In September 1913, a young Pole suffering from tuberculosis arrives at Wilhelm Opitz’s Guesthouse for Gentlemen, 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, blending horror story, comedy, folklore and feminist parable with brilliant storytelling.

“It can be read not just a critique of małe chauvinism, but also as a wider-ranging condemnation of various forms of oppression that still stigmatise people in some modern societies through the use of stiffly (and narrowly) imposed gender categories. ... It is above all an invitation into a world of the imagination that goes far beyond spaces that are familiar to us, and in which we are accustomed to feeling safe.” 

— Onet Kultura

“This rich gothic novel set in 1913 is certainly haunted, but also rife with social commentary on gender dysphoria, inequality, and prejudice. Readers will come for the eerie atmosphere but stay for the searing critique of society’s tendency to discard its most vulnerable if it means maintaining a semblance of safety.”

— Booklist

"The Polish Nobel winner ladles up a deliciously creepy revenge tale in this satirical spin on Thomas Mann’s 100-year-old masterpiece The Magic Mountain. Instead of the Alps, we’re in the mountains of Silesia, among a group of male tuberculosis patients spouting misogynist tirades while off their faces on psychedelic liquor. But odd goings-on in the woods portend a comeuppance (...) This is close to the shivery slimline thrill of her surprise 2018 hit, Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead" 

— The Guardian, Most Anticipated Books of Autumn 2024

“Olga Tokarczuk’s deft, dark satirical wit is on full display in The Empusium, which challenges the rigid patriarchal world of pre-WWI Europe with horror and humor.”

—BookPage

“The gothic elements keep the blood stirring.”

— Library Journal

“Reckons with some of the major intellectual questions of the 20th century while simultaneously spinning a mysterious—and spooky—web of intrigue and suspense. A crucial addition to Tokarczuk’s oeuvre.”

— Kirkus, STARRED review

“Tokarczuk concocts a potent blend of horror tropes and literary references (Franz Kafka, Thomas Mann) as she realizes the potential of her tale’s uncommon setting—a community set apart by the omnipresence of sickness and death, where the rules of civilized propriety give way to more fantastic possibilities. Readers will find much to savor.” 

— Publishers Weekly

“Historical fiction threaded through with a playful kind of literary horror, The Empusium . . . is in part a wry response to Thomas Mann’s classic The Magic Mountain, blending high philosophy with dark comedy, strange folklore, and hallucinogenic liquors.”

— Goodreads, “Most Anticipated Boos of the Fall”