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House of Monstrous Women

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House of Monstrous Women

By: Daphne Fama
Narrated by: Jensen Olaya
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

A young woman is drawn into a dangerous game after being invited to the mazelike home of her childhood friend, a rumoured witch, in this gothic horror set in 1986 Philippines.

Carigara, 1986. Josephine del Rosario is the town pariah, left destitute after her parents were assassinated, and destined to marry a man twice her age.

So when Hiraya Ranoco, an old friend, offers Josephine an escape, she can't say no. All she needs to do is spend one night in the Ranoco’s home and play a children’s game of hide and seek. If she wins, she can have anything she wants. Even, perhaps, Hiraya’s heart.

But the manor is sprawling and nightmarish, crawling with insects and rotting from the inside out. The servants stand silently in corners and won't meet her eye. Worst of all, the house itself seems to want to trap Josephine. She must stay hidden until morning, but can she make it through the night?

'One of the best horror books of the year.' Darcy Coates

'A stunning gothic and an exceptional debut.' Rachel Harrison

'This spectacular story will hold you captive until dawn.' Kylie Lee Baker

'A pulse-pounding tale of family trauma, frayed friendship, and political oppression.' Nick Medina

© Daphne Fama 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

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Critic reviews

Mesmerizing. Beautifully written, richly atmospheric, and compulsively readable, the horrors in these pages are confronted with ferocious hope. Suspenseful and heartfelt, House of Monstrous Women is a stunning gothic and an exceptional debut.
Both grisly and tender, House of Monstrous Women invites readers to play an exhilarating, deadly game. Seamlessly blending history and horror, this spectacular story will hold you captive until dawn.
Incredibly chilling and unforgettable. House of Monstrous Women found so many of my deepest fears and magnified them. This has to be one of the best horror books of the year.

A brilliantly evocative gothic confection of a novel...Debut novelist Daphne Fama, skilfully conjures the horror of Josephine’s plight, both in terms of the immediate danger (bugs, murderous servants, hungry shapeshifters) and the bigger picture (living under fascism, poverty, homophobia).
The mythology of the titular house is complex but not overwhelming, and Fama’s prose is horribly sensory; Josephine smells as much horror as she sees. And the aswang and its innards? Yeah, this book’s imagery will stay with you.
Imagine being invited to an old friend's house. Then imagine that you might not leave alive. Those are the stakes upon entering Daphne Fama's House of Monstrous Women, a pulse-pounding tale of family trauma, frayed friendship, and political oppression. Forget warm and welcoming rooms. In this house, expect tension thicker than the rugs, dread that practically flows from the taps, and a bed chilled by your own cold sweat.
Fama's debut is ecstatically terrifying. Each page is a glistening homage to Filipino history and folklore and gothic atmosphere. I could not fight the lure of this story and I'm certain it will haunt me for days.
A delicious blend of historical and horror, House of Monstrous Women uses the backdrop of mid-1980s Philippines to mirror the violence and terror in the story. From the deadly game played between friends to the mazelike house at the heart of the novel, a constant sense of unease awaits around every corner. Daphne Fama’s debut will fully immerse you in an unsettling story that weaves its hooks into you and won't let go.
Some novels give the impression of being written with a film version in mind; in Fama’s case it’s a computer game, with the vast, cliff-top-set Ranoco house limited by its developer’s imagination, rather than the structural requirements of an actual building...Staircases tower vertiginously, enfilades of rooms extend to the vanishing point, and every level brings its monster to be faced. The blackened, oozing mansion is a fit metaphor for a country melting in corruption.
All stars
Most relevant
I wish this book was written in Tagalog. Nonetheless, I’m happy to find a book about Filipino folklore and history albeit fiction. The descriptions were quite jarring for me since some scenes remind me of my life and growing up in the countryside. Although I am college-educated, some part of me still believed in superstitions, it’s just deeply ingrained in me. This is packaged as horror but it is a story about women, filial piety and self-sacrifice — things every Filipina would find all too familiar. I am glad I did not rush into this book, I absolutely tried to savor every minute and was a bit wary when I was nearing the end. It’s that good. I hope more people would read this book.

I wish there were more books like this!

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