Arts
The Brazilian Novelist Getting Gen Z into Books
Raphael Montes, master of horror fiction, is reaching young non-readers with sordid tales of doom and gloom.
The Brazilian novelist Raphael Montes.
Photo credit: Thais Alvarenga
On a warm June morning in Rio de Janeiro, the line of anxious admirers coiled around a cavernous pavilion of the city’s book biennale like a high-tension wire.
It was just a book fair but try telling that to these fans of Raphael Montes. They had been queuing for hours (my 20-year-old daughter among them) hoping to grab a glimpse, an autograph, maybe even a selfie with the young novelist who has been keeping Brazil up at night with his delightfully creepy tales of suspense, gore and bourgeois domesticity-turned-nightmare.