Balgarianovinite.com The scariest monsters are the ones that live inside people, writer Vasil Popov said in an interview with BTA on Friday.
Popov, the author of Mamnik, said that the idea for the series, later expanded with a sequel, Lehusa, and a third instalment, Azhder, currently available only as an audiobook, took shape during Storytel Studio’s first competition for a Bulgarian audio serial in 2020.
“It was during the pandemic, and I thought: OK, we’re all fixated on the virus, but what if something else showed up in a village sealed off because of coronavirus, something like a monster? What would happen?” Popov recalled. He said the idea started to gnaw at him.
Popov said he first learned about the mamnik from a book by folklorists and ethnographers Dimitar Marinov and Mikhail Arnaudov. “It’s a creature I think very few people have even heard of,” he added.
Popov said he wrote Mamnik in about three to four months, adding that before beginning each new piece he prepared a synopsis and a detailed outline of how the story would develop.
Speaking about the premiere screening of the first episode of the Mamnik series the day before, Popov said he had been deeply moved. “Four theaters were packed with fans, I couldn’t believe it,” he said, adding that he hoped the 12-episode series, airing on Bulgarian National Television, would be a success and would pave the way for more stories like it to make it to the screen.
Popov also said he hadn’t watched all 12 episodes, even though he wrote the novel and was involved in writing the scripts. “I’ve only watched a few episodes. I’ve been on set and seen parts of some scenes being filmed, but I still haven’t seen the series itself. That’s still to come,” Popov said.
Popov said that in the first episode he recognized much of what he had imagined while writing the novel, but he emphasized that adapting a good book into a series is not easy. “People assume a good book can be turned into a series without much effort, but that’s not true. Film and television are entirely different creative media, and the adaptation process is a major challenge,” Popov said.
On Friday evening, Popov was in Stara Zagora, the first stop on his tour promoting Lehusa, the second book in the series. He said he had presented Mamnik in the City of Linden Trees two years ago, when it was just the beginning, but now he already knew he had many readers there.
Popov said that meeting with readers is extremely important to him. “That’s when you realize the true scale of what’s happening. When you’re at home, writing on a laptop, alone in a closed room, you don’t fully grasp it, especially with genre fiction. Part of me still struggles to take in what’s really happening,” he said.
Popov also said he was still working on the series and was currently writing the fourth book. He added that he intentionally avoids spelling out explicit messages, whether in individual books or across the series as a whole. “I don’t like preaching or telling people how to live. I want them to feel something: to be scared, to feel empathy, love, and other emotions,” Popov said. He added that if he ever had to write something with a clear message, he would choose a fable rather than a novel.
The tour will continue in Yambol, Burgas, and Varna, and will conclude in Veliko Tarnovo.
At the beginning of 2026, Popov wished all Bulgarians that “the monster stays on paper, so we can enjoy reading and not encounter evil in real life.”
During the premiere at the Lubor Bayer Exhibition Hall, visitors had the opportunity to ask Popov questions and receive his autograph. Mamnik Author Popov: The Scariest Monsters Live Inside Us 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-01-09 22:59:00 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law