The Empusium: A Health Resort Horror Story

The Empusium (2022) is a gothic and philosophical horror novel by Olga Tokarczuk, set in an early 20th-century health resort. The protagonist, Mieczysław Wojnicz, explores the eerie sanatorium, uncovering its supernatural elements and dark secrets, leading to revelations about The Complexities of Identity, The Societal Construction of Gender, and The Tensions Between “Rational” and “Irrational.” 

This guide is based on the 2024 Riverhead Book edition, translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones.

Content Warning: The source material and this guide feature depictions of death, violence, and death by suicide. The source material also contains a significant focus on gender discrimination and misogyny. 

Language Note: The source text uses place names that were current at the time of the story’s historical setting (e.g., Lwów, which is now modern-day Lviv). This guide reflects the source text’s naming conventions.

Plot Summary

The Empusium begins in September 1913 in Lower Silesia, Poland. Mieczysław “Mieczyś” Wojnicz, a 24-year-old Polish student of hydraulic engineering from Lwów, arrives in the mountain village of Görbersdorf to seek treatment for his mild tuberculosis. Wojnicz is struck by the serene yet isolating atmosphere of Görbersdorf. The village, nestled in the mountains, is renowned for its therapeutic environment. Unable to secure accommodation at the main sanatorium—the Kurhaus—he lodges at Wilhelm Opitz’s Guesthouse for Gentlemen. ​The guesthouse, a modest establishment compared to the grand Kurhaus, becomes Mieczysław’s new abode as he waits for a spot to open up in the more prestigious Kurhaus.

Wojnicz meets the fellow residents of Opitz’s guesthouse. These include August August, a Viennese classical philologist and fervent humanist with socialist inclinations; Longin Lukas, a devout Catholic and traditionalist from Königsberg; Walter Frommer, a theosophist and privy counselor from Breslau; and Thilo von Hahn, a Berlin-based fine arts student and landscape admirer, battling an advanced stage of tuberculosis.​ Each night, these men sit down to dinner. They drink a local liqueur known as Schwärmerei—brewed with mushrooms that may have a psychedelic effect—and debate many of the important philosophical, theological, and political points of the day.

For the patients of the sanatorium, the treatment for tuberculosis is a strict regime. The patients undergo regular examinations with Dr. Semperweiss, who prescribes treatments like cold baths, nutritious diets, and therapeutic walks.​ During his initial conversations, Wojnicz expresses his hesitancy to undress for a full physical examination from the doctor. In the past, he has endured many traumatizing experiences with doctors who have violently examined him, and he does not want to suffer again. Among the many prescriptions for patients are group excursions into the surrounding forests, intended to invigorate the lungs with fresh mountain air.​ The surrounding forests are thick with mists and mystery. On one walk, Wojnicz learns about the charcoal burners. These men live in isolated communities without women. To manufacture charcoal in the traditional way, they spend months alone in the mountains.

The evening debates cover a spectrum of topics. As Wojnicz watches these debates, however, the most common topic seems to be the nature of women. While the men cannot agree on much, they are united in their belief that women are not as smart or as capable as men. Wojnicz, initially reserved, notes the contradictions and biases of his companions, even if the debates themselves rarely reach any kind of conclusion or agreement.

Shortly after Wojnicz’s arrival, the guesthouse is unsettled by a tragic event: Klara Opitz, Wilhelm’s wife, is found dead under ambiguous circumstances. Wojnicz is told that she has died by suicide. The incident is swiftly dismissed by the residents, but Wojnicz is deeply affected. When he lies in bed at night, he hears a strange rustling sound from the room above him. He begins to clandestinely visit Klara’s former room, sensing an inexplicable connection.

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During one of the mountain walks, Wojnicz encounters Tuntschi, crude female effigies crafted by the charcoal burners, adding to the area’s eerie ambience.​ At the same time, he learns from Thilo that there is a strange pattern of violence in the town: Each year, a man is violently killed under mysterious circumstances. Thilo’s health deteriorates rapidly. Before his death, he bequeaths Wojnicz a painting by Herri met de Bles, his favorite artist, whose work he has used to teach Wojnicz a different way to look at paintings. Thilo’s demise profoundly impacts Wojnicz, intensifying his introspection and sense of foreboding. ​

Amid Wojnicz’s fears over the strangeness of the surroundings, Wojnicz’s secret is revealed: He is an intersex person, a condition that has caused his alienation from his family and society at large. Wojnicz’s father, January, sought medical interventions to “correct” his son’s condition, leading to Wojnicz’s profound discomfort during medical examinations. At the same time, Frommer corroborates Thilo’s accounts of annual male sacrifices. He theorizes that the forest’s malevolent entities are appeased by these rituals. With Thilo’s untimely death, Frommer fears Wojnicz might be the next target. ​

On the first night of November, under a full moon, Wojnicz is lured into the forest by Raimund and kidnapped by local charcoal burners. They bind him to a tree, intending to offer him as a sacrifice. However, the supernatural entities reject him, leading to chaos. The entities descend upon Görbersdorf, inducing a frenzy among the male inhabitants. In the ensuing turmoil, Wilhelm Opitz meets a gruesome end. ​In the aftermath of the failed sacrifice and the violent upheaval it unleashes, Wojnicz, shaken and physically exhausted, returns to the guesthouse. The once-ordered routine of Görbersdorf has collapsed. The other men are joining a parade through the town, swept up in a kind of mysterious frenzy.

Wojnicz returns to Klara Opitz’s old room, untouched since her death. He dresses in her clothes, taking on her identity, becoming “Klara” in both name and presentation. He exits the house and exits the town itself, choosing to live with his new identity.

In the Epilogue, the narrator explains that Wojnicz—living as Klara—vanished from the historical records. Occasional glimpses of Wojnicz, dressed in an English style, were recorded beside his father’s grave. The narrator also explains that the annual sacrifices ceased after the events described in the book, replaced by the violence and bloodshed of World War I. The narrator also reveals the fates of the other inhabitants of the guesthouse, which was taken over by Raimund, as well as the sanatorium itself.