The Midnight Timetable

Equal parts bone-chilling, wryly funny and deeply political, The Midnight Timetable is a masterful work of literary horror from one of our time's greatest imaginations.

'Truly nightmarish' Andrew Michael Hurley
'I inhaled Bora Chung's book of ghost stories and then slept with the light on!' Avni Doshi
'Uniquely brilliant and exquisitely demented' Gerardo Sámano Córdova

In a labyrinthine research facility, where those who open the wrong door might find it's disappeared behind them or that the echoing footsteps they're running from are their own, an unnamed protagonist begins their night shift under the watchful eye of the building's enigmatic senior guard.

Each evening, as the fluorescent lights flicker and the silence grows heavier, the guard shares another tale of cursed objects and lives unspooled by vengeance, sorrow or revelation. But these are not mere ghost stories. They're warnings. Lessons. Or, perhaps, confessions . . .

As the nights stretch on and reality frays, our protagonist starts to suspect that the building itself is alive with malevolent intent and that the objects they guard aren't just cursed. They're waiting. Watching.

'Electrifying. A feast of a book. Strange, hypnotic and audacious' Irenosen Okojie
'A fascinating novel of shifting realities centred by a steady, humane heart. Bora Chung is a master of concocting dreamscapes that linger' Marie-Helene Bertino
'These ghost stories . . . mist off the page and leave the real world hazy and askew' Pemi Aguda

Review

South Korean folklore, urban horror stories and surrealism are fused into something truly nightmarish. -- Andrew Michael Hurley, author of SALTWASH

Clever, scary and wickedly funny. I inhaled Bora Chung's book of ghost stories and then slept with the light on! -- Avni Doshi, author of BURNT SUGAR

Like the objects collected in this deliciously haunting book, The Midnight Timetable will absorb you in the shadows of its imagination, marvellous oddness, humour and heart. It's a wild midnight tour of a uniquely brilliant and exquisitely demented world, terrifying and enchanting-a world I did not want to leave! -- Gerardo Sámano Córdova, author of MONSTRILIO

A truly wild and twisted ride into the dark recesses of the human psyche. Bora Chung's unique voice sings with wisdom, truth and humour, wrapped up in bone-chilling allegory. A riveting enchantment of a book. -- Wiz Wharton, author of GHOST GIRL, BANANA

Electrifying. A feast of a book. Strange, hypnotic and audacious. -- Irenosen Okojie, author of CURANDERA

I love the creatures who populate the Haunted Institute of Bora Chung's mind―handkerchiefs with vendettas, jackets that weep in marbles, wounded, oracular sheep. The Midnight Timetable is enigmatic, wild and fun, even while making deep and provocative points about the dark joys suffering makes available. A fascinating novel of shifting realities centred by a steady, humane heart. Bora Chung is a master of concocting dreamscapes that linger. -- Marie-Helene Bertino, author of BEAUTYLAND

How can Bora Chung tickle me, delight me while dropping me deep into uneasiness? Why am I giggling while looking for new shadows over my shoulder? These ghost stories take what's familiar and give them very human dimensions-a lover's betrayal, a mother's love, a son's greed, or a worker's simple curiosity-so that they mist off the page and leave the real world hazy and askew when we look up. I left this book respecting the untold histories of objects and I will never look at tennis shoes again without thinking of sheep. -- ’Pemi Aguda, author of GHOSTROOTS

Beautiful, eerie stories that are unpredictable and sprawl endlessly. -- Kang Hwa-gil, author of ANOTHER PERSON

About the Author

Bora Chung is a writer and translator whose works include the National Book Award finalist and International Booker Prize-shortlisted Cursed Bunny. She has an MA in Russian Studies from Yale University and a PhD in Slavic literature from Indiana University. She has taught Russian language and literature and science fiction at Yonsei University and translates modern literary works from Russian and Polish into Korean.

Anton Hur was born in Stockholm and currently resides in Seoul. He won a PEN Translates grant for his translation of The Underground Village by Kang Kyeong-ae and a PEN/Heim grant for Bora Chung's Cursed Bunny, the latter of which was shortlisted for the 2022 International Booker Prize.