Quick note before I get into my thoughts on Mexican Gothic and why I recommend it. I have created a little explainer of my approach to book and short fiction recommendations and you can find it here.

First things first. The foremost thing you need know about Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s MEXICAN GOTHIC is that it is a horror novel. The second is that, while everyone’s taste and tolerance for horror varies, it is a legitimately scary and disturbing horror novel. If you’re familiar with Stephen King’s three types of horror (the gross-out, horror, terror) know that this book fulfills all three.

If that sounds like a warning you’d be right. If it sounds like criticism you’d be wrong. MEXICAN GOTHIC is a horror novel and a horror novel that manages to move past creepy to actually scary is one especially deserving of the designation and of attention.