Victor Manibo is an inspiration to all of us for his ability to traverse so many different genres and also bring to life Filipino culture and heritage from the inside. His story “The Villa, Once Beloved” is now out and is firmly inside the “House horror” genre that places scenes inside or around a house and grounds.
ASK THE AUTHOR ANYTHING: https://www.reddit.com/r/PHBookClub/comments/1t5mf2u/comment/okv0k4t/
As we all know, it’s not actually the house (or is it?), all drama backwards and forwards is about family, secrets, shame, and legacy.
Here’s the blurb from victormanibo.com
“A dark history is unearthed amid crumbling façades in Lambda Literary fellow Victor Manibo’s new gothic tale of family, homecoming, and postcolonial vengeance . . .
“Villa Sepulveda is a storied relic of the Philippines’ past: a Spanish colonial manor, its moldering stonework filled with centuries-old heirlooms, nestled in a remote coconut plantation. When their patriarch dies mysteriously, his far-flung family returns to their ancestral home. Filipino-American student Adrian Sepulveda invites his college girlfriend, Sophie, a transracial adoptee who knows little about her own Filipino heritage, to the funeral of a man who was entwined with the history of the country itself.
“Sophie soon learns that there is more to the Sepulvedas than a grand tradition of political and entrepreneurial success. Adrian’s relatives clash viciously amid grief, confusion, and questions about the family curse that their matriarch refuses to answer. When a landslide traps them all in the villa, secrets begin to emerge, revealing sins both intimately personal and unthinkably public.
“Sifting through fact, folklore, and fiction, Sophie finds herself at the center of a reckoning. As a series of ill omens befall the villa, Sophie must decide whom to trust—and whom to flee—before the family’s true legacy comes to take its revenge . . .”
Please join us at Reddit May 16, 2026 at 10am Eastern if you want to add your questions, or add them in advance and we’ll ask alongside Victor. Stay tuned with our website for the recording. We’re looking forward to learning more about Victor’s process, methodology, and how he maintains his creative practice.