Juan Carlos Onetti

“Hell so feared” (El infierno tan temido) is one of Juan Carlos Onetti’s most acclaimed short stories. Published in 1957 in the magazine Ficción and later collected in the book El infierno tan temido y otros cuentos (1962), it tells the story of the turbulent relationship between Risso, a widowed journalist, and Gracia César, a young actress twenty years his junior. The bond, marked by passion and misunderstanding, soon begins to show cracks. One night, in the newsroom where he works, Risso receives an envelope containing a disturbing photograph. This first discovery marks the beginning of a perverse ritual that will become a relentless mechanism of revenge and humiliation.