"Whisper of the Thundering Hollow" by Tatyana Korsakova, summary Automatic translate

The mystical novel "Whispers of the Thundering Creek" was published in 2021. This book is the second part of the Gothic saga "The Thundering Creek," set during the German occupation. The author combines the realities of the Great Patriotic War with classic vampire horror and Slavic folklore. The plot revolves around the curse of ghouls that has plagued the Thundering Creek estate and the heroes’ struggle to preserve their humanity. The gloomy atmosphere of the crevice is enhanced by the presence of a three-headed guardian dog and dense fogs concealing an ancient evil. The narrative’s distinctive expressiveness is achieved through detailed descriptions of the characters’ psychological states, forced to choose between monster and human.

The Curse of the Bartanes and the Death of Gabi

Pregnant Gabriela Bartane languishes in the dungeon of the Gremuchy Ruchey estate. She voluntarily locked herself in the dungeon to protect her beloved husband, Dmitry, from her growing ghoulish thirst. She is supported by her elderly nanny, Harpina, who confesses to the murder of Gabi’s grandfather, Stefan Bartane. Stefan planned to sacrifice his granddaughter or her unborn daughter for an alliance with the vampire Alex von Kleist. Harpina poisoned her master, ridding the family of a traitor. She did this with a gentle death by poison on the tip of a needle, lulling her master’s vigilance.

Dmitry reports that the villagers of Vidovo are heading to the estate because five people have disappeared in Gremuchaya Hollow. He demands that the women flee through an underground passage. In the fog, Alex von Kleist overtakes the fugitives. He kills Dmitry. Gabi gives birth to a stillborn baby girl right there on the damp earth. To revive her daughter, Gabi gives the child all her silver blood and strength. Before she dies, she summons the "Dark Beast" — the mystical three-headed dog Gorynych, who breaks Alex von Kleist’s spine. The beast responds to its mistress’s dying call, rising from the depths of the damp earth.

Harpina takes the rescued baby, buries Gabi in the greenhouse near a rose bush, and leaves, changing the child’s name to Tanya to protect her in the future. The nanny promises to protect the girl, in whose veins flows the combined strength of two ancient families. She intends to conceal the child’s true origins from her enemies. The enraged residents burn down the estate chapel.

The Return of Gregory and the Wanderings of the Teenagers

Grigory Kulikov awakens in the forest. Aunt Olya, revealed to be an aged Garpina, saves him from a vampire’s death with the deadly blood of a stillborn girl. Grigory realizes he has become a different being. His heart now beats slowly, he sees perfectly in the dark, and experiences a strange hunger, but he retains his mind and human feelings. A fire breaks out in the estate. Grigory rushes there to retrieve Gorynych’s silver collar. He suffers from a gnawing hunger, but through sheer force of will he suppresses his predatory impulses.

Teenagers Seva and Mityai, Grigoriy’s son, wander through a ravine. Mityai, a victim of vampire experiments, has turned gray with fear and bears the traces of the vampire’s call. Gorynych, capable of dividing into three ghostly dogs in the fog, guards the boys. Grigoriy finds his son and Seva in the forest. He removes the spell from them and directs them to his grandfather’s hunting lodge in the swamp. Grigoriy himself returns to the estate, buries Aunt Olya by a rose bush, and promises to find Tanyushka. Shura, the cook, leads the remaining children away from the estate.

Seva and Mityai take refuge in a hut. Seva rescues Sonya, the local surgeon’s daughter, near the sawmill, who was being pursued by the surviving ghouls. The teenagers and the three-headed dog team up. Sonya helps treat the severe wounds of Grigory, who was shot by punitive forces while attempting to rescue the residents of Vidovo from a boarded-up barn. Sonya demonstrates the bandaging skills she learned from her father and tries to ease the wounded man’s suffering.

Guerrilla Camp and the Head’s Investigation

The hunter Zveroboy leads the fugitives through the swamp to the partisans. In the camp, the seriously wounded Grigory is tended to by the elderly doctor Zosimovich and nurse Lidiya Sergeevna. They perform a medical miracle, removing twelve bullets from the man’s body. Grigory survives thanks to his new physiology. The stitches heal with incredible speed, his forehead remains icy, and his heart beats slowly. Grigory fights a bloodlust that borders on withdrawal. He takes away Lidiya Sergeevna’s headache by looking into her eyes. Gorynych brings Grigory a hare, whose blood replaces human food for the ghoul. This wild gift from the forest helps Grigory survive the critical moment without harming those around him.

Lidiya Sergeyevna is a nurse with a difficult past. She was tortured by the Nazis, after which partisans rescued her just before the execution. Grigoriy senses her pain and fear, which smell like wormwood bitterness to him. During and after the operation, Lidiya cares for Grigoriy, noticing his strange coldness, but trusting his strength. Grigoriy learns to control his vampiric instincts so as not to harm his savior. She wraps herself in a downy shawl, trying to hide from the nightmares that Grigoriy mentally alleviates.

Detachment commander Vlas Golovin, a former investigator, interrogates Seva and Grigory. Vlas senses something unsaid in their words. He’s investigating the strange murders in Gremuchy Ruchey, suspecting that the partisans weren’t involved in the destruction of the German garrison. Yefim, an underground fighter and the estate’s driver, was killed, but before his death, he managed to plant a bomb in Alex von Kleist’s car. Seva believes Tanya died in the explosion, and a deep sense of guilt consumes him. Golovin tries to piece together the facts, noticing the strange stakes the teenagers carried and the implausible rumors about a three-headed monster.

Clash in the ravine and the finale

Seva dreams of Olga Vladimirovna as a little girl. She asks him to lower the bridge in his mind. The young man realizes he must return to the site of the car explosion. Mityai leaves with him. Gorynych catches up with them in the swamp. At the site of Vidovo’s ashes, the friends find only charred pipes. On the road, near a charred tree, Seva realizes that the car veered into the ditch at Olga Vladimirovna’s behest. Gorynych loses track of Tanya due to the soot, which he cannot stand. The teenagers continue on their way, driven by the hope of finding the missing girl and solving the mystery of the estate.

The boys return to the estate through a secret gate. At a spring of red water rich in iron, Seva is attacked by a ghoul in a German overcoat. Mityai saves his friend by cutting off the monster’s head with a sapper shovel. Soon, Mityai disappears into the fog, hearing the irresistible call of the estate’s surviving owner. Seva is left alone in the gathering darkness, trying to find traces of his missing comrade.

Seva breaks into the water tower and discovers Mityai chained to the wall. It turns out that Alex von Kleist survived the explosion and locked the boy in, continuing his experiments. Seva frees his friend with a master key. They flee to Grigoriy’s forest hideout, hiding from pursuing SS soldiers. In the forest, the teenagers encounter little Alenka from Vidovo, transformed into a ghoul and holding her mother’s severed head. Mityai kills the monster with an aspen stake. This terrifying encounter reveals how deeply the curse has affected the locals.

Grigory and Vlas Golovin follow the boys’ trail. They are joined by Zveroboy, who tells them of German corpses rising from their graves. Vlas stumbles upon the ghoul Lenka Sivolapov in a ravine and decapitates him with an axe. Grigory finds sated ghouls surrounding Seva and Mityai. Grigory destroys the monsters with an aspen stake, saving his son. Vlas Golovin aims his machine gun at Grigory, noticing his inhuman nature. Three pairs of Gorynych’s red eyes glow in the darkness, ready to protect its temporary master. This scene leaves the ending open, foreshadowing the subsequent struggle for survival in the ravine.