Playing Wolf
A Novel
Catapult · Print & ebook · September 30, 2025
A couple deep in the woods of a failing marriage find themselves the unwitting victims of a kidnapping plot after they move to a mysterious village in this distinctly poetic and disturbingly elegant horror novel for fans of Midsommar and The Witch Husband and wife Bohumil and Bohumila, together with their son, move from Prague to a remote village with the hopes of salvaging their marriage.
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- Who it’s for
- A poetic, unsettling slide into psychological horror, where village rituals and marital strain unsettle the familiar.
- Themes
- Marital strain, A child’s disappearance, Folklore and human nature
- Pacing
- Steady
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For younger readers: A Wolf for a Spell, I Shall Awaken, What the Woods Took
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Start with this bookAbout this book
A couple deep in the woods of a failing marriage find themselves the unwitting victims of a kidnapping plot after they move to a mysterious village in this distinctly poetic and disturbingly elegant horror novel for fans of Midsommar and The Witch Husband and wife Bohumil and Bohumila, together with their son, move from Prague to a remote village with the hopes of salvaging their marriage.
Continue reading
In the searing summer heat, they try to fit in with the villagers, only to be met with hostile stares and evasive lies. Each night, the couple hears what they suspect to be a large animal wandering around their cottage—an impression that oddly corresponds to the mysterious flyers found at the local watering hole regarding a wolfen fairytale. As inexplicable coincidences begin piling up, it’s clear something sinister is afoot. After a drunken night out, Bohumil and Bohumila come home to find the house empty: their son is gone. After three days of searching, they find the villagers in festive costumes gathered outside their cottage. Is it a bizarre game, or some perverse, folkloric ritual? Are Bohumil and Bohumila in danger? And what has happened to their son? A dark social tale that slides inexorably towards psychological horror, Playing Wolf is a modern ballad of human destiny and discovering the animal in each of us.
Folklore Turns Feral
A poetic, unsettling slide into psychological horror, where village rituals and marital strain unsettle the familiar.
Come here for
- Rural unease with a folkloric edge
- A dark tale of marriage, family, and the animal within
Expect
- An elegant, disturbing mood
- A slow accumulation of sinister coincidences
Where it sits
| Psychological Horror | 73% |
|---|---|
| Psychological Thrillers | 55% |
| Czech Fiction | 39% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Horror
- Marriage & Divorce
- Czech Fiction
- Authors
- Zuzana Ríhová
- Publisher
- Catapult
- Published
- September 30, 2025
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Theme
- Marital strain · A child’s disappearance · Folklore and human nature
- Reading lane
- Horror