The Woman in the Castello is a Great Murder Mystery that Focuses on Old School Slasher Horror
I’m a huge fan of Giallo films, that follow a particular kind of formula when it comes to slasher films. Giallo likes to focus on making death appear like you’re staring at a beautiful, grotesque painting, while adding psychological tension and hints of erotism throughout the plot.
I never thought in a million years I would find a book that follows the Giallo formula, and I found it by accident while navigating a store that was selling books at $1.25. (That price made me so happy, since I was able to easily afford this book lol).
Once I read the summary of The Woman in the Castello, I was immediately hooked.
The story follows a young woman named Silvia Whitford, who is going to star in a horror movie as her debut acting career. During production, things go wrong, and dark secrets start to appear as she is desperate to figure out what happened to a missing family member.
They film the horror movie at her aunt’s castle, Gabriella, who is against this idea. She instantly goes missing, worrying Silvia. She vows to try and find her, but is stuck trying to protect herself against whatever forces are threatening her behind the scenes of the movie production.
The Woman in the Castello is like watching an Italian Giallo horror film, and I loved every second of it.
I couldn’t believe how entertaining this story was. Reading from Silvia’s point of view as she tries to figure out what happened to her aunt was such a great murder mystery tale. I loved how the film Silvia was starring in also focused on Giallo themes, using erotism, love, fear, and horror to add to the mystery of what was happening within the castle.
Even the characters reminded me of a Giallo film!
Silvia: The lovely woman who has a kind soul and wants to be a star.
Silvia’s mother: The woman with a grudge against her sister.
Paul: Silivia’s handsome love interest who works on the movie set.
Herman Meyerson: The movie director who is kind of an asshole.
Terrance: Silvia’s love interest in the movie, who is a total asshole in real life and loves the company of women.
Lucrezia: The woman who plays the villain role in the movie, who befriends Silvia.
Lulu: Silvia’s adorable daughter.
Don’t these characters sound like your typical Giallo film cast? Well, Lulu is probably the only one that doesn’t really count since she is just a baby lol. I wanted to include her, since she is one of the main characters in the book.
I loved the twists and turns we got in this book too, and I loved how I couldn’t predict the reveal. I honestly thought we were going to get a slasher story, but we focused on Silvia trying to figure out who was responsible for the disappearance of Gabriella.
She starts to suspect something horrible happened to her when a number of strange things occur:
- Blood appears somewhere on set.
- Gabriella never left the castle.
- A creepy message is left behind for the cast and crew to find.
- Paul forgot to ask Gabriella to sign a contract to give permission for the movie to be filmed in her home.
- Terrance comes off like a dangerous man to Silva in one scene.
- Lucrezia is determined to figure out Silvia’s secret about her mystery daughter.
- Herman is carrying a gun on set that Silvia discovers while snooping in his room.
So yeah, I don’t blame Silvia for being a little suspicious.
Then the reveal happens, and I freaked out with the twist.
Gabriella was never dead.
While Silvia is talking with Herman, they run into Gabriella from out of nowhere. She appeared to them in the castle, startling both of them. Silvia freaks out when Herman recognizes her aunt. Then we get a shocking twist I did not see coming.
Gabriella and Herman tell Silvia that they are her actual parents. Her mother is actually her sister, and Gabriella gave up Silvia over to her mother. And part of the reason was that Herman is actually a Nazi.
So…yeah. That is freaking terrible.
Silvia starts to panic, and becomes more shocked when Herman pulls out the gun that Silvia discovered while snooping through his room. He realizes that to protect his reputation, he must murder his own family. Silvia and Gabriella escape from Herman through the castle’s large garden, but they are caught by Herman right away.
Gabriella jumps Herman, and the gun goes off.
Gabriella is then standing up over Herman’s body, now the victor of the battle. Then she asks Silvia to help her dispose of his body.
Well, that escalated much quickly then I thought. I assumed that Herman would kill Gabriella, but he gets killed pretty fast, so I was left with so many questions toward the end of the book.
The story ends with a sense of closure and happiness for Silvia.
She learns the full truth from her family about her backstory, and then she confesses to Paul about who her father was, and what she had to do to survive. Paul doesn’t care about who she is, or why she killed Herman, and decides to stay with her and raise Lulu.
Paul takes over the horror film production, and he is the reason why Silvia becomes a star.
The book ends with Silvia happy, and coming to the realization she is now on the red carpet, while people are taking photos of her.
Doesn’t this story remind you of a Giallo plot? It really does, and wow, I was so impressed that the author was able to pull off the writing to this one through a book format! Heck, one of the characters in the book mentions that it feels like they are stuck in a Giallo film!
The Woman in the Castello is one of the best horror books I have read this year, the originality of the Giallo theme is what made this story special!
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