As the spooky season arrives, it’s the perfect time to explore the works of women authors from Mexico and South America who stand at the front of a growing wave of Gothic literature. Their unique perspectives bring a fresh and captivating dimension to horror literature.

Gothic literature is renowned for its mysterious narratives, often featuring elements like the supernatural, gloomy settings, and emotional intensity. What sets Gothic literature apart in Latin America is how it’s intricately woven into the region’s history and culture. In distinctive and unconventional ways, Latin- American women writers unveil a world where horror find its roots in inequality and the normalization of violence. Their stories transcend the boundaries of the supernatural: they are haunting reflections of the very real horrors that afflict society.

Latin-American Gothic literature frequently explores classic horror themes, such as witchcraft and ghost which still have a strong presence in areas like the Andes and the Caribbean. By utilizing these familiar elements, these authors go through our deepest fears and insecurities, making the Gothic tradition a meaningful way to address complex issues, faced predominantly by women. This unique blend gives birth to stories that are not only spine-tingling but also offer a powerful commentary on the region’s past and future.

Discover the list of standout Latin-American women authors that we have curated for Día de los muertos (Day of the Dead) and Halloween. These stories show us that even in the darkest narratives, there’s an opportunity for understanding and transformation.

Picks translated into English:

Hurricane season / Melchor, Fernanda
“The Witch is dead. And the discovery of her corpse-by a group of children playing near the irrigation canals-propels the whole village into an investigation of how and why this murder occurred. Rumors and suspicions spread. As the novel unfolds in a dazzling linguistic torrent, with each unreliable narrator lingering details, new acts of depravity or brutality, Melchor extracts some tiny shred of humanity from these characters that most would write off as utterly irredeemable, forming a lasting portrait of a damned Mexican village.”–Provided by publisher.” (Catalogue)
The dangers of smoking in bed : stories / Enriquez, Mariana
“Welcome to Buenos Aires, a city thrumming with murderous intentions and morbid desires, where missing children come back from the dead and unearthed bones carry terrible curses. These brilliant, unsettling tales of revenge, witchcraft, fetishes, disappearances and urban madness spill over with women and girls whose dark inclinations will lead them over the edge.” (Catalogue)

The hacienda / Cañas, Isabel
“Mexican Gothic meets Rebecca in this debut supernatural suspense novel, set in the aftermath of the Mexican War of Independence, about a remote house, dark secrets, and the woman pulled into their clutches… In the overthrow of the Mexican government, Beatriz’s father is executed, and her home destroyed. When handsome Don Rodolfo Solórzano proposes, Beatriz ignores the rumors surrounding his first wife’s sudden demise. When Rodolfo returns to work in the capital, visions and voices invade Beatriz’s sleep. The weight of invisible eyes follows her every move. “– ” (Catalogue)

Fever dream : a novel / Schweblin, Samanta
“A young woman named Amanda lies dying in a rural hospital clinic. A boy named David sits beside her. She’s not his mother. He’s not her child. Together, they tell a haunting story of broken souls, toxins, and the power and desperation of family. Fever Dream is a nightmare come to life, a ghost story for the real world, a love story and a cautionary tale. One of the freshest new voices to come out of the Spanish language and translated into English for the first time.”– ” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Labyrinth lost / Córdova, Zoraida
“Alex is a bruja and the most powerful witch in her family. But she’s hated magic ever since it made her father disappear into thin air. When a curse she performs to rid herself of magic backfires and her family vanishes, she must travel to Los Lagos, a land in-between as dark as Limbo and as strange as Wonderland, to get her family back.” — Page 4 of cover.” (Catalogue)

 

Tender is the flesh / Bazterrica, Agustina María
“It all happened so quickly. First, animals became infected with the virus and their meat became poisonous. Then governments initiated the Transition. Now, ‘special meat’ – human meat – is legal. Marcos is in the business of slaughtering humans – only no one calls them that.  One day, he’s given a gift to seal a deal: a specimen of the finest quality. He leaves her in his barn, tied up, a problem to be disposed of later. But the specimen haunts Marcos. Her trembling body, her eyes that watch him, that seem to understand.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Certain dark things / Moreno-Garcia, Silvia
“Welcome to Mexico City, an oasis in a sea of vampires. Domingo, a lonely garbage-collecting street kid, is just trying to survive its heavily policed streets when a jaded vampire on the run swoops into his life. Atl, the descendant of Aztec blood drinkers, is smart, beautiful, and dangerous. Domingo is mesmerized. Atl needs to quickly escape the city, fa from the rival narco-vampire clan relentlessly pursuing her. Vampires, humans, cops, and criminals collide in the dark streets of Mexico City.”–.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Mexican gothic / Moreno-Garcia, Silvia
“After receiving a frantic letter from her newly-wed cousin begging for someone to save her from a mysterious doom, Noemi Taboada heads to High Place, a distant house in the Mexican countryside. She’s not sure what she will find–her cousin’s husband is a stranger, and Noemi knows little about the region. For there are many secrets behind the walls of High Place. The family’s once colossal wealth and faded mining empire kept them from prying eyes, but as Noemi digs deeper, she unearths stories of violence and madness.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

More books available in Spanish:

El huésped / Nettel, Guadalupe
“La extraña historia de una niña habitada interiormente por un ser inquietante, quizás imaginario, quizás no. Ana sostiene una lucha silenciosa contra esa hermana siamesa, hasta que el huésped comienza a manifestarse en su entorno familiar de una manera de” (Catalogue)

 

 

Tierra fresca de su tumba / Rivero, Giovanna
“In the tales of Fresh Earth from Her Grave there are fishermen who cross the seas of death, girls abandoned in the steppes who find in the gospel a bridge to beauty, women whose madness is nothing more than a shattered heart. Six stories of luminous darkness that pierce us like a wound, and that in the end make us understand the possibilities of love, justice and hope, but also, as in Edgar Allan Poe’s “A descent into the Maelström”, the height and depth of the abyss. “-. (Catalogue)

Brujas / Lozano, Brenda
“Paloma is dead. She’s been murdered. But before she was Paloma, her name was Gaspar. Before she was Paloma, Gaspar performed ceremonies to cure people, but since she became Paloma, she dedicated herself to the nightlife with men. She preferred love over purification. It was she who taught Feliciana everything she knows about healing. With this apprenticeship, Feliciana discovers that, besides healing the body she can also heal the soul”- (Catalogue)