When I was given the assignment to review a book by a local author, the first one that came to mind was Eliza Victoria. A lot of readers from Manila-based book clubs have been raving about her works and I thought it was high time i read one of her stories. Eliza’ new book Unseen Moon, is a compilation of four stories that creeped the hell out of me.
From Goodreads.com:
Ghosts in a mansion. A home invasion. A group of friends haunted by a murder. An unlikely friendship, a dead body in an abandoned house. A girl falling to her death, and another falling into the viewless darkness.
Unseen Moon is a collection of five suspenseful stories by award-winning author Eliza Victoria.
This most recent work of Eliza Victoria involves beautifully woven stories of horror, insanity, and juvenile crimes. I am not exactly a fan of dark and scary novels but I found myself enjoying Victoria’s book. It was wicked and creepy. Reading this book was a new experience for me because I’d never before come across a Filipino book that touches on the sensitive themes of juvenile crime, gender, and sex.
Unseen Moon is comprised of four stories: “Needle Rain”, “Ghosts of Sinagtala”, “Summer Evening”, and “December” (“Viewless Dark” is included in the print edition of the book).
“Needle Rain”
A twisted story about four friends Brian, Cedric, Cleofe, and Emily, who are haunted by their dreams and a mysterious murder in town. I love how Victoria used the dreams to describe what might happen next, and the ghostly apparition of the characters in the story gave me goosebumps. The story is more sad than scary because of the stupid decisions young people do just to save themselves.
