The Midnight Timetable

This is the perfect bite-sized horror book: a collection of haunting ghost stories easily consumed in one sitting. Through vivid imagery and biting rhythm, Bora Chung creates a vicious atmosphere, critiquing society and the selfish and stupid actions people take for fame, money, and their own comfort.

Framed as the tales exchanged between a night guard at The Institute and their sunbae (senior), we get a glimpse of humanity and its violence through the things they guard from the outside world. Interconnected in a way that creates a steady flow, we’re given tiny stories that can be applied to the real world: sheep that can give correct fortunes, a ‘beloved’ handkerchief, and an unfortunate cat; these objects and animals all have a story of how they came to be at The Institute. Tragedies often cause people to ‘leave things behind’, whether that’s anger, guilt, or pain, both humans and animals feel a need to right a wrong. Exploring themes of animal cruelty, conversion therapy, family dysfunction, and much more, Chung deftly and sharply unsettles the reader, making them turn the page before they know it. We begin to wonder if the hauntings are the ones that need protection from humans.

As with all collections of short stories, some stood out more than others. My personal favourites are ‘Why Does The Cat’ and ‘Blue Bird’, but none of these stories fell short of engaging. They all had their own delightfully unique twists and ends.

It is a gift and a curse that we only know so much of the world these stories take place in. The unknowable, as Chung describes it, is what makes a ghost story frightening, and she has done a superb job of writing something both chilling, and beautiful in its entirety. Both horror fanatics and newcomers to the genre will devour this powerful and witty collection.