Hispanic horror stories usually date centuries behind and are told mouth-to-mouth as part of a long line of oral traditions. That is how many Hispanic cultures preserved their legends, traditions and well-known stories. As literature evolved, these stories were put down on paper, and new tales were created from old traditional stories.
Many Hispanic horror stories talk about brujas (witches), spirits, curses and dead people coming back to life. They are all an insight into the many years of tradition and beliefs that come with different cultures. Here are six of those books you should read this spooky season.
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Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Mexican Gothic tells the story of Noemí Taboada as she heads to High Place in the Mexican countryside after getting a letter from her cousin in which she asks to be saved. On the outside, Noemí looks like the perfect fashionable girl with elegant dresses and incredible lipstick. But on the inside, she is tough, smart, and not afraid of anything.
This last trait will help her keep her fears at bay regarding her cousin’s husband and his terrifying charm, his father fascinated by who Noemí is, and High Place, which seems to be taking over her dreams with blood and mystery. The youngest son who carries the deepest secrets, seems to be the only one who can help.
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Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
Yadriel lives in a very traditional Latin family who is having a hard time accepting who he is in Cemetery Boys. However, this doesn’t stop him from trying to prove that he is a real brujo. To do so, he gets help from his cousin Maritza to perform a ritual to set his dead cousin’s ghost free.
Things don’t go as expected for Yadriel when he realizes instead of summoning the ghost of his cousin, he summoned the school bad boy’s ghost, Julian. This ghost refuses to go away quietly and instead asks for Yadriel’s help to figure out a few loose ends before disappearing again. Things get even more complicated when Yadriel gets attached to Julian.
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The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
When it comes to Hispanic horror, The House of The Spirits is a classic. The Trueba family is at the center of the story, mixing their past and present to tell their triumphs and tragedies. It starts with Esteban, who has big political ambitions and doesn’t care much about anything besides his wife.
Clara, the wife, seems to be in touch with another world, with spirits and what we cannot see. Their daughter Blanca’s life is marked by a forbidden love with a man her father disapproves of. And Alba, the granddaughter, seems to have come to save the family and the country.
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The Queen of the Cicadas by V. Castro
In The Queen of The Cicadas, the author mixes legends of the Mexican culture with their own story. In 1950, a farm worker named Milagros was murdered, but everyone in town ignored her death. The only one who paid attention was an Aztec goddess who heard Milagros’s crying. It was then that she swore the two of them would come back to life.
Many decades later, Belinda returns to Texas for her friend’s wedding and discovers the site of the murder was where the wedding is taking place. Alongside the new landowner, Belinda begins researching more about this legend and realizes it is part of their fate.
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Piñata by Leopoldo Gout
In Piñata, Carmen Sanchez and her daughters travel to Mexico to oversee the transformation of an ancient cathedral into a boutique hotel. While Carmen is working and constantly fighting the contractors trying to sabotage her work, her daughters Izel and Luno explore the city and its surroundings.
After an accident, the three women return to New York, but things don’t return to normal. Izel immediately begins to notice there is something wrong with her sister. Something followed them home from Mexico.
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A Tall Dark Trouble by Vanessa Montalban
A Tall Dark Trouble tells the story of three brujas in Cuba and Miami at different times. In 1980, Anita discovers her mother belongs to a secret coven in Cuba, and one day; she will be forced to join. She is terrified of this idea and has to face her own magical conflict to figure out what to do.
In the present time in Miami, Ofelia and Delfi, twin sisters, were told by their mother to stay away from magic as it always seems to bring nothing but harm to their family. However, the twins cannot keep this promise as they begin to have premonitions that point to a series of murders. To solve the murders before they happen, they team up with their best friend Ethan and Andres, a detective in training.
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