The Night Guest

By: Hildur Knútsdóttir, Mary Robinette Kowal - translator

Narrated by: Mary Robinette Kowal

This program is read by author and narrator Mary Robinette Kowal, winner of the Hugo and Nebula awards.

Hildur Knútsdóttir's The Night Guest is an eerie and ensnaring story set in contemporary Reykjavík that’s sure to keep you awake at night.

Iðunn is in yet another doctor's office. She knows her constant fatigue is a sign that something's not right, but practitioners dismiss her symptoms and blood tests haven't revealed any cause.

When she talks to friends and family about it, the refrain is the same—have you tried eating better? exercising more? establishing a nighttime routine? She tries to follow their advice, buying everything from vitamins to sleeping pills to a step-counting watch. Nothing helps.

Until one night Iðunn falls asleep with the watch on, and wakes up to find she’s walked over 40,000 steps in the night . . .

What is happening when she’s asleep? Why is she waking up with increasingly disturbing injuries? And why won’t anyone believe her?

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Nightfire.

©2024 Hildur Knutsdottir (P)2024 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

“Surreal and spectacular. . . . This is psychological horror at its finest.”—Publishers Weekly, STARRED review

"Like the flashes of a waking nightmare, Knútsdóttir’s artful spiral of terror will have fans of Ling Ma, Paula Hawkins, and other flawed female narrators demanding more."—Booklist

"From its opening pages, Hildur Knútsdóttir's eerie and elegant The Night Guest wraps its icy fingers around you and pulls you in. It's so atmospheric, so well-crafted, and so truly, deeply unsettling that by the end, you feel every bit as haunted as its sleepless heroine. If you're a horror fan—or just a fan of great writing in general—you need to have this one on your radar!"—Rachel Hawkins, New York Times bestselling author of The Wife Upstairs

Really good, perfect mini-novel

Horror, or in this case, horroresque fiction should not be overly long. This book has these tight little chapters that make the whole thing very digestible. I started this while driving, and ended up listening to the whole thing. I hope we get some more from Knutsdottir. This is the second Icelandic book I’ve read this year and they have both been great. Dark country, dark ideas ☠️.

Interesting & creepy

It was an interesting, entertaining and creepy read. The ending was ambiguous and thought provoking — however, I hate the trope of killing cats 👎🏻

Fun until it wasn’t

As other reviewers have noted, the ending is…well, it isn’t an ending at all. The book telegraphs its punches to a degree visible from space. From very, very early on, you know exactly where this is going. I was expecting a twist, some kink in the otherwise clear-as-glass story arc. The only twist was that there was no twist at all. Whatever you’re suspecting the ending is going to be around 25% of the way into the book, you’re right. That’s it. There’s no explanation, no deeper questioning, no attempt at meaning, and not even bothering to close all the plot loops.

This author clearly went to the Tana French School of Loose Ends, where they firmly believe that the best way to end a story is to give the reader absolutely no closure. It feels like the author was writing this for a timed exam, and when the teacher said, “Pencils down!”, she hurled hers across the room, got up, and walked out.

2 stars for being mildly entertaining up to the last 25%, and 1 more star for wasting less than 3 hours of my life. Would not read anything else by this author.

kept me listening

it kept me listening and interested and then splash, it was just over. I rewound thinking I had skipped a chapter somehow. So much build up. This book is a pre-mature climaxer that let me unsatisfied.... but the build up was great.

Creepy and Disorienting

I really liked the audiobook performance. It was a short and creepy story. I glad I listened to this story as an audiobook book for the Icelandic names and words.

GREAT CONCEPT & has a lot of creepiness, lots of tension !!! Also is a very quick listen!

Loved the whole thing until we “find out what’s been happening,” which is in quotes because we really, really, do not. I’m used to ambiguity when it comes to horror novel endings, and maybe it’s because this is a short story, which are typically even *more* ambiguous… but COME ON! We could’ve been given SOME explanation of what is actually going on here ay yiy yiy! So the ending & somewhere between I’d guess the 75-80% mark made up the 3% of the book that I strongly disliked… come onnn the ending was just a waste of the SHEER POTENTIAL of this short story as far as I’m concerned… I feel like horror screenwriters would enjoy this book because of the ambiguity, though! lol. Hopefully someone out there gets the reference :-P BUT THE REST WAS SOSOSO GOOD & had me GLUED which I can’t ignore! Except ugh part of the 3% I didn’t like had to do with cat deaths, so if you’re sensitive to that sort of thing, I’d be very, very careful if you choose to read this (which I am, but I went in knowing this & that if it was really intense I could walk away, but I made it through that part & it’s definitely nothing compared to some of the horror books I’ve read!); Thankfully it’s not just the main plot, but the details as well that are ambiguous lol…. Read at your own risk & don’t be afraid to walk away if it does happen to be a very serious trigger for you or it is just not something you can manage to read about! No worries— it’s valid & nothing to be ashamed of!

The perfect read for a long train ride

A thrilling novella where our protagonist discovers and starts fighting mysterious things that are happening to her.
I kept reading it until I finished it in a day, I enjoyed the unusual structure of the story. I wouldn't say that I'm a regular horror fan but this story hit me just right with a terrifying plot but not graphic violence or gore. CW: animals are killed off page.
Brilliant for spooky season.

Save your dollars

As another reviewer said, you can see where this is heading the minute we’re introduced to a plot point involving a death in her past. I’m half way through (1.5 hrs) and I.cant.make.myself.continue. I’m half way through, and without continuing, I know exactly how it ends. I very rarely DNF books, but I am rolling my eyes so frequently that instead of helping me relax I realize my frustration is mounting each minute, I can do it. Regret purchasing instead of using a credit, because now I can’t get my time or money back.

I gave it three stars only because I felt guilty giving two.

Additionally, narrator has odd diction, and the main character is unlikable. It all amounted to too much distraction that could have been overcome had the writing not been so predictable.

Confused

Feel like I missed something. It’s like I skipped a bunch of chapters. Didn’t understand the story😔

Such a letdown

The best thing about this book is that it only took up a couple hours of my life. And while I can’t get those hours back, perhaps I can save you from wasting your money, credits, and time.

The story starts out interestingly enough, but it simply doesn’t deliver. You think you know how it’s going to end? Well, you do. She draws out the build up and, while that gets old, I held on because surely it would pay off. It did not.

There is no plot twist. Worse, there’s no explanation. It finally gets interesting, then it’s just…over. I actually went back because I thought maybe I missed something. Nope. It’s like she got tired of her own book and just stopped. I rarely leave reviews, but I don’t want anyone else to waste their time on this.