The Dreaming at the Drowned Town is a wild ride of a story told through the diary of Enrique Castaño, a Filipino translator in 1924 who is haunted by some truly horrific nightmares. He gets hired to guide his American journalist boss, Mr. Thomas, and his new wife, Lita, to a mysterious island that just popped up from the bottom of the sea. They assemble a small, tense group to go with them, and things go wrong. People start dying, reality blurs, and Enrique’s awful dreams seem to be bleeding into the real world, leaving him and the reader trying to figure out what’s real and what’s just in his head.

The writing just floors you. The choice to use Enrique’s diary was a great decision. Readers are stuck right inside this guy’s head, and it is not a nice place to be. I felt his paranoia. The Brothers K absolutely nail the atmosphere. It’s sticky. It’s hot. You can smell the sulfur from the island and the rot from Enrique’s dreams. The way his nightmares just bleed into the story, you start to question everything. I found myself re-reading parts, thinking, “Wait, did that actually happen, or did he just dream it?” It’s a total head-trip. I loved feeling so completely unmoored.

It’s not just a simple ghost story. It’s a deep dive into the messy, complicated world of the American-occupied Philippines. You have the old revolutionary boatman. You have the American boss who thinks he’s bringing enlightenment. You have the corrupt local constable. All these people are just trapped on this island, and their real-world drama gets swallowed by this huge, ancient, creepy-crawly horror. The betrayals just keep stacking up. I thought I knew what was happening, then the story just pulls the rug out. Then it pulls another rug out. Lita’s character, in particular, is just a masterpiece of twists. I honestly didn’t know who to root for by the end. It really makes you think.

I was completely hooked. My heart was pounding. I felt genuinely unsettled when I put it down. This is not some light, breezy read. This is a book that demands your full attention, and it will haunt you for a while after you finish. It’s a puzzle. It’s a nightmare. It’s brilliant. If you like your horror smart, historical, and deeply weird, you have to pick this up.

Pages: 167 | ASIN: B0FP1RDK46