The Midnight Timetable

‘This novel in ghost stories, with its haunted shoes and sheep and cats, gently suggests the degree to which humanity’s efforts to control the world are themselves figments and fantasies. Chung’s deep understanding of haunting — and of hierarchies, class, and gender — reminds us that we are a society haunted by its own cruelty, and, crucially, that we have other options.’ —Judges’ comments for the 2026 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize

‘With a bone-dry wit and biting allegorical edge, expertly captured in Hur’s translation, Chung turns the haunted-object trope into a vehicle for radical empathy and sharp critique. Part fable, part ghost story, and part social commentary, this is a beautiful and devastating excavation of how people make sense of the world’s violence and tragedies.’ —Publishers Weekly, starred review

‘This is the perfect bite-sized horror book: a collection of haunting ghost stories easily consumed in one sitting. Through vivid imagery and biting rhythm, Bora Chung creates a vicious atmosphere, critiquing society and the selfish and stupid actions people take for fame, money, and their own comfort … Chung deftly and sharply unsettles the reader, making them turn the page before they know it … She has done a superb job of writing something both chilling, and beautiful in its entirety. Both horror fanatics and newcomers to the genre will devour this powerful and witty collection.’—Jacinta Richards, Readings

Shortlisted for the 2026 Ursula K. Le Guine Prize

Finalist for the 2026 Locus Award for Best Translated Novel

From Bora Chung —National Book Award finalist and Booker Prize shortlisted “Cursed Bunny”— comes THE MIDNIGHT TIMETABLE: a novel-in-ghost-stories, set in a mysterious research centre that houses cursed objects, where those who open the wrong door might find it’s disappeared behind them, or that the echoing footsteps they’re running from are their own…

In a labyrinthine research facility, where those who open the wrong door might find it’s disappeared behind them or that the echoing footsteps they’re running from are their own, an unnamed protagonist begins their night shift under the watchful eye of the building’s enigmatic senior guard.

Each evening, as the fluorescent lights hum and the silence grows heavier, the guard shares another tale of cursed objects and lives unspooled by vengeance, sorrow, or revelation. But these are not mere ghost stories. They’re warnings. Lessons. Or, perhaps, confessions …

As the nights stretch on and reality frays, our protagonist starts to suspect that the building itself is alive with malevolent intent and that the objects they guard aren’t just cursed.

They’re waiting. Watching.

Equal parts bone-chilling, wryly funny, and deeply political, The Midnight Timetable is a masterful work of literary horror from one of our time’s greatest imaginations.

Rights sold: WEL(Hachette US), UK(Hachette UK), ANZ(Scribe), Polish(Kwiaty Orientu), Turkish(Can), Vietnamese(Nha Nam), Indonesian(Gramedia), German(CulturBooks), French(Rivages), Italian(Mondadori)

The Midnight Timetable