A labyrinth of power, madness, and transformation—where reality dissolves into nightmare.
In a decaying former abbey, Mudito, a mute caretaker, is haunted by witches determined to twist him into the imbunche—a grotesque creature buried alive within its own body. But once, Mudito had another life. He was Humberto, a scheming assistant to Chilean aristocrat Jerónimo de Azcoitía, who built a palace of monsters to shield his deformed son from beauty. Now, past and present blur in a fever dream of shifting identities, grotesque metamorphoses, and the terrifying distortions of power.
Newly restored and revised, The Obscene Bird of Night (4.3 stars on Amazon) is José Donoso’s terrifying masterpiece, now complete with lost passages and an introduction by Alejandro Zambra. A must-read for fans of Kafka, Borges, and literary horror.
