Book · 2020
Mexican Gothic
by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
A young socialite travels to a remote Mexican mansion to check on her newly married cousin and finds the walls, and the family living inside them, aren't done growing.
What does Reddit think of Mexican Gothic?
Mexican Gothic has the recommendation-list problem: 1928 of its 3958 tracked mentions sit inside r/suggestmeabook, mostly wedged between other authors' names, not discussed on its own. One ↑236 list runs it alongside Rebecca, Alias Grace, and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, gothic and domestic-suspense company that tells you more about shelving than plot. A sharper comparison shows up at ↑130: "Mexican Gothic and What Moves the Dead, but the catch is I don't know which does it better," a direct head-to-head nobody resolves in the excerpt. r/horrorlit carries the second-largest share of mentions, 796, but none of its top quotes made this sample, which is its own kind of gap. The one unhedged personal account here, ↑128, calls it "perfect for fall/Halloween" and recommends it plainly, tying the romance subplot to another unnamed book it resembles. Horror crowd, romance crowd, fantasy crowd. Three different reasons to hand this book to someone, and the data doesn't say which reason wins.
Community feedback & reader fit
Themes
- · Gothic-mansion horror crossed with a period romance subplot
- · A go-to fall and Halloween recommendation
- · The Rebecca lineage, relocated to a Mexican hacienda
- · Genre readers from horror, fantasy, and romance all claiming it
Common praise
- + One suggestmeabook commenter calls it "perfect for fall/Halloween" and recommends it outright, no qualifiers.
- + It earns a spot in gothic-suspense company next to Rebecca and Alias Grace on a well-upvoted list (↑236).
- + A separate commenter puts it head-to-head with What Moves the Dead as one of two recent gothic novellas worth picking between (↑130).
Common criticism
- − The Rebecca-adjacent list (↑236) drops it into a run of eight titles without saying anything specific about it, which is shelving, not a review.
- − r/horrorlit holds 796 of the tracked mentions, the second-largest share of any subreddit here, and none of them surfaced with enough votes to make this sample, so its actual case for or against the book is missing.
- − Even the head-to-head comparison at ↑130 ends in a shrug: the commenter admits they don't know which book does the premise better.
Who it's for
Want an October read and don't want to think too hard about the pick? The ↑128 recommendation is exactly that pitch: seasonal, unhedged, done. Coming from Rebecca or Alias Grace and looking for the modern equivalent, the ↑236 list puts this in that exact lineage. Already read What Moves the Dead and want the closest cousin? ↑130 says this is the other half of that pairing, though even that commenter won't pick a winner between them. Purists after either straight horror or straight romance might find it splits the difference instead of committing to either.
Mentions over time
Top subreddits
Which Reddit comments matter for Mexican Gothic?
The most relevant excerpts across the subreddits where this book is mentioned — opinionated, argued takes first, then top-upvoted mentions. Click through to read the full thread.
“You might want to try: Le Guin: hopeful and with profound affection for humanity. If you want to stick with fantasy: A Wizard of Earthsea begins a series about, well, a wizard. Susanna Clarke: hopeful and otherworldly; individual moments can be whimsical or dark. Often deals with faeries. Her ma…
“I hate Mexican Gothic and I’m so annoyed bc people constantly recommend it to me since I like gothic fiction. It feels so juvenile and every single allegory is hammered over and over again. It feels like a YA book bc it’s written so simply with a very YA coded protagonist. I’m just mad I got tricked…
“Dark Places by Gillian Flynn The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno Garcia The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evel…
“THE CLASSICS Clive Barker is very creepy and twisted stuff. Some of his work has been made into movies, but they are usually miles away from the depth the books go into. He can be pretty dark and gross at times. Think Stephen King if he wasn't trying to play safe. *Night Breed* is one of my favori…
“I just read Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and the main romance is kind of like this. It was also really good and perfect for fall/Halloween. I highly recommend it.
“Mexican Gothic. As a Latina, I thought at last! A horror book from a Latina author! Hated it. Writing was not great, the main character was annoying, and the ending was so cheesy there was mold.
“Mexican Gothic. I wanted to love it but it was soooooooo slow. The way people raved and gushed about it I was so excited. It was soooo underwhelming.
“I give up on SO many books. I just can’t read one if I’m not feeling it. Most recent was Mexican Gothic.
“It comes down to your own preference. I didn’t like where the crawdads sing. I didn’t like Mexican gothic though it was probably better than Crawdad
“Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia might scratch that itch for you
“{Mexican Gothic} has the rare feminine lead who’s secure in her power without ever acting like a man- definitely a girly girl, I loved her.
“I'm stunned and delighted that **Mexican Gothic** by Silvia Moreno-Garcia wasn't in the Book Riot article, making this a great hard mode pick. Alas that I read it the week before Bingo! Perfect if you'd like to read about 1950s Mexico, the creeping dread of mushrooms, and absolutely horrible family…
“Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno Garcia is a good one!
“Mexican Gothic. The main character was insufferable since her first apparition. The story was mediocre, but the main character made it very tedious. The best thing is probably the setting
“Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno Garcia Don't know what I was expecting, but I certainly expected a bit more of a melding of magical realism and Gothic literature. Wasn't nearly close to what i had hoped or expected.
Convinced? Pick up Mexican Gothic
Readers also mention
Books that share discussion threads with Mexican Gothic — counted from the comments, not curated.
Mexican Gothic — frequently asked
Is Mexican Gothic more horror or more romance?+
The tracked data doesn't settle it. r/suggestmeabook mentions run 1928 deep and mostly stack it into general recommendation lists, while a separate commenter (↑128) specifically calls out the book's romance subplot as a highlight. r/horrorlit holds the second-largest mention count, 796, which suggests the horror crowd claims it too. Reddit files it under both without picking a side.
Is Mexican Gothic similar to Rebecca?+
It shows up in that company: a ↑236 suggestmeabook list runs it alongside Rebecca, Alias Grace, and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo as gothic and domestic-suspense reads. The list doesn't spell out specific similarities, so treat it as a shelving decision rather than a detailed comparison.
Should I read Mexican Gothic or What Moves the Dead first?+
The tracked data has one commenter (↑130) naming both as the options worth considering, then admitting outright they don't know which handles the premise better. That's an honest split decision from Reddit, not a ranking; it's a coin flip between the two on the evidence here.
Is Mexican Gothic a good Halloween read?+
Yes, per the one direct, unhedged recommendation in the sample: a suggestmeabook commenter (↑128) calls it "perfect for fall/Halloween" and recommends it plainly, no qualifiers. That's a single account's word, but it's the clearest positive claim the tracked data makes about the book specifically.