What do you think?
Rate this book
Muladona
1918. The dying days of World War I, the Spanish flu devastates the small town of Incarnation, Texas. The sheriff closes the church and quarantines the dying in the schoolhouse. The townsfolk huddle alone in their houses to avoid infection. Each new day brings fresh corpses.
But something worse than the flu is coming.
Verge Strömberg, son of the domineering town pastor, is a sickly boy who lives in a world of books. His mother disappeared when he was seven, his older brother ran away. Now his father leaves him to tend a church in another county.
That’s when the Muladona begins to visit him.
Every night, the Muladona, a doomed soul transformed into the Devil’s mule, visits Verge and forces him to listen to a horrific tale. Each night, as Verge huddles under his bed sheets, the monster’s supernatural tales tear his soul apart.
Verge’s search for the demonic creature’s true identity leads him through the dark history of Incarnation, from the murder of the Indians by the Spanish settlers, to the disappearance of his mother.
In the end, Verge will have to confront the Muladona alone to rescue the memory of his mother and to save his immortal soul.
But something worse than the flu is coming.
Verge Strömberg, son of the domineering town pastor, is a sickly boy who lives in a world of books. His mother disappeared when he was seven, his older brother ran away. Now his father leaves him to tend a church in another county.
That’s when the Muladona begins to visit him.
Every night, the Muladona, a doomed soul transformed into the Devil’s mule, visits Verge and forces him to listen to a horrific tale. Each night, as Verge huddles under his bed sheets, the monster’s supernatural tales tear his soul apart.
Verge’s search for the demonic creature’s true identity leads him through the dark history of Incarnation, from the murder of the Indians by the Spanish settlers, to the disappearance of his mother.
In the end, Verge will have to confront the Muladona alone to rescue the memory of his mother and to save his immortal soul.
- GenresHorror
290 pages, Hardcover
First published April 18, 2016
10 people are currently reading
244 people want to read
About the author
Eric Stener Carlson
17 books11 followersEric Stener Carlson (Minnesota, 1969) is an author currently based in Geneva, Switzerland.
He wrote his first book, "I Remember Julia: Voices of the Disappeared" (Temple University Press, 1996), when he was right out of college. It is based on his work with the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team identifying the remains of people killed by the military dictatorship in the 1970s. After working for the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in the 1990s, he wrote his second book, "The Pear Tree: Is Torture Ever Justified?" (Clarity Press, 2006), a very personal investigation into the use of torture and its moral consequences.
Eric became a novelist with the publication of "The Saint Perpetuus Club of Buenos Aires" (Tartarus Press, 2009), a surreal, supernatural mystery. He followed this up with the novel, "Muladona" (Tartarus Press, 2016), "Anxiety of Ghosts" (Amazon, 2017) and his first short story collection, "GAS" (Abraxas Press, 2018). He has a number of other novel projects in the works.
His short stories and articles have appeared in journals in the US, UK, Argentina and Spain.
Eric holds a BA in International Affairs from The American University, an MA in International Affairs from Columbia University and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California at Santa Barbara. He was also a Fulbright scholar affiliated with the University of Buenos Aires.
Eric frequently lectures and is always happy to give talks to book clubs and universities.
He wrote his first book, "I Remember Julia: Voices of the Disappeared" (Temple University Press, 1996), when he was right out of college. It is based on his work with the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team identifying the remains of people killed by the military dictatorship in the 1970s. After working for the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in the 1990s, he wrote his second book, "The Pear Tree: Is Torture Ever Justified?" (Clarity Press, 2006), a very personal investigation into the use of torture and its moral consequences.
Eric became a novelist with the publication of "The Saint Perpetuus Club of Buenos Aires" (Tartarus Press, 2009), a surreal, supernatural mystery. He followed this up with the novel, "Muladona" (Tartarus Press, 2016), "Anxiety of Ghosts" (Amazon, 2017) and his first short story collection, "GAS" (Abraxas Press, 2018). He has a number of other novel projects in the works.
His short stories and articles have appeared in journals in the US, UK, Argentina and Spain.
Eric holds a BA in International Affairs from The American University, an MA in International Affairs from Columbia University and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California at Santa Barbara. He was also a Fulbright scholar affiliated with the University of Buenos Aires.
Eric frequently lectures and is always happy to give talks to book clubs and universities.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
November 19, 2016
like a 4.5 or so. I hate star ratings.
Based in part on an old Catalan legend, this novel is set in 1918 as the Spanish Influenza is raging across the United States. The action takes place in the very small town of Incarnation, Texas, where a young boy has been left alone for various reasons and finds himself facing a legend come to life. He has seven nights to guess the real name of this horrific creature, the muladona; if he fails, the creature promises to drag him to down to hell. For seven nights the muladona visits and tells our young hero stories which contain seeds of information that the boy must somehow fit together to make the right guess. As time begin to winds down, well ... let's just say my stomach was in knots wondering if he'd make it.
Eric Stener Carlson dazzled me with his The St Perpetuus Club of Buenos Aires, and now he's won me with this book as well. Muladona is original, fresh, and above all, it is a thinking person's horror novel, which I genuinely appreciate. It's not some slapdash book that's been thrown together -- au contraire -- it is very nicely constructed, well thought out and intelligently written. Don't miss this one -- mine is the hardcover copy, but there is an e-book available as well. Highly, highly recommended for readers who enjoy the work of excellent writers and for people who like their horror novels more on the cerebral side. This is a good one, folks.
more re this book here:
http://www.oddlyweirdfiction.com/2016...
Based in part on an old Catalan legend, this novel is set in 1918 as the Spanish Influenza is raging across the United States. The action takes place in the very small town of Incarnation, Texas, where a young boy has been left alone for various reasons and finds himself facing a legend come to life. He has seven nights to guess the real name of this horrific creature, the muladona; if he fails, the creature promises to drag him to down to hell. For seven nights the muladona visits and tells our young hero stories which contain seeds of information that the boy must somehow fit together to make the right guess. As time begin to winds down, well ... let's just say my stomach was in knots wondering if he'd make it.
Eric Stener Carlson dazzled me with his The St Perpetuus Club of Buenos Aires, and now he's won me with this book as well. Muladona is original, fresh, and above all, it is a thinking person's horror novel, which I genuinely appreciate. It's not some slapdash book that's been thrown together -- au contraire -- it is very nicely constructed, well thought out and intelligently written. Don't miss this one -- mine is the hardcover copy, but there is an e-book available as well. Highly, highly recommended for readers who enjoy the work of excellent writers and for people who like their horror novels more on the cerebral side. This is a good one, folks.
more re this book here:
http://www.oddlyweirdfiction.com/2016...
September 5, 2018
Intense, labyrinthine and frightening story with a real soul to it! I've red it 5 times cause I'm working to adapt it as a concept album with my band and each reading has made me discover new links between all the seven tales and the main story. This is great art if you like horror stories with real depth! Highly recommanded!
September 23, 2019
2.5 stars
There are some intriguing ideas in this unusual horror novel set in early 20th century Texas during the first World War and the worldwide outbreak of Spanish flu, but the execution is so amateurish, the dialogue so laboured and sometimes laughable, that it's hard to get beyond the words on the page to see and feel what the author is trying to convey.
The first half of the book is considerably better than the second and some of the Muladona's early stories are exceptionally well told, in an old-fashioned style that fits the historical character of the narrative beautifully and is strongly reminiscent of actual horror fiction of the era the book is set in. Had Carlson kept to that style while expanding the slightly claustrophobic story outward this might have been a fine book, but as more characters arrive and the first-person narrator is forced to engage in dialogue, the whole thing falls apart and the end result is melodramatic and risible rather than horrific in effect. The last chapter (before the epilogue) is one of the most eye-rollingly bad things I've ever read. (I do have to wonder where the editor was here-why didn't anyone rein Carlson in? Why didn't they say "Hey, you had a good thing going before but this is just a bit much. Maybe you could tone that ultraviolet prose down to a nice lavender or something..." Why don't editors do things anymore?!?)
There are some intriguing ideas in this unusual horror novel set in early 20th century Texas during the first World War and the worldwide outbreak of Spanish flu, but the execution is so amateurish, the dialogue so laboured and sometimes laughable, that it's hard to get beyond the words on the page to see and feel what the author is trying to convey.
The first half of the book is considerably better than the second and some of the Muladona's early stories are exceptionally well told, in an old-fashioned style that fits the historical character of the narrative beautifully and is strongly reminiscent of actual horror fiction of the era the book is set in. Had Carlson kept to that style while expanding the slightly claustrophobic story outward this might have been a fine book, but as more characters arrive and the first-person narrator is forced to engage in dialogue, the whole thing falls apart and the end result is melodramatic and risible rather than horrific in effect. The last chapter (before the epilogue) is one of the most eye-rollingly bad things I've ever read. (I do have to wonder where the editor was here-why didn't anyone rein Carlson in? Why didn't they say "Hey, you had a good thing going before but this is just a bit much. Maybe you could tone that ultraviolet prose down to a nice lavender or something..." Why don't editors do things anymore?!?)
April 30, 2025
a marketing disaster. researching this book as a potential book club submission, i came to expect a work of 'elevated' literary horror, which this very clearly isn't, and probably was never intended to be. somewhere in the first leg of this book, the MC mentions using classic adventure books to escape his situation at home. this, i believe, is much closer to what the book was aiming at. this is a horror book for teenagers, which thirteen year old me might have fallen in love with but which, from twenty five years old me, only gets three stars.
don't believe me? here's the basic schema for this book: after a relatively idyllic growing up, we watch the MC's happy childhood home quickly unravel, then the monster appears as a catalyst for the MC to become independent from his father and grow into his own, as well as a rite of passage. ultimately, this novel seems to tell us (alongside the MC) not to let others define for us what we're capable of and to hold on. true, the novel also touches on generational trauma but, since when do literary horror stories come with such a clear moral?
and furthermore, why is this novel so afraid of ambiguity, rather than revel in it? i came in expecting a sort of locked room mystery, where the protagonist would seriously need to interrogate his past and his own memories to arrive at the solution, but instead, the door is broken down by day four, and much of the critical information is revealed by creeping and peeping around various locations, leading always to a predictable encounter with the Muladona. and what of that horrendous, horrendous ending, where every secret (even those we didn't even have a clue were there) is spelled out, and the monster is quite literally defeated by the power of love?
this is not to criticise the novel for what it isn't, which is the laziest, most useless form of criticism, but to show that many of the flaws i see in this novel turn into positive features as soon as i change my expectations and look at this novel from the perspective of a YA novel (YA in the proper LeGuin sense, not the thing it's turned into in the past decades.) unfortunately, i'm not a teenager anymore, and i can't experience the novel as one. i can only rate this novel as the adult i am
all i can say is i enjoyed the core mystery as well as a few of the Muladona's stories, even if i recognise this novel probably wasn't for me.
don't believe me? here's the basic schema for this book: after a relatively idyllic growing up, we watch the MC's happy childhood home quickly unravel, then the monster appears as a catalyst for the MC to become independent from his father and grow into his own, as well as a rite of passage. ultimately, this novel seems to tell us (alongside the MC) not to let others define for us what we're capable of and to hold on. true, the novel also touches on generational trauma but, since when do literary horror stories come with such a clear moral?
and furthermore, why is this novel so afraid of ambiguity, rather than revel in it? i came in expecting a sort of locked room mystery, where the protagonist would seriously need to interrogate his past and his own memories to arrive at the solution, but instead, the door is broken down by day four, and much of the critical information is revealed by creeping and peeping around various locations, leading always to a predictable encounter with the Muladona. and what of that horrendous, horrendous ending, where every secret (even those we didn't even have a clue were there) is spelled out, and the monster is quite literally defeated by the power of love?
this is not to criticise the novel for what it isn't, which is the laziest, most useless form of criticism, but to show that many of the flaws i see in this novel turn into positive features as soon as i change my expectations and look at this novel from the perspective of a YA novel (YA in the proper LeGuin sense, not the thing it's turned into in the past decades.) unfortunately, i'm not a teenager anymore, and i can't experience the novel as one. i can only rate this novel as the adult i am
all i can say is i enjoyed the core mystery as well as a few of the Muladona's stories, even if i recognise this novel probably wasn't for me.
October 5, 2016
I bought this on the strength of the author's superb debut (?) novel "The St. Perpetuus Club of Buenos Aires" which is an excellent, superbly constructed and very gripping read, too. This story is steeped in traditional lore and dreams, it glistens with atmospheric detail and it certainly didn't disappoint. It's not visceral horror (thank god) but a slow suspenseful very unsettling strange tale. It's not light entertainment but a work of literary genius, a story that has the scope and subtlety to truly haunt you. I would definitely buy any new book Mr Stener Carlson publishes. I've read this in the hardcover format from Yorkshire's extraordinary independent publishing house Tartarus. It's a story that belongs among sturdy, well designed covers.
February 25, 2017
Terrifying, profound, and beautifully written. Eric Stener Carlson is a great story teller. His erudition is evident from the many interesting references to literature and folklore. His humanity is evident on every page. Horror novels don't usually move me to tears. This one did. Highly recommended!
December 28, 2020
Carlson's book is a real mix of genres, ranging from southern gothic and coming of age, to horror and fantasy.
Consequently, it will have different meaning to different people, depending on the level on which it is read. To me, it was about the coping mechanisms a young boy uses to get through a very troubled adolescence. I can't recall this used as a literary theme before, except perhaps in Ness's A Monster Calls.
It is set in 1918, just as the Great War is ending in a small town in Texas which has become devastated by the Spanish Flu. The boy concerned, Verge, is the sickly son of a puritanical town pastor, with a high-achieving older brother who he worships, and an absent mother who disappeared 4 years earlier when he was 8.
As in Ness's novel, he is visited by a monster.
Like the family of the protagonist, Carlson is Swedish. Previous to this he wrote about his work with the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team identifying the remains of people killed by the military dictatorship in the 1970s. Credit must go to Tartarus Press in North Yorkshire for unearthing and publishing this, however it remains little known.
If there is a weakness, I would raise that the style of writing differs as the novel progresses. There were times I thought it was written for young adults, but other times when it most certainly is not. Of course, that may well be intentional.
It is a really interesting piece of work.
Consequently, it will have different meaning to different people, depending on the level on which it is read. To me, it was about the coping mechanisms a young boy uses to get through a very troubled adolescence. I can't recall this used as a literary theme before, except perhaps in Ness's A Monster Calls.
It is set in 1918, just as the Great War is ending in a small town in Texas which has become devastated by the Spanish Flu. The boy concerned, Verge, is the sickly son of a puritanical town pastor, with a high-achieving older brother who he worships, and an absent mother who disappeared 4 years earlier when he was 8.
As in Ness's novel, he is visited by a monster.
Like the family of the protagonist, Carlson is Swedish. Previous to this he wrote about his work with the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team identifying the remains of people killed by the military dictatorship in the 1970s. Credit must go to Tartarus Press in North Yorkshire for unearthing and publishing this, however it remains little known.
If there is a weakness, I would raise that the style of writing differs as the novel progresses. There were times I thought it was written for young adults, but other times when it most certainly is not. Of course, that may well be intentional.
It is a really interesting piece of work.
November 13, 2020
sometimes felt like i should be reading this in my teens. but overall the sweltering horror tale rorcal promised it would be
April 5, 2020
3.75/5 for this one.
October 23, 2022
Love it!!!! This book is fascinating, so well written. The individual tales within the main story are superb, specially Sand Castle. Brilliant!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 3, 2018
See my review here: http://www.whistlingshade.com/1701/Mu...
November 1, 2025
A chilling, fable-like concept that slowly loses its ability to stay interesting the entire way through due to some stilted dialogue, convoluted plot points, and the uneven quality of the short story portions. The bleak, hollow nature of the rural Texas setting and the historical backdrop added alongside it are a highlight, as is Verge’s first few interactions with the Muladona, which are genuinely terrifying. Themes surrounding religion, racism, and abuse were present but never fully realized, and the conclusion of this book felt neither earned nor particularly exhilarating.
June 26, 2020
I found the author's writing quite poor and the story simpler than I was expecting. The tales told by the Muladona were, as another reviewer mentioned here, often more interesting than the story itself. Towards the end of the book though I found it overall to be improving, and thus my rating is 4 and not 3 stars.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews