Title: Ang Mga Kaibigan ni Mama Susan

Author: Bob Ong

Genre: Horror fiction

Rating: 3/5

What was initially a lighthearted read, the story slowly devolves into something far more sinister. From the famous Bob Ong, Ang Mga Kaibigan ni Mama Susan follows Gilberto “Galo” Manansala, a 16-year-old college student living with his relatives in Manila. 

Written in the style of journal entries, Galo’s tale—at least the first half—presents itself as this messy and youthful recounting of events and personal thoughts in the teenager’s life: petty heartbreaks, college struggles, familial annoyances, fears for the future, and yearning for the past, experiences familiar to all readers.

Before the events of the book, the main character had already undergone an upbringing best described as neglectful, but not overly tragic. His parents were unable to provide him with consistent and proper care in his childhood, and as a result, his grandmother took the role of his guardian, housing him in their provincial hometown, Tarmanes. A few years later, Galo would fly to Manila, presumably in pursuit of more opportunities, and take up residence at his aunt’s while he finished his studies. Eventually, the pressure of his education, lack of financial aid, household stress, longing to return home, and the grave word that his grandmother was ill would culminate in his departing the capital to visit the province after so long.

The slow creep of evil

In between the entries of him ruminating about his ex-girlfriend, self-written rap songs, and brooding passages, the teenager repeatedly retells a recurring dream: one of a woman dressed completely in black, her skin as dark as her clothes, with long hair completely obscuring her face. In this dream, he is frozen, helpless against the figure approaching him, but luckily, the boy always wakes up from it. 

Later on, these visions worsen during his stay in the province, wherein his nightmares would soon intrude into reality, blurring the line between truth and delusion.

Galo safely arrives in Tarmanes, and although his experience during the first few days—weeks even—are frightening at worst and odd at best, the boy’s fate is sealed from here on out. As he uncovers the terrifying secrets of his once childhood home and his grandmother, we also see the decline and incoherence of his thoughts and actions through his writings. Losing a pen, feeling like being stalked, losing track of time, and eventually admitting that certain parts of his journal were not written by him, his descent into madness is gradual and painful, culminating in an ambiguous, yet eldritch-like end.

Extreme religiosity and the costs of faith

At its heart, Ang Mga Kaibigan ni Mama Susan warns us of the danger of unbridled religiosity. It speaks of faith that doesn’t save but damns, ideologies that have long since strayed from the logical and into mystical insanity, and gods that demand souls and blood as offerings. Galo’s tale is nothing short of a commentary on the tendency for religion to be warped and weaponized, as seen in many historical and contemporary cases.

Additionally, the first half of the story may seem completely unrelated to the book as a whole—though, to a certain degree, it is—it also describes the ideal person vulnerable to these traps of faith turned rotten. Galo is an adolescent unsure of his place in the world, and with the weight of Manila and reality bearing down, what he needed was an escape—one that took the form of his province and his grandmother. Unfortunately for him, the place he longed to return to was merely a memory, a glorified version of the past, not the decayed reality that awaited him.

Ang Mga Kaibigan ni Mama Susan is a short yet chilling tale, capturing the horror of extreme religiosity in the writings of the declining and helpless teenager. Each entry pulls the reader further into the darkness, where malice lurks within prayer and ritual—never truly apparent, but always present. 

With this, we must ask ourselves: to what extent must faith permeate reality, and what must we give in return?

Ang Mga Kaibigan ni Mama Susan is available for purchase on Lazada and Shopee.