Horror must be the fiction genre I have the least experience with. I’ve never gone out of my way to watch a horror film, there are no recognised horror novels reviewed here on my blog. Perhaps that’s why it took me a good 50 per cent of Mexican Gothic to realise that it was as much horror as fantasy — and maybe more so.

To begin with, the title more-or-less sums up what you can expect: this is a Gothic novel set in Mexico. Silvia Moreno-Garcia explicitly describes High Place, her haunted house, as ill-fitting the landscape because the owners wanted it to look like English. Apart from that, Mexican Gothic’s early chapters play the tropes relatively straight. Noemí might be slightly more worldly than Emily St Aubert or Catherine Morland, but not much.

Where Mexican Gothic really picks up steam is around halfway, when it becomes obvious Silvia Moreno-Garcia is actually subverting character archetypes from the damsel in distress to the virginal first victim in a horror movie. Even the villains, though straight-forwardly villainous throughout, have a fantasy twist.

The more agency Noemí is given, the more she comes alive. The latter half of Mexican Gothic had more than one moment of genuine tension and excitement, as well as revulsion and horror. Even if you’re not a fan of haunted houses, it’s worth reading through the first half just to get there.

And if you love a haunted house, especially if you’re a fan of the movie Crimson Peak, then this will definitely scratch that itch!