Review: “Mexican Gothic”

I’ve gotten a few recommendations for this one, so I decided to give the audiobook a shot and listen while sewing facemasks. I was too distracted to get many masks made.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s “Mexican Gothic” centers on Noemí Toboada’s journey to High Place – a faraway estate in the Mexican countryside – to visit her ailing cousin. Noemí is a socialite from a wealthy, well-connected family, and her father sends her to High Place after receiving a disturbing letter from her cousin Catalina … whom she hasn’t seen since Catalina married a charming but mysterious Englishman named Virgil Doyle.

From the first step Noemí takes into High Place, everything seems off and creepy. The house staff members are barely more than drones, and the Doyle clan is incredibly controlling and dark. This includes old, ill patriarch Howard, who has some very outdated (read: disgusting) views on race and ethnicity. Noemí also is tormented by strange, intrusive nightmares during her stay at High Place. Her foul mood is only exacerbated by her infrequent and heavily monitored visits with Catalina, who seems to be slowly descending into madness.

And that’s really all I can say without giving too much away. If you enjoy Lovecraftian horror (but, you know, in a way that doesn’t glorify racism and misogyny), you should give this a read.

“Mexican Gothic” is slow to start, but the multidimensional characters carry you through to the meat of the story. If you do decide to check out this story, I highly recommend the audiobook. Frankie Corzo does a phenomenal job narrating this ultra-weird story and gives each character a very distinct voice. Her ability to switch between accented dialogue is impressive and reason enough to give it a listen.

So if you’re looking for a beautifully written, super weird distraction of a horror story, “Mexican Gothic” is for you.

4 stars