Maybe I’ll Sleep With the Lights On

Mexican Gothic
Written by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Published June 30, 2020

Let’s get out of here.

This is the kind of book that you read before bed and then realize it’s going to give you nightmares. In a good way.

Taking place in Mexico during the 1950s, Noémi Taboada is a chic and clever Mexico City socialite who is sent to the countryside by her father to check on the mental health of her newly wed cousin, Catalina. According to her recent letters, Catalina’s Anglo husband and his family are allegedly holding her prisoner while they poison her mind and body. Does Catalina really need help, and if so, is Noémi strong enough to provide it?

“You’re very silly or very brave, living in a haunted house.”

I loved that this wasn’t just a Gothic horror story, it also has deeper, though-provoking issues. Catalina’s in-laws, the Doyles, built a mining empire on the back of Indigenous laborers, and they are outwardly racist, even endorsing eugenics. The book weaves in issues of class, racial, and labor inequity and shows how those become forms of poison to communities when left untouched.

This Gothic horror story gets into your head, seeps into your thoughts, and keeps you on the edge of your seat all the way to the end. And even then, you will still be slightly wary of what may happen to the characters, as the story isn’t neatly finished at its conclusion.