THE VILLA ONCE BELOVED with Victor Manibo and Ryan La Sala!

Join The Twisted Spine as we celebrate Victor Manibo's newest novel, THE VILLA ONCE BELOVED! Victor will be joined in conversation with Ryan La Sala (DEAD SUMMER, THE HONEYS).

About THE VILLA ONCE BELOVED:

A dark history is unearthed amid crumbling façades in Lambda Literary fellow Victor Manibo’s new gothic tale of family, homecoming, and postcolonial vengeance . . .
SOME LEGACIES ARE BEST LEFT BURIED . . .
Villa Sepulveda is a storied relic of the Philippines’ past: a Spanish colonial manor, its moldering stonework filled with centuries-old heirlooms, nestled in a remote coconut plantation. When their patriarch dies mysteriously, his far-flung family returns to their ancestral home. Filipino-American student Adrian Sepulveda invites his college girlfriend, Sophie, a transracial adoptee who knows little about her own Filipino heritage, to the funeral of a man who was entwined with the history of the country itself.
Sophie soon learns that there is more to the Sepulvedas than a grand tradition of political and entrepreneurial success. Adrian’s relatives clash viciously amid grief, confusion, and questions about the family curse that their matriarch refuses to answer. When a landslide traps them all in the villa, secrets begin to emerge, revealing sins both intimately personal and unthinkably public.
Sifting through fact, folklore, and fiction, Sophie finds herself at the center of a reckoning. Did a mythical demon really K*ll Adrian’s grandfather? How complicit are the Sepulvedas in the country’s oppressive history? As a series of ill omens befall the villa, Sophie must decide whom to trust—and whom to flee—before the family’s true legacy comes to take its revenge . . .

Event guidelines:

Each ticket includes either a copy of THE VILLA ONCE BELOVED or a $15 Twisted Spine gift card.

Additional copies of books will be available for purchase at the event.

A signing will follow the event.

If you have any questions about the guidelines or to request accessibility accommodations, please contact [email protected].

Victor Manibo is a Filipino novelist living in New York. A 2022 Lambda Literary Emerging Voices Fellow, he is the author of the science fiction novels THE SLEEPLESS and ESCAPE VELOCITY. His first crime novel, DEAD NOTE, came out May 2025 from Bonnier Books. His first horror novel, THE VILLA, ONCE BELOVED, comes out November 2025 from Erewhon Books. Aside from fiction, he also spins fantastical tales in his career as a lawyer. He lives in Queens with his husband and their pets. Find him online at victormanibo.com and on most social media platforms @victormanibo.

Ryan La Sala is a bestselling and award-winning author known for his genre-defying, queer-centered horror and fantasy, including The Honeys, which is in development to become a major motion picture , and The Dead of Summer duology. He is also the author of , and He has been featured in The New York Times Book Review, Entertainment Weekly, NPR, and more. He writes to you from New York, overseen by his cat, Haunted Little Girl.

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