel laureate as one of the most original storytellers of our age. Equipped with only our measly five senses, it leaves us questioning—just like her characters—what might be hiding in plain sight.”—Financial Times

I'm still thinking about it weeks later

This was a slow moving plot, in much the way I feel when I read Dostoyevsky, and has lots of long conversations of men expounding their views on all things. There were some absolutely creepy parts on several levels for me as a woman reader. And that is definitely the point.

It was beautifully written, I felt myself in the mountains many times, and the conclusion was 5 stars for me. Which makes me think overall it deserves 5 stars, but I know many people will struggle with the pace of the book.

High Quality Writing

There was a lot of information and really interesting and unusual content in the story. I can always count on Olga Takarczuk to write something original and very different from other writers. I liked this story a lot. It was multi-layered and very beautifully written. A piece of art.

Fascinating and perfectly performed

An excellent performance of a genius novel. The weaving of history, psychology, feminism, myth and mystery… she’s done it again. A slow meditation, but always curious and compelling.

The landscape narrative

It was all fantastic- enjoyed the character of MW the most and the storyline was superb. A great satire of misogyny as well as a social statement of acceptance of all people. Great feeling of magical realism as well.

Never ending Misogyny

Well written story that recreates a place in time very well.
However, this title was listed in the “horror” section. In my opinion that does a disservice to an otherwise well researched tale, its locale, and the research involved in the above mentioned misogyny.
There is actually a teeny element of horror but honestly I was so constantly horrified by the men/misogyny that the event was the lesser of the evils.

Much ado about nada.

Brilliantly detailed descriptions of characters, their clothing, their rooms and the countryside. Conversation among characters rules this book, and they never stop talking and espousing their misogynistic and sexist positions. The epilogue reminds us that these convos are mostly cut and pasted from dozens of classic authors dating back to Classical Greek and Jack Kerouac among others. However, if you're looking for a story on which something a tuslly happens, you'll be disappointed. While touted as a horror novel, the only thing horrifying is how boring it is.

Just read The Magic Mountain instead

This homage adds nothing to Mann’s book. The characters read like robots and the message beats the reader with sledgehammer blows. Synopsis —Patriarchy is bad. This is my third attempt to read Tokarczuk’s work and each time I am profoundly bored.

Misogyny sprinkled with more misogyny.

I'm halfway through and can't tolerate a moment longer. When is the author ever going to get to the plot?

DNF—just couldn't stomach listening to the bullshit anymore.

story never engaged me

felt like I was being slowly boiled in a stew of misogyny, blind middle-class, white male entitlement and ignorance, and a lovely central European landscape painting. I stopped 6 hours short of the end. was the promised ultimate horror meant to be hours of navel-gazing boredom? like the humour of Andy Kaufman, this novel was not for me.