HOUSE OF MONSTROUS WOMEN by Daphne Fama – Review

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

House of Monstrous Women by Daphne Fama
Published by Berkley on August 12 2025
Genres: Adult, Horror
Pages: 336
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: A dangerous game of cat and mouse, a maze-like house, and a family curse—all these elements and more make up House of Monstrous Women, an excellent horror story rooted in Filipino folklore.

“The Ranoco house wasn’t a normal house, by anyone’s definition. It sprawled on the outside. But inside? She felt like she was in the stomach of a monster.”

Color me surprised—House of Monstrous Women was not what I expected at all, and that’s a very good thing. This is an extremely creepy gothic horror story set the in Philippines in 1986 during the uprising of the People Power Revolution, and the story takes place in one of the weirdest, most unsettling houses I’ve ever read about. Daphne Fama combines political upheaval, body horror, family obligations, Filipino folklore and personal sacrifice into a thrilling tale that revolves around a game of life and death.

Josephine del Rosario has been invited to the house of her childhood friend Hiraya Ranoco to participate in a game they used to play as children. Joining them is Josephine’s brother Alejandro and his girlfriend Gabriella, who live in Manila while Alejandro chases his dream of becoming a powerful politician. Josephine has always had a special place in her heart for Hiraya, and she’s thrilled to see her again after many years apart, but she’s angry at her brother for leaving her alone in their ancestral home and foolishly spending their inheritance money trying to achieve his dream.

As the four gather together in Hiraya’s huge, crumbling mansion, she explains the reason she’s brought them together. Beginning at sunset, they will play a favorite game from their childhood called tagu-tagu, but this time the stakes are much higher. Two of them will be the hunters, or aswang, and the other two will be the prey. Whoever survives the night will get their heart’s desire, but Ranoco House demands a terrible sacrifice from the winner.

As Josephine makes her way through the twisting, ever changing rooms and corridors, trying to stay one step ahead of her hunter, the house and the undead servants who live there do their best to slow her down. For the house is hiding terrible secrets, and Josephine is about to discover them.

Fama has written a tense, fast-paced horror story that gets more and more horrific the longer you read. Just like Hiraya’s impossible house, there’s a fresh terror behind every door. Ranoco House is almost a character itself, a gloomy, candlelit mansion (there is no electricity) where each woman in the Ranoco family has added additional rooms (although we’re never told how they accomplished such a feat)/ The result is a house full of never-ending rooms, corridors that twist and change, underground passageways, and even one room with a monstrous tree growing out of the floor. The house is populated with dozens of servants who linger against the walls, hide their faces behind masks and veils, and serve up feasts of freshly slaughtered meat. The servants turned out to be one of the creepiest elements of the story for me, especially since the reader isn’t sure whether they’re alive or dead or what their real purpose is.

Then there are the insects, which play a horrific part in the story. Unfortunately I can’t go into detail due to spoilers, but I will say “body horror + insects = very bad stuff indeed” and leave the rest to your imagination. The generations of Ranoco women are tied to the house in a very disturbing way, and the author describes these horrors without flinching. Josephine, Alejandro and Gabriella are thrust into this nightmare when they’re forced to play Hiraya’s deadly game, and Josephine takes on the burden of trying to break the cycle, hoping to save her friend. Many of the horror elements are pulled from Filipino folklore, like the aswang, who are monster-like creatures who eat the dead.

I loved the setting and time period, and it was so interesting to learn about a time and place in history that was new to me. Fama goes into detail about the awful political situation at the time, when President Marcos ruled the country with an iron fist. It felt eerily familiar to what’s going on in politics in the United States right now, and I couldn’t help but think that history is repeating itself. She also explores how Marcos’s rule has affected the characters, especially Josephine and Alejandro, who bear emotional scars from the loss of their parents and extended family due to political reasons. There’s a finally a glimmer of hope, though, as people are beginning to stand up to Marcos’s regime and fight back.

Fama’s evocative writing is perfect for this story, full of vivid imagery that brings every terrible detail to life. The gothic vibe is so strong in this book, and if you enjoyed Mexican Gothic, you’ll probably love this too. The author uses tried and true gothic tropes like stormy weather, dangerous cliffs and hidden caverns, but she twists these tropes into something unique.

I also loved the way the characters interact with each other, and these relationships added even more tension to the story. Josephine loves her brother, but she’s upset that he’s cut her off from her inheritance and left her alone in the family house. Alejandro is an awful brother with old fashioned attitudes about women, but luckily Josephine isn’t afraid to stand up for herself. I also loved the tension between Hiraya and the others. No one really likes her, especially since her family is rumored to be witches—or even aswang. But she has a way of drawing the others into her game, whether they like it or not, and even though I knew things were only going to get worse, I could not stop reading. I also want to mention Hiraya’s sister Sidapa, who ended up being one of my favorite characters, although she’s sort of a mystery for most of the story.

The ending did not disappoint, and I loved the Epilogue, which jumps ahead a few years to show where everyone ended up. Over all, House of Monstrous Women is a fresh take on the gothic subgenre, perfectly written and paced, and is a must read for all horror fans. I can’t wait to read Daphne Fama’s next book!

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.