Seek Ye Whore and Other Stories

by Yvette Tan

Yvette Tan, one of the Philippines’ most celebrated horror writers, returns with her second short story collection. Two friends adapt in a zombie-infested Angeles City. At Luneta Park, a girl and a young tikbalang begin their journey to save the last moon. A brothel in Poblacion offers an expecting father pleasures he cannot resist. And in the titular story, an American unwittingly purchases a mail-order bride from the mystical island of Siquijor. From stories of youthful charm with supernatural twists, to provocative tales of unassuming humans willingly falling prey to creatures with manicured talons, Seek Ye Whore and Other Stories forms a panoramic view of the Filipino experience—sometimes humorous and touching, oftentimes dark and forbidding.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fantasy, Fiction, Anthologies, Paranormal, Adult

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2022

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

[Gerald The Bookworm · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE THIS!!!! I freaking love this!!!!

Waking the Dead by the same author is that cringey teenage photo of you and this -- THIS SEEK YE WHORE is your GLOW UP PHOTO!

I love all of the stories in this anthology!

Walang tapon!!!

[Lance · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars. Akin to a bloodied monster lurking underneath the skin of a beautiful stranger, See Ye Whore and Other Stories is a criminally underrated collection of fantasy and horror narratives inspired by Filipino folklore that surprised me with how much I loved/was horrified by it.

[Alianah · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love evil sexy women and lesbian aswangs

[Trish · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️½ (3.5/5)

This collection definitely gave me a lot to think about, but also left me scratching my head at times. Some of the stories, like Fold Up Boy and Seek Ye Whore, were really gripping. There was this raw, eerie energy to them that made me feel both unsettled and intrigued. I could’ve easily read a whole novel based on those. But then, there were others, like The Club and All the Birds, that just made me go, “Huh?” The endings didn’t feel as satisfying, and there were a lot of loose threads I couldn’t quite tie together.

What I loved was how the stories kept me on edge. Everything was unpredictable, and you never quite knew where they were headed. But on the flip side, some stories felt too rushed, and I found myself wishing they had been given more space to breathe. All in all, I enjoyed the book, even though most of the stories left me hanging with questions. Still, there’s something about Tan’s storytelling that sticks with you, even the weird bits!

[Jireh · Rating 4 out of 5]

a pretty solid collection all in all

3.75 (rounded up)

[Jahnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome! I enjoyed all the stories. This collection highlights how Philippine folklore can be creatively explored not only for its magic and mysticism, but also for its eerieness.
The first section of this book is more for the tamed and general audience, PG-stuff that dwells more on mysticism and creative horror fiction. The second part is more for audiences who love dark, graphic descriptions and are prepared to be pleasantly horrified. Of course I love the second-part stories more: All the Birds, The Club, Dead Season (which reminded me of the TV series "From"), Her Room Was Her Temple, and Seek Ye Whore.

[yanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

black mirror but make it filipino

[ian without an e · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is okay but it’s nothing to write home about. The premise of the individual stories are interesting although some of them should’ve stayed in the drafts as they felt underdeveloped and bland.

I really liked The Last Moon since it felt like a celebration of the rich Philippine mythology while also featuring our distinguished folk creatures. All the birds is also a nice retelling of the aswang ritual. Lost Girl and Fold up boy felt more personal which I also appreciated.

The Club, Her Room Was Her Temple, and Seek ye whore all seemed similar, leaning into disturbing implications, yet also feel predictable if I’m being honest.


Demon Summoning Made Easy - 1 🌟
Fresh Fruit for Rotting Corpses - 3 🌟
The Last Moon - 5 🌟
Lost Girl - 5🌟
Fold up boy - 5🌟
Ronnie Joins the Band - 1 🌟
Advanced Demonology - 1 🌟
All the Birds - 5🌟
The Club - 2 🌟
Dead Season - 2 🌟
Her Room Was Her Temple - 3 🌟
Seek ye Whore - 4 🌟

Total 3 🌟

Favorite stories: ranked
1.) The Last Moonlight
2.) Fold up Boy
3.) All the Birds
4.) Lost Girl

[Biena Magbitang · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sharp take on horror. The stories are short, readable, and easy to move through, which I appreciated. It is the kind of collection you can finish quickly without feeling drained.

Some stories land stronger than others. A few have this hard-to-pin-down vibe, polished but self-aware in a way that feels almost too curated. You know that feeling when something is intentionally edgy and literary at the same time.

Overall, it is bold and confident in its themes. Even if not every piece stayed with me, I respect what it was trying to do.

[Sai theengineerisreading · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this as part of Akdang Pinoy and Talk Bookish to me PH November 2024 book of the month and I enjoyed it as expected.

I am not a big fan of horror novels and short stories but surprisingly, I finished this in one sitting.

The Philippines is home to many lores, myth creatures, and superstitious beliefs that are perfect for a scary work of art and in Seek ye Whore, Yvette Tan compiled ten short stories revolving on character experiences that range from odd to eerie, stomach-turning to grisly.

[Ice M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Started out strong, maintained the momentum, and kept me hooked through every story. Walang tapon.

[Paula M · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can also read my review here!



Seek Ye Whore is the first book I’ve read by Yvette Tan and without a doubt, it won’t be the last. I still can’t get over how brilliant her writing is. I first picked up this book while traveling to Siquijor with a couple of friends last year, and it left such a mark on me that, even now as I write this review, I vividly recall the eerie, atmospheric world I was pulled into from the very first page to the last. The moment I read the introduction, I knew I was in for something unforgettable.

This book reads like a film, or better yet, a series. I’ll go so far as to say that it’s like Black Mirror vibes, but better. Yvette Tan’s writing is so crisp and vivid, you are no longer holding the book when you read it; you are inside along with the characters. Each story written contains a Filipino folklore element, which just made my reading experience better. Yvette Ta brilliantly transformed timeless lore and folk tales into fresh, modern, and darkly unique versions.

The collection hits that perfect balance: it leaves you wanting more, yet still completely satisfied. As I said at the beginning, Seek Ye Whore may have been my first Yvette Tan read, but it definitely won’t be my last.

Links: Instagram | Blog

[V, The Reading Turtle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay. So far, this is the best story collection by Yvette Tan. I was pleased with most of the stories. I can say now that the stories are finally leaning more toward horror, though there were still touches of mythology, but this time, they did not feel out of place like in the first book. Most of the endings are also pretty solid.

‎Fresh Fruit for Rotting Corpses – A disgusting but good apocalyptic story that was properly cut short. Kudos to the nod to Pampanga’s famous sisig.
‎
‎The Last Moon – What I liked about this story is that it was pure fantasy and not masquerading as something else. This would be a fun novel.
‎
‎Lost Girl – A very interesting concept, but I was left wanting more. I would have liked this more if additional horror elements were added.
‎
‎Fold Up Boy – One of my favorites. It started very creepy but ended with so much emotion.
‎
‎Ronnie Joins the Band – Brief but good.
‎
‎All the Birds – Not a big fan of this one, but I really liked the ending.
‎
‎The Club – I don’t know what to say. It’s so weird, but not bad.
‎
‎Dead Season – A very eerie, small-town-ish story. I liked the concealment of answers. I didn’t need to know what happened next—I was satisfied with the open-ended ending.
‎
‎Her Room Was Her Temple – A good story that warns us of the consequences of succumbing to worldliness. The ending shocked me.
‎
‎Seek Ye Whore – The best story in this collection. The title is very clever. The story, like the previous one, is another commentary—they have very similar warnings, but I liked this one more as a story. It was creepy but also satirical.
‎
‎I’m glad that this collection did not disappoint. These are the kinds of stories I want to read more of. These are the kinds of stories that, if turned into novels, I would definitely read.

[Pia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seek Ye Whore is Yvette Tan’s second horror story collection. With Tan being a Palanca winner, and the cover having a seal of its Finalist status in the National Book Awards, I came into this with high expectations and it did not disappoint! I was thoroughly enthralled by this book intellectually, and it was a great one-day read.

Two-Part Structure
The book is divided into two parts. The first part, “Demon Summoning Made Easy: Introduction”, is fiction with a supernatural twist. Its characters are in odd situations but they feel productive stress at most. The second part,“Advanced Demonology Booster Pack”, ups the terror ante. Love and lust corrodes the characters and drives them to the brink.

I found the texts introducing each section to be a bit silly. It's written like an audio instruction manual, contrasting the dry tone of functional text with the fantastical contents. The intended outcome doesn’t work though, because it can’t be a supernatural reimagining of the mundane if the format its subverting is not native to the target Filipino audience—A case of angat-patong if I’ve ever seen one.

Other than that, I found the structure itself to be quite inspired. It reminds me of Shake, Rattle & Roll 8, which had 13th Floor and LRT. It allows space for stories with supernatural elements while not exactly trying to be horrific.

Philippine Horror
On yvettetan.com’s About page, Yvette Tan is dubbed as “Queen of Philippine Horror Stories”. More than her multiple awards, I feel like Tan deserves this recognition for the distinct Filipino character of her stories. Her horror bends our reality into shapes we wouldn’t wish for ourselves, and through this she shines a light on the extremes tucked inside of us. To strike a chord, one must know the tune to which we sway, and Tan proves herself attuned to our inner workings throughout Seek Ye Whore.

A positive spin on this is in Fresh Fruit for Rotting Corpses. One of my favorite Seek Ye Whore stories, it's the zombie trope applied to our country.

It succeeds not because it makes sisig its MacGuffin, not because its characters have traditionally Filipino names, not because of the tangent on sisig’s history. Those are factors, and indeed they do lend themselves well to the strong overall atmosphere of the work. Its greatest strength is that these small details are held together by a strong central conceptualization, which puts the Filipino psyche front and center in this local reimagining of the zombie apocalypse.

“We became scavengers, a skill that only a few people had to learn because most Filipinos lived below the poverty line and were used to looking through the garbage for sustenance…It’s been said that we were luckier than a lot of countries. Being third world meant that we were used to a certain level of discomfort, a lack of things wealthier countries might call necessities. So many of us survived.”
—Page 3-4

The darkest entry in the book is the titular story, Seek Ye Whore. Here, Tan shows the objectification of our women when they enter transactional arrangements with American/foreign men. The Filipina mail-order-bride is sent piece-meal, in a box, like a Shopee package. Her limbs move without being whole, as it can serve their husbands even with just legs and vagina. They are not seen as people, but parts with functions. It's honestly genius writing, and it's only made possible by a writer allowing herself the audacity to chase down the status quo’s possibilities to its worst ends.

Get Darker
Before it's mined by academics and writers in search of subliminal social commentary, horror is measured first and foremost in how effectively it activates the base human emotions. The withheld fifth star is because of the fact that this could have benefitted from taking on a bit more depravity, in any direction. The text is perhaps too polished for its own good. I never really felt that strongly of anything, except for the initial shock value during the points of no return.

There’s so many scenes in the book that center on the corruption and decay of a body, so it would be a good opportunity to really get into the squeamish, or the horrific, or the gross. The best example being the titular story, Seek Ye Whore, which involves the slow descent of a man into the most grotesque way of fulfilling his desires. I feel like an extended elaboration on the body could have made it more than shock value. The things that Foster did to those legs could have given me nightmares. But it didn’t, because the story moved on too quickly. To give me nightmares, it would be necessary to make me stare at the decapitated body a bit longer than it takes to tell me about it.

Final Thoughts
In Seek Ye Whore, a reader will find familiar scenes through a twisted lens, and somehow find through it a more revealing reflection of ourselves. The 138-page short story collection took me one day to finish, as the snappy prose kept me thumbing through the pages. However, as it speeds through the events and spares us the rancid details, the text can sometimes not quite feel like horror. Seek Ye Whore has a lot of substance, could use a bit more style. I would recommend this to horror fans and non-horror fans alike.

Favorites: Fresh Fruit for Rotting Corpses, All the Birds
Least Favorites: The Last Moon, Fold Up Boy

Read this for Akdang Pinoy’s Book of the Month, November 2024

[kai · Rating 4 out of 5]

really enjoyed this one. truly atuhentic filipino feel to it. blending this many genres in one collection worked well.

truly understood why people link desire and hunger together. that said, parses cultural and political concerns insanely well.

loved how demon summoning made easy: introduction, then booster pack, sort of demarcates the themes of the stories in this collection. the first half, especially stories like last moon up until fold up boy, definitely feels geared towards younger readers. latter half blends horror and sexuality to make a statement about deadbeat men of our age.

would love to read more like this :)

[jhabelita · Rating 3 out of 5]

The gorier, the better

Average: 3.44

My rating per story:
1. Fresh Fruit from Rotting Corpses - 5/5
2. The Last Moon - 3/5
3. Lost Girl - 3/5
4. Fold Up Boy - 4/5
5. All the Birds - 2/5
6. The Club - 2/5
7. Dead Season - 2/5
8. Her Room Was Her Temple - 5/5
9. Seek Ye Whore - 5/5

[Justine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blending Filipino folklore, horror, dark humor, and razor-sharp social commentary, this collection is strange, unsettling, and impossible to forget. Some stories made me laugh, some made me squirm, and a few did both at the same time.

[Betsy Mae Partosa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite an interesting read and I was entertained story after story. I noticed how each one progressed from mild horror to extreme.

[Emmzxiee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brings horror and chills!!

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last two stories are five star worthy!!!

[Mark Alpheus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unapologetically Filipino. Highly recommended.

[EuGrace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seek Ye Whore by Yvette Tan was my first #AsianPacificIslanderHeritageMonthRead. My goal for this May was to 1. Learn more about Filipino history + mythology/folklore + history 2. Focus on the "celebratory" aspects of Filipino identity and not make myself spiral into postcolonial despair. I first heard of SYW from an Instagram reel recommending Filipino horror, which is a cultural genre I haven't explored much yet despite being Filipino and a horror fan. Based off the cover, which looks like a bad Lana del Rey edit I'd find on Mishaverse 2014 Tumblr, I honestly didn't have high expectations, but Tan absolutely blew me away.

The Philippines isn't much known for it's horror, which is funny since few countries have witnessed as much of it as we have. The rest of the world's taken a recent interest in the Philippines and Filipino culture (as all the white people mispronouncing ube as "oob" show), and we've become trends once again. I'm seeing a lot of people (mostly white people) superficially engaging with Filipino mythology/folklore and fantasy in frankly shallow and very uninteresting ways online. Basically any non-Western culture's mythos is becoming more performatively marketable, after all, so you have non-Filipinos AI-generating what an aswang would look like and rewatching Trese on Netflix, even though the adaptation, while entertaining, did it so dirty.

I wasn't all that convinced that Tan's collection would be anything beyond comfortably familiar and entertaining (so much slop is in the literary market right now, especially in the "speculative" genres where people think writing about ambiguously racial cisgender straight people fucking dragons and going to a ton of courts with vampire fairies is all that's needed for a compelling narrative). But I gave it a chance because I heard Tan was considered one of the best Filipino horror writers in the world, which was very intriguing since she's a woman and, based on the pictures I've seen of her, deceivingly cute on the outside (just like me). I wondered what sort of stories she'd write.

This book is a criminally underrated and sharp collection of horror. The stories are short (I preferred the longer ones though), readable, and easy to move through, which I appreciated. It is the kind of collection you can finish quickly without feeling drained; I'd read it before bed or just to have something to browse. The first section of this book (meaning the first three-ish stories) is more for the tamed and general audience. They're also kind of goofy, PG-rated stuff that dwells more on mysticism, dark comedy, and even wholesome chaos and spookiness. Lots of food motifs (because we love our food) and honestly wackjob premises like two dudes who make sisig out of zombie meat (I laughed out loud when they said it took them "less than a year" to resort to cannibalism. Like yeah dude I get it, I'd do the same if I was home and couldn't get streetfood anymore). The second part is more for audiences who love dark, graphic, and pretty grotesque descriptions and are prepared to be pleasantly horrified; you can definitely feel the shift of Tan going from tongue-in-cheek black humor to actual unhinged eeriness. There were parts that were bold indeed, and I wasn't sure if she would actually go there, but she did, and it was hella cool. I loved the second-part stories more: "Fold Up Boy," "All the Birds," "Her Room Was Her Temple," and "Seek Ye Whore" were gorgeous.

This collection definitely gave me a lot to think about. Some of the stories, like "Her Room Was Her Temple" and "Seek Ye Whore" were really gripping: There was this raw, pulsating energy to them that was temperate yet still delicious. I could’ve easily read a whole novel based on Tan's ideas. I hope one day she comes up with a horror novel of her own. I find a lot of horror writing fails in how casual but still edgy and gritty it tries to be -- not to mention the overkill on both sexual elements, deep-rooted misogyny, laughably subpar and exaggerated porn, and juvenile language that completely ruins the stories because the author thinks making a character swear all the time makes them big and scary and intimidating I guess. In the second half of the collection, Tan seemed to shake off all those handicaps and found a palatable balance between them. The sex scenes in particular were classy in their presentation; you could feel Tan's criticism and sarcastic outrage in her portrayals of (disgusting) female bodies and the men who desire them.

Some stories were stronger than others. A handful like "Dead Season" and "Lost Girl" have this hard-to-pin-down atmosphere, but they felt too self-aware to call sloppily written and executed. Some endings didn’t feel satisfying, and there were a couple of loose threads that kind of tugged at my mind whenever I went onto the next story with more questions than not, but, overall, SYW is a starkly feminist, bold, and confident text. Truly a very solid collection overall. I'm very glad I chose to start May with this read. I recommend it to anyone who's interested in Tan's subjects and themes on colonialism, Orientalism, political corruption, time, sexism, racism, etc., as told from someone who's unafraid to touch on social taboos and topics -- especially since us Filipino women are so conditioned to be male-centered, submissive, and "wife-like," so Tan writing these types of shocking stories is a great "fuck you" to the Pinoy patriarchy. Amazing job!

[Meeko · Rating 4 out of 5]

The stories are much more unforgettable and fun to read than the ones on Waking The Dead. So much gore and horror. You can actually see how the stories are well-written and has a wode variety of theme to discuss. It focused more on the horror fiction genre.

[Tabitha Jimenez · Rating 5 out of 5]

parang ang sarap ng sisig nila ah 🍽️

[Margaux Kristel de la Paz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seek Ye Whore… seek-yee-hoar… Siquijor? Siquijor: both a city and a province in Central Visayas, Philippines. According to popular Filipino belief, Siquijor is best known for being the land of enkantos, mambabarangs, diwatas, and so many more Filipino superstitious beliefs that define a part of our Filipino heritage.

Legend has it that if you have an enemy, you go to Siquijor, seek out a mambabarang or witch and have her barang your enemy. Barang is basically a hex or a curse.

I digress with Filipino tidbits, Seek Ye Whore gives you a Filipino version of Love, Death, and Robots sans the robots. Therefore if this were Filipino it would be apropos to call it, “Love, Death, and Witchcraft”. The stories here would look perfect for a Netflix anthology series.

Tan delivers horror stories in a humorous and haunting manner. You as a reader will be confused if you want to feel goosebumps or laugh or laugh with goosebumps. If that was the end goal, Tan has definitely served!

Seek Ye Whore is a short and easy to consume read. Definitely a must to explore the Filipino culture more!

[eve · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐
My first local book in a long time, Seek Ye Whore is a collection of short stories that packs a punch. I love how the author sets the scene and develops the characters so well, considering the short length of each story. Reading these stories almost feels nostalgic, similar to hearing the ghost stories I listened to as a child.

Standout stories: Fold Up Boy, Fresh Fruit for Rotting Corpses, Her Room Was Her Temple

Fresh Fruit for Rotting Corpses - 5⭐
The Last Moon - 4.5⭐
Lost Girl - 4⭐
Fold Up Boy - 5⭐ (fave!)
Ronnie Joins the Band - 2.75⭐
All the Birds - 4⭐
The Club - 3.5⭐
Dead Season - 4⭐
Her Room Was Her Temple - 5⭐
Seek Ye Whore - 4⭐

[Ara · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

i love how these short stories were inspired by filipino folklore. being familiar with some of the words, places, and traditions made the experience enjoyable and comforting. it was also really creative how the author used these filipino creatures to reflect societal issues in the country.

i would've given a higher rating but most of the stories left me confused or ended on a cliffhanger.

i haven't read much filipino authored books, i'd still say this was a good read 🫶🏻

[Mx. Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gagi, ang ganda! While reading, my face was either twisted in awe or scrunched in disgust (for good reasons siyempre!). Fave pieces are All the Birds (lalo na ‘yong kaba, kabadingan, char), Her Room Was Her Temple, and the title story Seek Ye Whore.

[Claudine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Utterly amazing. Perfect short story proportions. Got me shook with my jaw dropping especially for Her Room Was a Temple story.

[Luisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

That was intense.