Safe Return Doubtful

Chilean Literature translated by Robin Myers – Horror – Published August 2025

Pedro is a widower with two children, 16 year old Pato who is on a long suspension from school, and 10 year old Cata. He works on a eucalyptus plantation in the Nahuelbuta mountains of central Chile (a place I know well). He and his fellow workers become infected with a strange fungal disease. Fungi do seem to cause a lot of problems in horror lit..
It leaves Pedro in a coma and kills the others in his team. He comes round after a couple of days and starts muttering unidentified words, which get overheard by a local leader of a cult, who decides Pedro is a prophet, kidnaps him and leaves his children to fend for themselves.

Though in the title, Pedro himself, is a catalyst rather than a character with any depth, we barely see him. The narrative focuses on the children, and chapters alternate between them and Giovanna Oddó, a mycologist, trained in the UK but who has now returned to Chile to continue her research. She intersects with Pedro and Patricio briefly, when she is called in to consult on Pedro’s case; but otherwise her proximity is simply that she is in the area by coincidence. Her sections provide a cooler, more analytical take on events, which otherwise become more apocalyptic and horrific as the story proceeds.

There is a growing recognition that the entire story is narrated by a character yet to be revealed, someone who is responsible for the occasional footnotes adding context to various characters or events. It seems from the outset that the footnotes are not intended for the reader.
As far as I can make out, this is a debut novel for Trujillo, and he is brave and bold in the areas he goes to. I think though, that there is just a bit too much going on for 140 pages.

Rather foolishly, the publisher promises ‘a horrifying climax that readers will never forget’. Well.. I’ll forget it in no time. Horrific though it may be, it doesn’t match what has gone before, which is subtlety and intrigue. Could it be that the publisher wanted this from the author when it wasn’t there at first? It just doesn’t seem to fit..

My GoodReads score 4 / 5