The Sunken Cemetery marks an intriguing genre shift toward horror. In this “book for readers with strong nerves,” empirical boundaries are once again expanded, and the potentials of the irrational are introduced into the narrative game. The story of Ivan Hum (who is also the narrator), returning to his hometown after thirty-six years and a served prison sentence to sink back into “the geography of his childhood,” is followed by strange narrative “slippages.” The wild poppies blooming in November are just a prelude to the mystical cemetery atmosphere that envelops the plot and the characters from the very beginning, culminating in an attempt at “metaphysical reanimation” — the revival of the dead. Here, the author, drawing on conventions of the Gothic novel, peeks behind the curtain of the obvious and self-evident, attempting to shake the logic of everyday experience.
