Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Del Rey, 2020)

★★★☆☆

A pampered debutante must unravel the secrets of a mysterious and menacing countryside estate in this Gothic horror novel set in 1950s Mexico and influenced by The Yellow Wallpaper.

Despite an infodumpy start, I soon became invested in this story, which meshes together a compelling set of influences:

Eugenics / white supremacy / physiognomy
Teonanácatl / “you cannot kill me in a way that matters” but make it horror
Bloody fables and fairy tales
Hallucinations and waking nightmares
Silencing / manipulation / gaslighting
The Garden of Eden
You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave

(content warning: sexual assault, cannibalism, incest)

Though I enjoyed the various flavors of psychological horror Moreno-Garcia produced, some plot threads (such as the introduction of local saints/brujería) felt a bit underexplored. I also had a hard time connecting to the main character—even if I found her challenges compelling and timely—and to the narrative voice, which I found hobbled by bland dialogue.

Still, delightfully atmospheric and tense.

The serpent does not devour its tail, it devours everything around it, voracious, its appetite never quenched.