Luigi Musolino
Della donna aracnide

The title Della donna aracnide might evoke, for those familiar with it, the story The Spider by Hanns Heinz Ewers, explicitly mentioned by the author in the book. However, while Ewers builds his horror on the ambiguity and psychological manipulation exerted by an enigmatic female figure, Musolino shifts the focus to a horror that is closer and more tangible: one rooted in everyday reality, made of loneliness, misunderstandings, and family conflicts.

In 1992, Filippo and Martina, two children trapped in the monotony of the province, eagerly await the patron saint's festival and the arrival of the rides. But when a mysterious booth with the sign "The Spider Woman" appears in the square, their curiosity drags them into a world darker than they had imagined. The figure of Serafina, the spider-woman, becomes a powerful metaphor for the despair and repressed desires that torment the protagonists, but the horror they face is not supernatural: it is anchored in the family reality that surrounds them.

Musolino skillfully sketches a shattered family environment, where bonds are worn and communication is broken. The real horror does not lie in monsters or mythological creatures, but in the internal dynamics that imprison the protagonists in a web of emotional suffering and loneliness. The drama unfolds in an atmosphere dense with tension, evoked through incisive writing that intertwines the metaphor of the spiderweb with the themes of trauma and the past. These are not visible webs, but invisible emotional ties that trap the protagonists in a present from which it is difficult to escape.

Musolino's approach, in some ways, is reminiscent of Stephen King's It, where the fear faced by the young protagonists is not just that of a monstrous entity, but also that linked to the failure of the adult world. However, the horror of Della donna aracnide is even more intimate: there is no Pennywise to catalyze fear, but a suffocating family microcosm that represents an emotional and existential trap.

For more seasoned readers, the novel also offers a dive into the past: 1992, an era marked by the anticipation of patronal festivals, the fairground rides, and a soundtrack that still seems to resonate today. The recurring citation of Hanno ucciso l’uomo ragno by 883, a musical emblem of those years, is not only a nostalgic reference but also a symbolic counterpoint: the lightness of the song ironically clashes with the emotional weight of the story, adding a layer of reflection for those who remember that era.

Della donna aracnide is a novel that digs into the darkest recesses of the human soul, exploring a horror that arises inside us, not outside. With intense writing and a disillusioned look at reality, Musolino invites the reader to reflect on daily unease, the fragility of family ties, and the nostalgia for a past that was not at all simpler, but certainly different. A work capable of leaving a mark, showing how normality can hide its most disturbing side.