Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Mexican Gothic has stared at me from shelves across the country. I knew in a vague sense that I liked classic Gothic stories, and Mexican Gothic is an obvious starting place for the modern genre. I mean, it’s in the title. After reading A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee, my vague feelings solidified into “oh I really like this genre.” Even as I made this mental pivot, I knew I had to read Mexican Gothic already.

Witty, beautiful, and charming, Noemí Taboada lives a lustrous, lavish life among twentieth century Mexico’s crème de la crème. She enjoys fashion, food, and good conversation as much as the next debutante, but her father cites these “frivolous” ways as a reason to not send her to university. When he offers to finally consent to her anthropology degree if she visits her married cousin, Noemí seizes the chance. Should be easy right? Except her cousin is embroiled in High Place, a country mansion haunted by its past colonial glories, murderous history, and mushrooms.

MUSHROOM PEOPLE. Mexican Gothic is perfectly paced and perfectly creepy. As I reached the end, I felt compelled to screech on Twitter about it. The humid atmosphere is so vivid you can taste it on your tongue. I adored Noemí as a character and protagonist—socialites aren’t usually detectives, but her mastery of social cues and norms helped turn things in her favor. Virgil is wonderfully twisted, and Moreno-Garcia’s work has many, many twists. The entwining of colonialism and eugenics fits so perfectly within the Gothic genre. Mexican Gothic is superb on its own, but reading it directly after The Haunting of Hill House teased out the homages. I listened to the audiobook, and the voice actor performed exceptionally—my only complaint is I would like more please. I’m very eager to read (or listen) to Moreno-Garcia’s other works.

If you like Gothic literature—classic or modern, it doesn’t matter—you must read Moreno-Garcia’s brilliant novel. Drop whatever you’re doing and go.