The Villa, Once Beloved

Praise for The Villa, Once Beloved “For all its beauty, no saints, no heroes, no angels inhabit this villa — only ghosts and secrets. Manibo has crafted a pitch-perfect modern gothic, in which the personal is political and there is no such thing as the past: only facets of a dangerous and suffocating present.” —Premee Mohamed, Nebula, World Fantasy, and Aurora Award-winning author “Manibo is the kind of writer who knows what's forever: the gothic, the triumph of queers, the family fable. He puts all that up against what cannot stand: colonialism, small-mindedness, the lies that keep us from ourselves. The Villa Once Beloved is a now and forever banger.” —Meg Elison, author of The Pill “The Villa, Once Beloved is a tale of eerie legacy, one branded with the mark of colonization and the haunting of family. It weighs the present against the past that paid for it. Victor Manibo steeps us deep in Filipino heritage, hierarchy, and history, crafting a tale that will keep your lights on at night.” —Markus Redmond, actor, screenwriter, and author of Blood Slaves “A harrowing tale delving into dark Filipino history, Manibo’s vintage style renews the gothic trope of haunted houses with the Sepulveda villa. A character all its own, the villa is secretive yet revealing, cursed yet still loved, frightening yet wounded. An unsettling read of horrific colonial atrocities and the aftermath of generational trauma.” —Shannon Morgan, author of Her Little Flowers and Grimdark