Review: House of Monstrous Women by Daphne Fama

House of Monstrous Women

by Daphne Fama

Release Date: August 12, 2025

2025 Berkley

Ebook ARC; 336 Pages

ISBN: 978-0593817582

ASIN: B0DMV7RCXZ

Audiobook: B0DNLVGJ3G

Genre: Fiction / Horror / Gothic

Source: Review copy from publisher

 

3.5 / 5 Stars

 

Summary

Orphaned after her father’s political campaign ended in tragedy, Josephine is alone taking care of the family home while her older brother is off in Manila, where revolution brews. But an unexpected invitation from her childhood friend Hiraya to her house offers an escape....

Why don’t you come visit, and we can play games like we used to?

If Josephine wins, she’ll get whatever her heart desires. Except Ranoco house is strange—labyrinthine and dangerously close to a treacherous sea. A sickly-sweet smell clings to the dimly lit walls, and veiled eyes follow Josephine through endless connecting rooms. The air is tense with secrets and as the game continues it’s clear Josephine doesn’t have the whole truth. To save herself, she will have to play to win. But in this house, victory is earned with blood.

 

My Thoughts

House of Monstrous Women is one of those books to which I was drawn partly because of its Gothic undertones, but also because it's set in the Philippines just before the return of democracy and government reforms aided by the People Power Revolution. Having lost her family to political machinations, Josephine was just trying to protect her family home the best way she could so when the invitation came from one of her friends, one that could potentially help secure her future, she just couldn't resist.

 

One of the best things about this book was the descriptions about the Philippines, something I really appreciated. I enjoyed the family dynamics, the power plays, and learning more about the political system at the time through the characters and their motivations. While not necessarily a central motivation for these characters, it definitely shaped their lives and their actions and had a powerful influence on the choices they made.  What I often find interesting in situations like these is how some people throw themselves into the midst of everything that is happening while others shut themselves off completely and pretend that nothing is occurring, so we have this dichonomy happening in this book which reflect human nature. 

 

The gothic aspect to this novel was definitely atmospheric and haunting and visiting that house would give me the creeps for sure, I did find the actual story to be somewhat slow. I don't typically tend to mind when horror books are slow at the beginning as long as the tension is there and this was not necessarily the case as I felt pulled out from the book for various reasons. Then the tension would build again, then nothing. However, by about the sixty percent mark, it finally picked up and took off, and I thought the later part of the book was the most interesting. I did like how the horror elements were combined with local folklore. Plus, the many themes running through this book include things like inherited trauma, women's rights and liberties, family, loyalty, trust, betrayal, and friendship. 

 

Verdict

House of Monstrous Women had a very atmospheric setting and I really enjoyed this author's writing style. I did feel like the tension was a bit erratic and if you are going to have the tension build up slowly, it needs to be more consistent so the reader doesn't get thrown out of the story. I like how the political situation was woven around local folklore and enjoyed learning about both of these. Unfortunately, I didn't quite connect with the characters and I really did wish the author had spent more time exploring the game element as that was the most interesting. If you like slow burn horror, this book may be just the thing you are looking for.