The 7 horror books written by Mexicans

The horror narrative emerges as an explanation of things that go beyond what can be explained, humanizing the unknown and giving an explanation to what seems to have no explanation; well, lets us handle it. Supernatural stories and death are part of Mexican folklore and we have legends, anecdotes or local myths in our cultural heritage that have enriched our identity over the years.

Aura

Carlos Fuentes

We begin with a classic of Mexican literature. Written by Carlos Fuentes, winner of the Cervantes Prize, this novel tells the story of Felipe Montero, a young historian who is commissioned to finish writing General Llorente's memoirs by Doña Consuelo, his widow. The condition is that he must live in the gloomy house, which remains in total darkness so as not to revive the memory of the deceased general. Thus, in a house dimly lit by candlelight, and with antique furniture and decoration, he meets Aura, the widow's young niece, with whom Felipe falls in love. The story begins to get strange when the young man notices Doña Consuelo's possessive and controlling behavior towards her niece.

Pedro Páramo

Juan Rulfo

Thanks to this work, the writer received the Xavier Villaurrutia Award in 1955. The novel, set in a post-revolutionary context, tells the story of Juan Preciado arriving in a kind of ghost town in search of his father Pedro Páramo. This turned into the boss of the most important hacienda in the region shows Juan how he used the inhabitants of the town without scruples; taking Comala, the town, to the entire putrefaction along with him. While his father shows him the power that he possesses, Juan begins to suspect that all those who inhabit that place are souls in pain.

The last house on the mountain

Xavier M. Sotelo

After a car accident that culminates in the death of their parents, Max and Poncho are forced to live with Aunt Carmen, a woman they have never seen. The ideas and convictions of the aunt are more horrendous than the ghosts of the house they will inhabit. Meanwhile, officer Esteban Rey, ignoring the warnings he receives, will not stop until he discovers the true causes of the accident. This will probably be his last attempt to survive a coming nightmare from the last house on the mountain.

the straw children

Bernard Esquinca

An investigator who solves murders based on traces of insects, a woman stalked by a detective to unravel a mystery related to blood, a man who dreams of aerial cataclysms, psychiatric centers that hide chilling stories, a collective murder involving several marriages, a scarecrow who keeps the secrets of a group of children, a fortune teller who only predicts atrocities, as well as a war to the death unleashed in a town during Halloween. These are some of the creatures and stories that come to life in The Straw Boys. Eight stories and a sinister nouvelle that bring together rarefied atmospheres, worthy of David Lynch, and ideas and situations so dark that they pay tribute to the best Stephen King. Bernardo Esquinca produces a work with such notable literary qualities that, in the opinion of Rodrigo Fresán, he possesses an imagination "much more ardent than that of J. G. Ballard." Sharp as a scalpel, Bernardo Esquinca's stories stand out from the new generation of Mexican storytellers due to their forcefulness. His stories manage to shudder to such an extent that the reader will think twice before turning off the light.

The night has a tree

Guadalupe Duenas

Throughout twenty-five stories, Guadalupe Dueñas goes through multiple lives with an apparently everyday but magical approach: there are rats that guess the exact time of the arrival of a corpse, also, on the other hand, there is a girl from the coast who comes to the altiplano to improve her diction, but deep down she wants to be a mermaid. The sadness, the longing and the love for the children are mixed in the stories inviting the reader to immerse themselves in the world of the unusual, the result is a singular and remarkable anthology in Mexican letters.

death in the woods

Davila, Amparo

A mysterious and unknown element permeates throughout all these stories and highlights the fragility of the inner life of each of the characters. The unknown bursts into the daily life of common individuals and radically changes everything. The reader can accompany the characters in their harrowing and sinister descent into gloomy madness. Amparo Dávila makes a major contribution to Mexican fantastic literature by taking up the hidden in the psyche of people in this work.

ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE

Jose Noah Mercado

A single bite is enough to tear the veins and artery on the right side of the neck of the first victim, who does not even understand what has happened before he died. Lautaro Simard will have to reunite with his family and prevent his loved ones from being attacked by the dead who have risen and are hungry for living flesh. The zombie pandemic and chaos have spread; a destructive wave prevails in the city that seems to have no end and in which time has vanished. Where did it all start? Will they be able to survive the epidemic? Will it be the end of humanity?