Midnight Timetable by Bora Chung review – sinister stories from the graveyard shift

<p>Horror tropes meet modern nightmares as the South Korean author takes us deep inside a research facility called The Institute</p><p>Our fears turn feral when they have nowhere to go. South Korean author Bora Chung’s new short story collection plays with old horror tropes: endless corridors and looped staircases, exits that only lead you deeper, a phone that&nbsp;rings and rings (don’t pick up). The kind of stories dare-drunk children trade in the dark.</p><p>Set in a research facility known&nbsp;only&nbsp;as “the Institute”, a repository of&nbsp;cursed and haunted objects, Chung’s tales come from the building’s skeleton staff – warnings and gossip from the night shift. It’s a&nbsp;nod, perhaps, to Stephen King’s debut collection, 1978’s still brilliant&nbsp;Night&nbsp;Shift.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/oct/22/midnight-timetable-by-bora-chung-review-sinister-stories-from-the-graveyard-shift">Continue reading...</a>