KABA: 50 Maikling Kuwento ng Kababalaghan at Katatakutan!!!

by Yvette Tan

A collection of 50 short stories of phenomenon and fear.

Genres: Horror

96 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2013

About the author

YVETTE NATALIE U. TAN is a Manila-based horror writer. Her works have been published in The Philippine Free Press, the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the Manila Times, Uno magazine, Rogue magazine, Story Philippines, and the Philippine Genre Stories, among others.

Her fiction has also appeared in anthologies such as Sleepless in Manila and Philippine Speculative Fiction II and III.

Reviews

[Jahnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
Yvette Tan is indeed the Queen of Pinoy Folk Horror. These are fun short stories (flash fiction) that mirror Pinoy culture---the type of stories you tell young kids to scare them off and the type of horror stories you tell each other by candlelight because there's no power (brownout). It would have been nice to say we tell these stories by the fire like the Are You Afraid of the Dark style but, hey, we are Pinoy, we have candle lighting instead.
It's impressive how in more or less 200 words, Yvette can cook up a horror story that can be a mix of scary, bizarre, and, to me, funny. I love the size of this book and I love the art. The red, white, and black theme is a sure win for me. A really fun read.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short and interesting read. Reading this made me reminisce my highschool days wherein we share short and scary stories. My fave was the Comfort Woman and Balete Drive. But all the other stories were also quite creepy. These stories are perfect to share during sleepovers- scary but not too scary that you won’t be able to sleep. The illustrations are bomb!

Kinilabutan ako sa mga kwento. Maganda and nakakatakot din ang mga guhit.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Horror is a state of mind.”

Indeed, we are afraid of different things. This book tells stories that everyone would find scary one way or another. Some stories in this book really left a mark on me and the illustrations also added the vibes to the story.

A core memory that I finish this book while waiting in line of the author’s book signing.

[Alexx (obscure.pages) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finished this today! This was definitely a great, short read. And a good choice for horror season 🫣

There were a few standouts (creepy and disturbing) and some that are just okay. But overall, loved the way the author can build suspense and fear in a few paragraphs. Like this is 50 short stories/flash fiction! That's actually already impressive for me 😭

One favorite is the Balete Drive. Balete Drive is a street here in the Philippines known/mostly associated with the "white lady" urban legend. But here, the author was able to subvert that. I found that so interesting and effective 👀

Exact rating: 3.5

Find me elsewhere: Instagram | Twitter | Blog

[Tess Blanch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kaba is a collection of 50 short stories on phenomenon, fear, horror, supernatural, strange things that sometimes bordering beyond ordinary explanation.

Written in Tagalog, it wasn’t hard to follow and understand and it makes all the more real and scary. Your imaginations get the better of you while reading this, always on your mind, thinking about what you have read. Also, I know these are horror stories but there are stories that I find myself shaking my head in bewilderment, in amusement and even laughing. I guess it lightens an otherwise serious horrific stories.

As with other short story collections, some are really good, some are just okay, some are even “corny” lol. But nevertheless I believe and confirm that Yvette Tan is the queen of Philippine horror stories.

[Mx. Andy Feje · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sa palagay ko, hindi Tagalog ang best language ni Yvette sa pagkukwento. Ang awkward ng sentence construction niya rito, minsan tunog iniisip sa English na directly tnraslate. Parang dagli na Philippine Horror Stories vibe, mejs cliche ang ibang kuwento. May ilang wrong grammar at typo. Best audience siguro nito ay HS students.

Tatlo kuwento ang nagustuhan ko rito. Iyong Chopsticks, Papel, at Adobo.

[Luisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just ordinary tales of horror, no special bit here whatsoever.

[aya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Omki lang, yvette tan set the bar too high for me sa other short stories niya kaya this is just an "ok" read for me. Quite understandable since these are more of "one-shots" stories lang.

[Kat Elle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kaba offers 50 quick horror flash fictions that make for an intriguing, bite-sized read. While I enjoyed many of the stories, coming from the queen of Philippine horror, I couldn’t help but feel most of them fell a bit short of the high expectations I had.