I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.
The Night Guest by Hildur Knútsdóttir
Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Genre: Horror
Series: Stand Alone
Publisher: Nightfire (September 3, 2024)
Length: 197 pages
Author Information: Website
As with most novellas, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I picked up The Night Guest, but I was surprised how it was able to hook me from pretty much start to finish. Translated into English by Mary Robinette Kowal, the book also impressed me with how flowing and beautifully Icelandic author Hildur Knútsdóttir’s original narrative came through.
The story follows Iðunn, a woman living in Reykjavik, who is suffering from constant fatigue but she has no idea why. After numerous doctor visits and blood tests, expert after expert has told her they can find nothing wrong with her, which leaves her feeling helpless and unseen. Not convinced that her condition can be explained by psychosomatic or stress-related reasons, Iðunn eventually decides to take matters into her own hands. Determined to live healthier by getting better exercise and more rest, she buys a wearable device to track her steps and sleep hours.
One morning, after forgetting to take off her fitness watch the night before, she wakes to an unsettling surprise. The tracker shows she had logged over 40,000 steps—all while she was supposedly in her bed sleeping. Without being able to remember anything, Iðunn can’t know for sure, but might it be possible that she has been sleepwalking? At first, the realization is a relief. By identifying a possible reason for her fatigue, she can take steps to find a solution to the problem. Soon, however, things take an even darker turn. Instead of progress, all her interventions seem to make her situation worse. Iðunn starts waking up with bruises. Ripped clothes. Dirty torn nails. Wounds on her face. Blood all over her hands. The harder she tries to unravel this mystery, the worse her fear and paranoia gets. Something terrible is happening to her after she falls asleep, and the deeper she digs, the more horror she uncovers.
While The Night Guest was a quick read, it still packed quite a punch. Better yet, it managed to do this with subtlety. Looking back, nothing about the book was overtly scary, but the vibes were definitely disturbing and…creepy. As someone who wears a Fitbit to track my own activity, the scene where Iðunn wakes up to see the tens of thousands of steps she doesn’t remember taking sent a shiver down my spine. I was transported into the character’s head and felt her alarm and fear.
I was also sympathetic to Iðunn even though I doubt she was meant to be very likeable. She’s made plenty of poor choices in her past and has clear blind spots regarding her health and her relationships. But the way the character is written as an unreliable narrator heightens the suspense. Is her strange behavior the result of the paranormal or simply signs of her rapidly deteriorating mental state? The ambiguity keeps the reader guessing, so you’re never quite sure where the story will take you next.
My only criticism is minor but concerns the ending. There just weren’t enough answers! While I can understand why an author might want to preserve a bit of mystery, in this case, a less ambiguous conclusion would have made it better and more satisfying.
Ultimately, The Night Guest is an unsettling and tightly written novella that blends horror and psychological suspense to great effect. It’s a super quick read, but solid. Full of tension and strange, dark moments, this bite-sized tale would be the perfect pick for the spooky season. Highly recommended for readers who enjoy stories that blur the line between reality and the paranormal.
