The Night of the Malombre
Adventure, love and death on a train, inspired by a devastating true story.
Italy had its own ‘Titanic’. In the freezing night of 3rd March 1944, the train travelling from Naples to Potenza was found at a stop in a tunnel near Balvano. Hundreds of bodies lay inside and all around it. Of course, massacres are not uncommon in wartime, but these corpses had no wounds. To unravel the mystery of goods train 8017 we must go back in time, elbow our way up onto the long convoy and look the clandestine passengers in the face. Like Rocco the rogue, looking for loot in the crowd. Or Brando, forced to look after his family too young. When his pure determined gaze meets that of Nora, the daughter of Dr Moscati (who is on the train to find his lost son) their souls make an indissoluble connection. But something is tormenting the girl: she has seen the imminent danger in the form of malombre, dark presences that are harbingers of death according to popular belief. But who will believe her?
- The legends and the truth about Italy’s most serious railway disaster, long-forgotten over the years, in a sweeping and powerful story.
- The style is also suited to adult readers, appealing to parents and teachers.
A screenwriter, director, writer and film critic, Manlio Castagna has also been involved in the artistic direction of the Giffoni Film Festival for more than 20 years. He made his debut in children’s fiction in 2018 with the bestselling Petrademone trilogy (Mondadori), which has been translated into several languages. Since then, he has explored many different genres: from historical fantasy with La notte delle malombre (The Night of the Malombre) and Draconis Chronicon, to horror with Goodwill and Le Belve (The Beasts), passing through the “story” of cinema with the manual 116 film da vedere prima dei 16 anni (116 Films To See Before You’re 16) and the novel Dedalo & Dharma, up to social noir with Barriera (all for the Mondadori group). La reincarnazione delle sorelle Klun (The Reincarnation of the Klun Sisters) and Prova a non dormire (Try Not to Sleep) are his adult fiction books. In 2022, he made his film debut as a director and screenwriter with “Il viaggio degli eroi”, produced by Rai Cinema and rewarded with record audience numbers on Rai1.
